When a company encounters economic difficulties as a result of the health crisis and reconfinement, the employer may decide, under certain conditions, to use the short-time working scheme to keep employees in employment. Here's what you need to know and how to proceed.
What is the exceptional short-time working scheme?
Partial activity, also known as "short-time working", means temporarily closing down all or part of a company, or imposing a temporary reduction in working hours on employees. Employers can resort to this measure, after obtaining authorization from the authorities, if they encounter economic difficulties that could result in a loss of pay for their employees.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the government has decided to simplify and strengthen the short-time working scheme. The aim is to preserve jobs and avoid redundancies.
Conditions for partial activity
An employer may resort to short-time working if he is forced to temporarily suspend the company's activity or reduce the working week due to :
- a claim
- the economic situation
- of a transformation
- company restructuring or modernization
- exceptional weather conditions
- raw materials or energy supply difficulties
- any exceptional circumstances
How to implement partial activity within your company?
To benefit from this scheme, the employer must submit a prior request for partial activity authorization to the Direccte of the département in which its establishment is located. The request, accompanied by the prior opinion of the social and economic committee (CSE), must be made online, and must specify the following elements:
- the reason for short-time working,
- the foreseeable period of under-activity,
- the detailed circumstances giving rise to the request,
- the number of employees concerned
- and the number of hours off.
The employer is notified of the decision within 15 calendar days. The absence of a reply constitutes acceptance. In the event of refusal, the decision must specify the reasons for the refusal.
Once granted, administrative authorization is valid for a maximum of 12 months, renewable. It is this document that enables the employer to obtain reimbursement of compensation paid to employees.
How much compensation does an employee on short-time working receive?
During the period of short-time working, the employee receives an indemnity corresponding to 70% of his gross salary per hour unemployed. This cannot be less than the net hourly SMIC, i.e. 8.03 euros net per hour out of work.
To obtain reimbursement of compensation, the employer must submit a claim for partial activity allowance every month. The Agence de Services et de Paiement (ASP) acts on behalf of the French State, and is responsible for making the payments. Please note, however, that in the event of fraud or misrepresentation, the claimant is liable to up to 2 years' imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros.