As part of the reform of the unemployment insurance system, and in order to limit the abusive use of short-term contracts, the possibility of adjusting the rate of the employer's unemployment insurance contribution has been reinstated. Companies can simulate their future rate using the tool provided online by the Ministry of Labor.
The principle of modulating unemployment insurance contributions
The government has introduced a bonus-malus system for employers' unemployment insurance contributions, to encourage companies to offer more open-ended contracts and extend the duration of fixed-term contracts.
The unemployment insurance contribution rate is currently 4.05%. Thanks to the bonus-malus system, this rate can be adjusted upwards or downwards according to the "separation rate" of the companies concerned.
This rate depends on the number of employment contract terminations attributed to the company in relation to its workforce. In particular, the following are taken into account: end of fixed-term contract, end of permanent contract and end of assignment contract. Excluded, however, are resignations and the end of apprenticeship or professionalization contracts.
Which companies are eligible?
The companies concerned by the unemployment insurance contribution modulation scheme are those in the following sectors of activity:
- Manufacture of foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco products;
- Transportation and warehousing ;
- Accommodation and catering ;
- Woodworking, paper and printing industries;
- Manufacture of rubber and plastic products, non-metallic mineral products;
- Water production and distribution, sanitation and waste management;
- Other specialized, scientific and technical activities.
However, the companies most affected by the health crisis, i.e. those in sector S1, are temporarily excluded from the scheme.
Period for calculating the modulated unemployment insurance contribution rate
The bonus-malus will apply for the first time from September 1, 2022. Modulation will be calculated on the basis of employment contract terminations or temporary assignments recorded between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. Companies will be notified of their modulated contribution rate in August 2022.
In the meantime, you can use the online bonus-malus simulator for companies on the Ministry of Labor website. To find out whether they are subject to a bonus or a malus, and the modulated contribution rate that may be applied to them, companies need to enter three items of information: their sector of activity, their workforce and their number of terminated employment contracts and temporary assignments.
The result provided by this tool does not prejudge the actual modulated contribution rate that will be calculated by Urssaf or MSA in 2022.