Employment and Labor 3A Newsletter - April 2025

April 22, 2025

Did you know? Historically, the week following Easter Sunday was known as the "Easter Octave"-an eight-day public holiday. However, this extended time off was curtailed in 1801 under Napoleon's reforms, which aimed to reduce the number of non-working days (at the time, over 50 per year) to avoid disruptions to productivity. A concordat signed with the Pope allowed Napoleon to reorganize religious observances while preserving one public holiday for the French: Easter Monday.

A decision

Seniority bonus may be suspended during unpaid sick leave: In a decision dated April 2, 2025, France's Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) ruled that a seniority bonus tied to remuneration is not payable during periods of unpaid sick leave (Cass. soc., 2 Apr. 2025, No. 23-22.190 F-B).

In this case, an employee requested a retroactive payment of a seniority bonus-stipulated in the May 2, 1979 amendment to the regional collective agreement for metallurgical industries in the Paris area-covering a period of sick leave. While the collective agreement did not explicitly state that the bonus would be reduced or eliminated during leave, it did specify that the bonus was added to actual salary and varied based on working hours.

The Court clarified:

• In principle, seniority bonuses remain payable during sick leave unless otherwise stated in the applicable collective agreement.
• However, if the agreement explicitly ties the bonus to actual remuneration, it may be withheld during unpaid leave.

This distinction reinforces that seniority bonuses purely based on years of service differ from those linked to earnings-and only the former are due regardless of pay status.

A news

Remote work expenses, tax exemptions extended into 2024: Given the sustained use of remote work, tax relief measures introduced in 2021 for telework-related professional expenses have been extended through 2024.

This applies exclusively to home office expenses, excluding general business costs incurred in the course of professional duties.

Under the renewed guidelines:

• Daily allowance: €2.70/day
• Monthly cap: €59.40/month
• Annual limit: €626.40/year

These allowances are exempt from income tax within the stated limits. Updated filing instructions were published by the French tax authority (DGFiP) on April 10, 2025 (2025 Tax Guide & FAQ on professional expenses).

An announcement

Unemployment insurance reform, what's new in 2025: on April 8, 2025, Unédic published a comprehensive update (Circular No. 2025-03) detailing the latest rules on unemployment insurance, effective since April 1, 2025. These changes follow the implementation of the November 15, 2024 reform agreement.

Key changes include:

• Monthly payment of unemployment benefits (ARE) based on a fixed 30-day period, regardless of the actual number of calendar days in the month-applies to all beneficiaries, including those already receiving payments.
• Reduced affiliation requirement for seasonal workers to five months (instead of six), ensuring access to five months of benefits when the six-month threshold cannot be met.
• Reduced cap on non-working days used in benefit calculations, from 75% to 70%, shortening the benefit period.
• Gradual increase in the age threshold for senior-specific benefits from 62 to 64 years, aligning with full retirement age.
• Lowered exemption age for benefit degressivity from 57 to 55 years, as of the end date of employment.
• Extended trial period for new jobs taken during ongoing benefit periods: the minimum affiliation period increases from 65 to 88 worked days (around four months), offering more time to "test" a new role without jeopardizing entitlement.