Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - France (Ratification: 1971)

Article 1(2) of the Convention. Youth employment. The Committee previously requested the Government to provide information on youth employment trends and to include statistics disaggregated by age and sex, as well as updated evaluations of the active policy measures implemented to reduce the impact of unemployment on young persons, particularly the most disadvantaged. The Government indicates in its report that several measures have been introduced, especially as part of the recovery plan, “Recovery France” (“France Relance”), to strengthen support for young persons, through the youth guarantee, apprenticeship reform through the adoption of Act No. 2018-771 of 5 September 2018 on the freedom to choose one’s professional future, and the extension of compulsory training up to 18 years of age. In this respect, the Committee notes that the youth employment agreement replaced the youth guarantee from 1 March 2022. Under certain terms, the youth employment agreement targets young people aged 16 to 25 and people with disabilities aged under 30. The Government also refers to the implementation, since July 2020, of a €9 billion plan to support the employment and social integration of young people, entitled “A solution for every young person” (“Un jeune, une solution”). The three main pillars of this plan support the occupational integration of young people by providing grants (introduction of a grant for apprenticeship and professionalization agreements, and a grant for recruitment of under 26-year-olds), strengthen investment in young people’s education, and create new individualized pathways for those most removed from the labour market (through the increase in the number of places in the youth guarantee, the employment and autonomy support contract, and the development of new on-the-job skills development programmes). To encourage job creation for small and medium-sized enterprises, and very small enterprises, since 1 January 2019, the single grant for employers of apprentices has replaced the grant for young apprentices of very small enterprises, the regional apprenticeship bonus for very small enterprises, the recruitment grant for an additional apprentice and the apprenticeship tax credit. This grant scheme has been enhanced as part of the “A solution for every young person” plan, under the “Recovery France” plan. With respect to youth employment trends, the Committee notes the detailed statistics disaggregated by age and sex, provided by the Government, on the unemployment and underemployment rates of the economically active population, particularly young persons aged 15 to 24 years. In this regard, it notes that the unemployment rate for young persons aged 15 to 26 decreased significantly during the reporting period, from 28 per cent for women and 24.2 per cent for men in 2016, to 18.8 per cent for women and 19 per cent for men in 2021. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide detailed and up-to-date information, including statistical information disaggregated by age, sex and type of employment contract, on the impact of measures taken to ensure full, productive, freely chosen and sustainable employment for young persons, including as part of the implementation of the “A solution for every young person” and “Recovery France” plans. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on labour market measures taken or envisaged to respond to the employment needs of young graduates from further education and those belonging to target groups, such as young persons in rural areas, young persons with disabilities and young migrant workers.

Older workers. In response to its previous comments, the Government indicates that the public authorities are working to secure the employability of older persons and encourage employers to adopt the professionalization agreement for these workers, which allows workers to participate in training alongside their job and acquire a vocational qualification. In addition, employers who recruit job seekers aged 45 years or older under this framework are awarded a €2,000 grant. The Government also refers to the on-the-job skills development programme, created in 2018, which specifically targets population groups furthest removed from employment, such as young persons and older persons. This programme is based on three pillars: a job that fosters the development of transferable skills, facilitated access to training, and support throughout the programme from the employer and the public employment service. The Government adds that the public authorities have also adopted specific measures for older people affected by long-term unemployment, particularly within the framework of the experimental project “No long-term unemployed”, which was launched in 2017 and renewed in 2021. Within the framework of this project, the long-term unemployed are employed on contracts for an indefinite period by social and solidarity economy enterprises, known as job-focused enterprises, to carry out activities not covered by the private sector in the employment areas involved (recycling centres, grocery shops or community garages). In this regard, the Committee notes the introduction of specific measures designed to promote the integration of older workers, such as contracts for indefinite periods for the integration of older workers and the bridge contract (contrat passerelle), which were established under Act No. 2020-1577 of 14 December 2020 on strengthening integration in employment through economic activity, and the “No long-term unemployed” project. It also notes the detailed statistics provided by the Government, including those on the unemployment rates of older workers, which in 2021 stood at 5.5 per cent for women and 6.0 per cent for men 50 years or over. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide detailed and up-to-date information on the situation, level and trends in the employment of older workers and on the effects of the measures taken in terms of improving access for the long-term unemployed and older workers to productive and sustainable employment, including within the framework of the experimental project, “No long-term unemployed”.

Education and training policy. The Committee previously requested the Government to provide updated information on the programmes to promote lifelong training with a view to improving the vocational skills of adults, as well as an evaluation of their impact on access to decent and freely chosen work. The Government refers to Act No. 2018-771 of 5 September 2018 on the freedom to choose one’s professional future, reforming the personal training account, notably by monetarizing it, providing for further options for replenishing it, setting up a “transition” personal training account, and creating an application to manage rights, choose training, register and pay online. The Government indicates that this Act also provided for the reform of vocational training and apprenticeships. The Act established the career development counselling service, established new definitions of actions that fall within the scope of vocational training, and set up a new work-study retraining and promotion scheme, enabling employees to change jobs or occupations, or to benefit from social or occupational promotion through training. Additionally, new national governmental department for vocational training and apprenticeships was introduced through the creation of the “Skills for France” (“France compétences”) scheme. In particular, the department is responsible for the financing of apprenticeships, the national register of vocational qualifications, and the evaluation of the Qualiopi quality certification, which is compulsory from 1 January 2022 for all training providers receiving public or pooled funds. In this regard, the Committee notes that 912,700 job seekers took up training in 2019, that is 15 per cent more than the previous year, as well as 48,900 persons who took up training under schemes such as “Skills Prep” and “Apprenticeship Prep”, within the framework of the skills investment plan. With regard to apprenticeships, the Government indicates that the above Act has: liberalized the development of training for apprentices and apprenticeship training centres; streamlined the procedure for signing, carrying out and terminating a contract; increased the minimum age to allow persons 26 to 29 years to take up apprenticeships; raised wages for apprentices; and established a third class of so-called vocational occupations by replacing the former introductory work-study scheme (DIMA). The Act has also required providers to make certain information available to the public (such as the rates of certification) and undertaken an in-depth reform of funding for skills at the national level by occupational branch, to determine the level of funding by skill certification, which was in turn subject to the opinion and recommendation of “Skills for France”. In this respect, the Committee notes that this reform and the exceptional recruitment grants put in place in response to the health crisis (€5,000 for a minor and €8,000 for an adult) have resulted in an unprecedented number of apprenticeship agreements in France, namely 525,600 agreements signed in 2020 (42 per cent more than in 2019). The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide up-to-date information on the impact of programmes to promote lifelong training aimed at improving adults’ vocational skills for the creation of sustainable and freely chosen employment.