Abstract
Many countries used short-time working arrangements (STWAs) as a response to the Great Recession of 2008–2009. STWAs are designed to protect jobs during short-term downturns by adjusting the work durations of employees. We study STWAs in France between 2007 and 2010. The objective of this paper is to describe the main characteristics of firms and employees operating under STWAs by using firm-level STW data sets and the French Labor Force Survey.
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Notes
See, for example, the recent paper of Arpaia et al. (2010) describing STWA in European Union countries. For a description of STW in the United States, see Vroman and Brusentsev (2009).
For more details on the regulation of STWA in France, see Chagny (2010) and Riso (2010).
French territorial division.
After using STW, employers must address monthly a request for compensation to the French administration indicating the amount to be reimbursed. If the firm does not comply with these procedures, the employer must pay ‘standard’ wages.
If an employee is on STW more than 6 consecutive weeks, we call this situation ‘total STW’. At this point, the work contract ends.
The STW compensation is exempt from employer social contribution taxes, but is subjected to the supplementary social security contribution (CSG) and to the contribution to the repayment of the social security debt (CRDS).
There is another complementary allocation that guarantees employees a minimum legal monthly remuneration equal to the net level of the minimum wage (Smic). Since 1 January 2010, employees must receive at least €6.96 net per hour (temporary workers, apprentices, part-time employees are not concerned). When an APLD agreement is concluded the amount of money given to employees cannot be less than the minimum legal monthly remuneration.
For example, for a STW agreement with a rate of 100% for a firm with more than 250 employees, for each hour of STW, the State pays €3.33 for the STW specific allocation and €3.51 for the complementary allocation related to the STW agreement (3.33+3.51=€6.84).
An APLD agreement is concluded between a professional or an inter-professional organization or a firm and the Ministry of Employment, the prefect or the head of the French administration at the department level (Unité territoriale). Agreements could be concluded at a national, regional or departmental level, and firms can easily subscribe by filling in a subscription form.
For example, a firm that has <250 employees and which puts them on STW for 40 hours and it is covered by an APLD agreement, will receive from the State €3.84 per hour for the specific STW allocation and €1.90 per hour for the APLD allocation.
More precisely, files provide establishment-level data. In France, a firm may have several establishments.
Data also indicate whether STW authorizations took place within an APLD agreement. This information was not used here as its quality remains to be proven.
The Statistical Department of the French Ministry of Labor (DARES) presents monthly information on STW authorizations. See http://www.travail-emploi-sante.gouv.fr/etudes-recherche-statistiques-de,76/statistiques,78/chomage,79/les-series-statistiques,265/les-series-mensuelles-de-l,11788.html.
The part of France located in Europe.
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Acknowledgements
The research reported here was conducted at the Statistical Department of the French Ministry of Labor (DARES). Helpful comments have been received from Sévane Ananian, Rozenn Desplatz and Cyril Nouveau. We would also like to thank participants in the 8th Euroframe Conference in Helsinki, as well as participants in the International Workshop ‘Crises, Institutions and Labour Market Performance: Comparing Evidence and Policies’ in Perugia and especially Fabio Aricò for his rich remarks. Any opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not those of the DARES. Of course, any remaining errors and omissions remain our own responsibility.
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Calavrezo, O., Lodin, F. Short-Time Working Arrangements in France During the Crisis: An Empirical Analysis of Firms and Employees. Comp Econ Stud 54, 299–320 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1057/ces.2012.14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/ces.2012.14