Jobseeker: Can not reporting a change of situation online be misleading?

Pôle emploi discovers that Mr. B. has been employed but has not indicated this in the mandatory monthly declarations. It is requested to reimburse the amounts unduly paid under the AER during the period covered by this activity.

For Pôle emploi, the lack of an online return to work declaration is in fact a false declaration. Mr. B. is penalized by being removed from the list of jobseekers for a period of 6 months and by being permanently disqualified from the benefit of the AER.

Mr. B. is challenging this decision before the administrative judge. As the activity in question was remunerated on a flat-rate basis, the number of hours worked could not be entered via the online service. He had informed Pôle emploi of this difficulty. The administrative court rejected his application. He believes that in the absence of an online statement of his change of situation, via the dedicated website, Mr. B. made a false statement.

The complainant brought the matter before the Administrative Court of Appeal. The Commission considers that the matter falls within the competence of the Council of State.

Does the absence of an online declaration of a change of situation by a jobseeker, as part of the monthly declaration he was required to make to Pôle emploi, necessarily constitute a false declaration, even though the person concerned informed him of it by other means?

Service-Public.fr replies:

The Conseil d'État considers, first of all, that it is up to Pôle emploi to provide jobseekers with adequate means of meeting their reporting obligations. He goes on to point out that the concept of misrepresentation implies a deliberate intention to conceal, an intention which must be assessed in the light of the circumstances of each situation.

However, the Conseil d'Etat notes that Mr. B. had informed Pôle emploi of his resumption of his professional activity by several emails; that he had transmitted his employment contract and his salary slips, pointing out the technical difficulties encountered in updating his situation in the context of his monthly declarations.

Finally, it states that, in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Labor Code, the updating of their situation by jobseekers is not among the formalities and formalities which must be completed by the use of an online service.

Taking into account the actions that Mr. B. had company to comply with his reporting obligations, the Conseil d'État considers that the complainant did not deliberately conceal his resumption of activity and therefore did not make a false declaration. It considers that it has completed the necessary formalities to inform Pôle emploi of its change of situation, even in the absence of an online declaration via its website.

In its decision of March 7, 2025, the Conseil d'Etat therefore grants Mr. B the right. It annuls the judgment of the Administrative Court and the decision to expunge and definitively abolish the benefit of the ARE.