This page has been automatically translated. Please refer to the page in French if needed.
Return to Work (ARE) unemployment benefit for a private employee
Verified 01 mai 2022 - Legal and Administrative Information Directorate (Prime Minister)
Additional cases ? For a former public official
To collect the WFA, you must be involuntarily deprived of a job. You must justify a minimum period of work at the end of the employment contract. A simulator allows you to estimate the amount of your ARE. The payment of the AER can be combined with other business income. The payment of the AER ceases if you return to an employed occupation. The conditions of compensation are not the same before or after 1to November 2019 and by your age.
What applies to you ?
Depending on your personal situation, the steps to take may vary.
Since 1 November 2019
Persons
Unintentional deprivation of employment
To collect the WFA, you must be involuntarily deprived of a job. Termination of your employment contract must result from one of the following:
- Termination for personal reason or economic reason or revocation
- Conventional Break
- No Renewal CDD
- Resignation considered legitimate (for example, to follow the person you live with as a couple)
FYI : if your contract is for a period of secure voluntary mobility ceases for one of these reasons, you can claim the ARE. However, if you are reinstated by your company or if you refuse your reinstatement, you cannot collect the AER.
Physical Fitness
You are physically fit for a job.
Location
You must reside in France.
Register for Pôle emploi
To collect the ARE, you must be registered as an applicant for employment or complete training in your Custom Job Access Project (PPAE). You must register within 12 months of the end of your employment contract. This period may be extended due to certain situations (e.g. sick leave).
In addition, you must perform positive and repeated actions (for example, daily job search) to get back to work or to start or resume a company.
Periods taken into account
Minimum period of work
In order to qualify for the ARE, you must have worked at least 6 months (130 days or 910 hours) within Last 24 months on the end date of your employment contract.
This minimum period of work shall be duration of membership.
Taking into account last job
Pôle emploi checks to see if you have worked a minimum period of time before you registered.
If this is not the case, Pôle emploi can check if the condition is met by a previous employment contract.
This previous employment contract must have ended within 12 months prior to your registration as a jobseeker.
You must not have received any allocations in relation to this contract.
Training Periods
Training periods, except those paid by Pôle emploi, are treated as working hours. Training periods may also be treated as days of parentage up to 2/3 of the number of days or hours of affiliation taken into account.
Work Contract Suspension Period
Periods of suspension of the employment contract (e.g. occupational illness, accident at work, maternity or paternity leave) shall be taken into account on the basis of one day of affiliation per day of suspension. Periods of suspension of the employment contract during which you have pursued a self-employed professional activity shall not be taken into account except in the following cases:
Chargeable rights
In the event of a loss of business, you benefit from the resumption of your original rights until they are exhausted. This option is only valid if you have resumed a professional activity when you have not exhausted your rights.
You will not have rechargeable rights if you are a former beneficiary of a apprenticeship contract compensated by Pôle emploi for this contract.
You must have worked 6 months (130 days or 910 hours) within Last 24 months to benefit from new rights with a new duration of compensation.
Option for rechargeable rights
You can have an option right between your old and new rights.
The right of option allows you to choose the allowance resulting from the last period of activity without waiting for the exhaustion of unused allowances from a previous right to unemployment.
You must have reworked at least 6 months. In addition, your daily allowance must not exceed €20 or you receive a new daily allowance, due to the last periods of employment, which is at least higher 30% to the remaining
You have 21 days to write to Pôle emploi. Once you have made your choice, you will not be able to reverse your decision.
If you exercise your right of option, you receive your allowance from your last employment period from the day of your application.
ERA amount
Estimate unemployment benefits
Pôle emploi
Gross
The daily gross amount of the AER shall include:
- a fixed part equal to €12.12
- and a variable part equal to 40,4% of reference daily wage (SJR).
This amount cannot be less than 57% and greater than 75% of the RLS.
You can use the Pôle emploi simulator to find out the amount of your unemployment benefits.
ARE minimum amounts
The net amount of the ARE cannot be less than €29.56.
However, the minimum amount of Return to Work Allowance Training (Aref) granted if you follow training, prescribed by Pôle emploi, is set to €21.17.
When your working time was less than the legal or conventional time, the minimum allowance is reduced proportionately.
ARE Degressivity
If your daily AAR is higher than a previous gross monthly salary on average of €4,500, a 30 % reduction shall be applied from the 7th month of payment (with a floor fixed at €2,261 net per month).
Please note : this applies to the ARE paid from 1to July 2021.
Contributions
A pick equal to 3% of the SJR, intended to finance supplementary pensions for beneficiaries of unemployment insurance, shall be paid on the gross amount of the daily allowance. This levy shall not have the effect of reducing the amount of the daily allowance below €29.56.
The ARE is also subject to a generalised social contribution (CSG) and a social debt repayment contribution (CRDS).
However, such contributions may be reduced or eliminated in any of the following situations:
- The gross amount of the AER is less than the amount of the Daily Sum, or €55
- The CSG and CRDS levy leads to a decrease in the net amount of the AER below the Daily Average
Timeout
The ARE cannot be paid until the end of a waiting time, set at 7 days.
However, this waiting period does not apply if it has already been applied in the previous 12 months.
It starts at the end of the compensation deferrals (when applicable to you), if the conditions for the award of the AER are met on that date.
Otherwise, it starts from the date on which these conditions are met.
Paid Leave Compensation Deferred
If you received vacation compensation, the ARE is paid after a time limit called compensation deferral.
This difference is determined by dividing the amount of this compensation by your reference daily wage. The result is the number of days of delay. If the result is not an integer, it is rounded to the higher integer.
For example, if you received a vacation pay offset from €570, and your reference daily wage is set at €100, the calculation is as follows: 570/100 = 5.7, reduced to 6 days of delay in compensation.
Specific compensation delay
When you receive severance benefits in addition to the statutory benefits, a specific compensation deferral is applied to these amounts. This specific differential is applicable, for example, in the following cases:
- Share of the conventional redundancy or conventional severance pay that exceeds the statutory redundancy
- Supplementary redundancy allowance supralegal
- Compensation for non-competition clause
This difference corresponds to a number of days obtained by dividing the amount of the allowance taken into account by 95,8. The result is rounded to the higher integer (if the result obtained is not an integer).
FYI : the delay must not exceed 150 calendar days (5 months) or, in case of dismissal for economic reasons, 75 calendar days.
Example :
if you have received (in addition to the statutory redundancy allowance) a supralegal €10 000 following the breach of your contract, the specific compensation delay is determined as follows: 10,000/95.8 = 104. In addition to these 104 days, there are 7 days of waiting time. Your compensation will start after 111 days.
Payment of the ARE
The monthly amount of the allowances shall be equal to the daily amount of the AER multiplied by the number of days of the month concerned.
The allowances are paid each month due according to updating your situation (for example, early November for the October allocation).
They are paid by Pôle emploi if you were a private sector employee.
They are paid by the administration if you were a public official (except for agreements with Pôle emploi).
Payment depends on what you report each month: return to work, training, illness, etc.
You can request advances and prepayments under certain conditions.
Length of payment of the AER
The length of time you pay the Return to Work Allowance (RTA) depends on your length of membership in the last 24 months.
Duration (the 24 months preceding your contract) | Compensation duration |
|---|---|
Less than 6 months | No compensation |
Beyond 6 months | 182 calendar days minimum and 730 calendar days maximum |
If you are a part-time private sector employee (unemployment), you can benefit from partial activity allowance for up to 182 days.
However, if the suspension of the company's activity is due to a disaster or a natural disaster, this period may be extended until it is resumed.
Rollup with Activity Revenue
If you are engaged in a business while still reporting that you are looking for a job, you can combine your Return to Work (RTA) benefit with your employment income. The conditions of this accumulation vary depending on whether you are an employed or self-employed person.
Employee activity
You resume an employee activity
If you report that you are still looking for a job after returning to work, your AER is partially paid. The amount of the AER paid is the amount of the daily AAR multiplied by the number of days of compensation per month by the AER.
This number of days is calculated using the following formula:
(Monthly AER amount - 70% of the salary of your new activity) / Daily AER amount
The resulting amount is rounded to the nearest integer.
The amount of time between the paid AER and your business income must not exceed your reference daily wage (SJR).
FYI : uncompensated days delay the end of your compensation.
You must report your business resumption when your situation is updated monthly. If you are unable to provide proof of your income, Pôle emploi will pay you a provisional advance and then adjust your situation the month after the proof is provided.
When you lose one of your jobs, the calculated WIP is fully accrued with the earnings of the job(s) you keep.
The SJRfor the purpose of calculating the ARE shall be determined on the basis of the remuneration corresponding to the job lost.
You keep an employee activity
When you lose one of your jobs, the calculated WIP is fully accrued with the earnings of the job(s) you keep.
The reference daily wage (SJR)for the purpose of calculating the ARE shall be determined on the basis of the remuneration corresponding to the job lost.
You must report your business resumption when your situation is updated monthly. If you are unable to provide proof of your income, Pôle emploi will pay you a provisional advance and then adjust your situation the month after the proof is provided.
When you lose one of your jobs, the calculated WIP is fully accrued with the earnings of the job(s) you keep.
The SJRfor the purpose of calculating the ARE shall be determined on the basis of the remuneration corresponding to the job lost.
Self-employed activity
If you report income without pay (for example, as a micro-entrepreneur) and you report that you are still looking for a job, your AER is partially paid. The amount of the AER paid is the amount of the daily AAR multiplied by the number of days of compensation per month for the AER.
This number of days is calculated using the following formula:
(Monthly AER amount - 70% of declared earnings for social insurance) / Daily AER amount
The resulting amount is rounded to the nearest integer.
When the income is not known or when the activity begins, the number of days of compensation is calculated on the basis of a lump sum. An annual regularisation is then carried out on the basis of actual remuneration subject to social security contributions.
The amount of time between the paid AAR and your activity must not exceed your reference daily wage (SJR).
You must declare your return to business when monthly discount your situation.
If you are unable to provide proof of your income, Pôle emploi will pay you a provisional advance and then adjust your situation the month after the proof is provided.
End of rights
Termination
Payment of the ARE will stop if you are in one of the following situations:
- You return to a professional activity, whether employed or not, in France or at the foreigner, unless authorised by Pôle emploi to accumulate the ARE with an income from activity
- You perceive Help with recovery or company creation
- You perceive social security daily allowances
- You see the child education shared benefit (Prepare)
- You perceive Daily Parental Attendance Allowance (AJPP)
- You have concluded civil service contract
- You meet the conditions for a full-rate pension or the working age limit
- You no longer live in France
- You made an incorrect or misleading statement resulting in the unjustified payment of unemployment benefits
Specific Solidarity Allowance (SSA)
If your rights end, you may, under certain conditions, specific solidarity allowance (ASS)).
If you are not eligible for the SSA, for a reason other than the resource condition, you can claim a lump sum payment equal to 27 times the amount of the fixed portion of the SSA, either €327.
Persons
Unintentional deprivation of employment
To collect the WFA, you must be involuntarily deprived of a job. Termination of your employment contract must result from one of the following:
- Termination for personal reason or economic reason or revocation
- Conventional Break
- No Renewal CDD
- Resignation considered legitimate (for example, to follow the person you live with as a couple)
FYI : if your contract is for a period of secure voluntary mobility ceases for one of these reasons, you can claim the ARE. However, if you are reinstated by your company or if you refuse your reinstatement, you cannot collect the AER.
Age conditions
You cannot collect the ARE if you have reached minimum legal retirement ageand you meet the conditions for quarters or age of entitlement to full-rate pension.
Physical Fitness
You are physically fit for a job.
Location
You must reside in France.
Register for Pôle emploi
To collect the ARE, you must be registered as an applicant for employment or complete training in your Custom Job Access Project (PPAE). You must register within 12 months of the end of your employment contract. This period may be extended due to certain situations (e.g. sick leave).
More, you must perform positive and repeated actions (for example, daily job search) to get back to work or to start or resume a company.
Periods taken into account
Minimum period of work
In order to qualify for the ARE, you must have worked at least 6 months (130 days or 910 hours) within Last 36 months on the end date of your employment contract.
This minimum period of work shall be duration of membership.
Taking into account last job
Pôle emploi checks to see if you have worked a minimum period of time before you registered.
If this is not the case, Pôle emploi can check if the condition is met by a previous employment contract.
This previous employment contract must have ended within 12 months prior to your registration as a jobseeker.
You must not have received any allocations in relation to this contract.
Training Periods
Training periods, except those paid by Pôle emploi, are treated as working hours. Training periods may also be treated as days of parentage up to 2/3 of the number of days or hours of affiliation taken into account.
Work Contract Suspension Period
Periods of suspension of the employment contract (e.g. occupational illness, accident at work, maternity or paternity leave) shall be taken into account on the basis of one day of affiliation per day of suspension.
Periods of suspension of the employment contract during which you have pursued a self-employed professional activity shall not be taken into account except in the following cases:
Chargeable rights
In the event of a loss of business, you benefit from the resumption of your original rights until they are exhausted. This option is only valid if you have resumed a professional activity when you have not exhausted your rights.
You will not have rechargeable rights if you are a former beneficiary of a apprenticeship contract compensated by Pôle emploi for this contract.
You must have worked 6 months (130 days or 910 hours) within Last 36 months to benefit from new rights with a new duration of compensation.
Option for rechargeable rights
You can have an option right between your old and new rights.
The right of option allows you to choose the allowance resulting from the last period of activity without waiting for the exhaustion of unused allowances from a previous right to unemployment.
You must have reworked at least 6 months. In addition, your daily allowance must not exceed €20 or you receive a new daily allowance, due to the last periods of employment, which is at least higher 30% to the remaining
You have 21 days to write to Pôle emploi. Once you have made your choice, you will not be able to reverse your decision.
If you exercise your right of option, you receive your allowance from your last employment period from the day of your application.
ERA amount
Estimate unemployment benefits
Pôle emploi
Gross
The daily gross amount of the AER shall include:
- a fixed part equal to €12.12
- and a variable part equal to 40,4% of reference daily wage (SJR).
This amount cannot be less than 57% and greater than 75% the reference daily wage.
You can use the Pôle emploi simulator to find out the amount of your unemployment benefits.
ARE minimum amounts
The net amount of the ARE cannot be less than €29.56.
However, the minimum amount of Return to Work Allowance Training (Aref) granted if you follow training, prescribed by Pôle emploi, is set to €21.17.
When your working time was less than the legal or conventional time, the minimum allowance is reduced proportionately.
ARE Degressivity
If your daily AAR is higher than a previous gross monthly salary on average of €4,500, a 30 % reduction shall be applied from 7e month of payment (with a floor fixed at €2,261 net per month).
This measure does not apply if you are 57 or older.
Please note : this applies to the ARE paid from 1to July 2021.
Contributions
A pick equal to 3% of the SJR, intended to finance supplementary pensions for beneficiaries of unemployment insurance, shall be paid on the gross amount of the daily allowance. This levy shall not have the effect of reducing the amount of the daily allowance below €29.56.
The ARE is also subject to a generalised social contribution (CSG) and a social debt repayment contribution (CRDS).
However, such contributions may be reduced or eliminated in any of the following situations:
- The gross amount of the AER is less than the amount of the Daily Sum, or €55
- The CSG and CRDS levy leads to a decrease in the net amount of the AER below the Daily Average
Length of payment of the AER
Between 53 and 54 years
The length of time you pay the Return to Work Allowance (RTA) depends on how long you have been in the last 36 months.
Duration (the 36 months preceding your contract) | Maximum compensation time |
|---|---|
Less than 6 months | No compensation |
Beyond 6 months | 182 calendar days minimum and 913 calendar days maximum |
FYI : if you are taking training validated by Pôle emploi as part of your custom job access project during your compensation, you can receive up to 6 months of additional unemployment benefits.
55+
The length of time you pay the Return to Work Allowance (RTA) depends on how long you have been in the last 36 months.
Duration (the 36 months preceding your contract) | Maximum compensation time |
|---|---|
Less than 6 months | No compensation |
Beyond 6 months | 182 calendar days minimum and 1,095 calendar days maximum |
If you are over 62 years of age and you have been receiving the AER for at least 1 year, the payment period may be extended until you meet the eligibility requirements a full-rate pension or up to the working age limit if you meet the following 2 conditions:
- Contributing 12 years to unemployment insurance (one year of which is continuous or 2 years discontinuous in the 5 years preceding the end of the employment contract)
- Justify 100 quarters of pension contributions
The duration of the payment of the AER shall be maintained
- 61 years and 7 months if you were born in 1954,
- from 61 years and 2 months if you were born in 1953.
Please note : if you participate in training paid by the State or region, the duration of the WRA is reduced by half the duration of the training. However, if your allowance entitlement is greater than 1 month from the date of entry into training, it cannot be reduced to less than 30 days.
If you are a part-time private sector employee (unemployment), beneficiary of the AER, the period of payment of the allowance is fixed at a maximum of 182 days.
However, if the suspension of the company's activity is due to a disaster or a natural disaster, this period may be extended until it is resumed.
Timeout
The ARE cannot be paid until the end of a waiting time, set at 7 days.
However, this waiting period does not apply if it has already been applied in the previous 12 months.
It starts at the end of the compensation deferrals (when applicable to you), if the conditions for the award of the AER are met on that date. Otherwise, it starts from the date on which these conditions are met.
Paid Leave Compensation Deferred
If you received vacation compensation, the ARE is paid after a time limit called compensation deferral.
This difference is determined by dividing the amount of this compensation by your reference daily wage. The result is the number of days of delay. If the result is not an integer, it is rounded to the higher integer.
For example, if you received a vacation pay offset from €570, and your reference daily wage is set at €100, the calculation is as follows: 570/100 = 5.7, reduced to 6 days of delay in compensation.
Specific compensation delay
When you receive severance benefits in addition to the statutory benefits, a specific compensation deferral is applied to these amounts. This specific differential is applicable, for example, in the following cases:
- Share of the conventional redundancy or conventional severance pay that exceeds the statutory redundancy
- Supplementary redundancy allowance supralegal
- Compensation for non-competition clause
This difference corresponds to a number of days obtained by dividing the amount of the allowance taken into account by 95,8. The result is rounded to the higher integer (if the result obtained is not an integer).
FYI : the delay must not exceed 150 calendar days (5 months) or, in case of dismissal for economic reasons, 75 calendar days.
For example, if you received (in addition to the statutory termination allowance) a supralegal compensation of €10 000 following the breach of your contract, the specific compensation delay is determined as follows: 10,000/95.8 = 104 days. To these 104 days are added the 7 days of waiting time. Your compensation will start after 111 days.
Payment of the ARE
The monthly amount of the allowances shall be equal to the daily amount of the AER multiplied by the number of days of the month concerned.
The allowances are paid each month due according to updating your situation (for example, early November for the October allocation).
They are paid by Pôle emploi if you were a private sector employee.
They are paid by the administration if you were a public official (except for agreements with Pôle emploi).
Payment depends on what you report each month: return to work, training, illness, etc.
You can request advances and prepayments under certain conditions.
Rollup with Activity Revenue
If you are engaged in a business while still reporting that you are looking for a job, you can combine your Return to Work (RTA) benefit with your employment income. The conditions of this accumulation vary depending on whether you are an employed or self-employed person.
End of rights
Termination
Payment of the ARE will stop if you are in one of the following situations:
- You return to a professional activity, whether employed or not, in France or at the foreigner, unless authorised by Pôle emploi to accumulate the ARE with an income from activity
- You perceive Help with recovery or company creation
- You perceive social security daily allowances
- You see the child education shared benefit (Prepare)
- You perceive Daily Parental Attendance Allowance (AJPP)
- You have concluded civil service contract
- You meet the conditions for a full-rate pension or the working age limit
- You no longer live in France
- You made an incorrect or misleading statement resulting in the unjustified payment of unemployment benefits
Specific Solidarity Allowance (SSA)
If your rights end, you may, under certain conditions, specific solidarity allowance (ASS)).
If you are not eligible for the SSA, for a reason other than the resource condition, you can claim a lump sum payment equal to 27 times the amount of the fixed portion of the SSA, either €327.
Before November 2019
Persons
Unintentional deprivation of employment
To collect the WFA, you must be involuntarily deprived of employment for one of the following reasons:
- Termination for personal reason or economic reason or revocation
- Conventional Break
- No Renewal CDD
- Resignation considered legitimate (for example, to follow the person you live with as a couple).
FYI : if your contract is for a period of secure voluntary mobility ceases for one of these reasons, you can claim the ARE. However, if you are reinstated by your company or if you refuse your reinstatement, you cannot collect the AER.
Physical Fitness
You are physically fit for a job.
Location
You must reside in France.
Register for Pôle emploi
To collect the ARE, you must be registered as an applicant for employment or complete training in your Custom Job Access Project (PPAE). You must register within 12 months of the end of your employment contract. This period may be extended due to certain situations (e.g. sick leave).
In addition, you must perform positive and repeated actions (for example, daily job search) to get back to work or to start or resume a company.
Periods taken into account
Minimum period of work
In order to qualify for the AER, you must have a minimum working period, known as duration of membership 88 days or 610 hours, during Last 28 months.
Taking into account last job
Pôle emploi checks to see if you have worked a minimum period of time before you registered.
If this is not the case, Pôle emploi can check if the condition is met by a previous employment contract.
This previous employment contract must have ended within 12 months prior to your registration as a jobseeker.
You must not have received any allocations in relation to this contract.
Training Periods
Training periods, except those paid by Pôle emploi, are treated as working hours. Training periods may also be treated as days of parentage up to 2/3 of the number of days or hours of affiliation taken into account.
Work Contract Suspension Period
Periods of suspension of the employment contract (e.g. occupational illness, accident at work, maternity or paternity leave) shall be taken into account on the basis of one day of affiliation per day of suspension. Periods of suspension of the employment contract during which you have pursued a self-employed professional activity shall not be taken into account except in the following cases:
Chargeable rights
In the event of a loss of business, you benefit from the resumption of your original rights until they are exhausted. This option is only valid if you have resumed a professional activity when you have not exhausted your rights.
You will not have rechargeable rights if you are a former beneficiary of a apprenticeship contract compensated by Pôle emploi for this contract.
If you have worked at least 150 hours (continuous or continuous) on the day your rights are exhausted, you will be entitled to new rights with a new duration of compensation.
Example: you benefit from the ARE for 600 days on a €25 per day. After 300 days, you return to a 50-day job. You will continue to be compensated on a €25 (same amount) per day for 250 days (remaining).
Option for rechargeable rights
You can have an option right between your old and new rights.
The right of option allows you to choose the allowance resulting from the last period of activity without waiting for the exhaustion of unused allowances from a previous right to unemployment.
You must have reworked at least 4 months. In addition, your daily allowance must not exceed €20 or you receive a new daily allowance, due to the last periods of employment, which is at least higher 30% to the remaining
You have 21 days to write to Pôle emploi. Once you have made your choice, you will not be able to reverse your decision.
If you exercise your right of option, you receive your allowance from your last employment period from the day of your application.
ERA amount
Estimate unemployment benefits
Pôle emploi
Gross
The daily gross amount of the AER shall include:
- a fixed part equal to €12.12,
- a variable part equal to 40,4% of reference daily wage (SJR)
This amount cannot be less than 57% and greater than 75% SJR
You can use the Pôle emploi simulator to find out the amount of your unemployment benefits.
ARE minimum amounts
The net amount of the ARE cannot be less than €29.56.
However, the minimum amount of Return to Work Allowance Training (Aref) granted if you follow training, prescribed by Pôle emploi, is set to €21.17.
When your working time was less than the legal or conventional time, the minimum allowance is reduced proportionately.
Contributions
A pick equal to 3% of the SJR, intended to finance supplementary pensions for beneficiaries of unemployment insurance, shall be paid on the gross amount of the daily allowance. This levy shall not have the effect of reducing the amount of the daily allowance below €29.56.
The ARE is also subject to a generalised social contribution (CSG) and a social debt repayment contribution (CRDS).
However, such contributions may be reduced or eliminated:
- if the gross amount of the AER is less than the amount of the Daily Sum, or €55,
- or if the CSG and CRDS levy leads to the net amount of the AER being reduced below the daily minimum.
Timeout
The ARE cannot be paid until the end of a waiting time, set at 7 days.
However, this waiting period does not apply if it has already been applied in the previous 12 months.
It starts at the end of the compensation deferrals (when applicable to you), if the conditions for the award of the AER are met on that date.
Otherwise, it starts from the date on which these conditions are met.
Paid Leave Compensation Deferred
If you received vacation compensation, the ARE is paid after a time limit called compensation deferral.
This difference is determined by dividing the amount of this compensation by your reference daily wage. The result is the number of days of delay. If the result is not an integer, it is rounded to the higher integer.
For example, if you received a vacation pay offset from €570, and your reference daily wage is set at €100, the calculation is as follows: 570/100 = 5.7, reduced to 6 days of delay in compensation.
Specific compensation delay
When you receive severance benefits in addition to the statutory benefits, a specific compensation deferral is applied to these amounts. This specific differential is applicable, for example:
- the share of the conventional termination indemnity or the conventional termination indemnity that exceeds the amount of the statutory termination indemnity
- the additional redundancy allowance supralegal
- compensation for non-compete clauses
This difference corresponds to a number of days obtained by dividing the amount of the allowance taken into account by 94,4. The result is rounded to the higher integer (if the result obtained is not an integer).
FYI : the delay must not exceed 150 calendar days (5 months) or, in case of dismissal for economic reasons, 75 calendar days.
For example, if you received (in addition to the statutory termination allowance) a supralegal compensation of €10 000 following the breach of your contract, the specific compensation delay is determined as follows: 10,000/94.4 = 106 days. To these 106 days are added the 7 days of waiting time. Your compensation will start after 113 days.
Payment of the ARE
The monthly amount of the allowances shall be equal to the daily amount of the AER multiplied by the number of days of the month concerned.
The allowances are paid each month due according to updating your situation (for example, early November for the October allocation).
They are paid by:
- Pôle emploi if you were a private sector employee
- by the administration if you were a public official (unless agreed with Pôle emploi)
Payment depends on what you report each month: return to work, training, illness, etc.
You can request advances and prepayments under certain conditions.
Length of payment of the AER
The length of time the Return to Work Allowance (RTA) is paid depends on the minimum period of work prior to your registration for the last 28 months. It's called duration of membership.
Duration (the 28 months preceding your contract) | Maximum compensation time |
|---|---|
Less than 4 months | No compensation |
Between 4 months and 2 years | Length of compensation = Length of service |
Over 2 years | 2 years (730 days) |
If you are a part-time private sector employee (unemployment), you can benefit from partial activity allowance for up to 182 days.
However, if the suspension of the company's activity is due to a disaster or a natural disaster, this period may be extended until it is resumed.
Rollup with Activity Revenue
If you are engaged in a business while still reporting that you are looking for a job, you can combine your Return to Work (RTA) benefit with your employment income. The conditions of this accumulation vary depending on whether you are an employed or self-employed person.
Employee activity
You resume an employee activity
If you report that you are still looking for a job after returning to work, your AER is partially paid. The amount of the AER paid is the amount of the daily AAR multiplied by the number of days of compensation per month by the AER.
This number of days is calculated using the following formula:
(Monthly AER amount - 70% of the salary of your new activity) / Daily AER amount. The resulting amount is rounded to the nearest integer.
The amount of time between the paid AER and your business income must not exceed your reference daily wage (SJR).
FYI : uncompensated days delay the end of your compensation.
You must report your business resumption when your situation is updated monthly. If you are unable to provide proof of your income, Pôle emploi will pay you a provisional advance and then adjust your situation the month after the proof is provided.
When you lose one of your jobs, the calculated WIP is fully accrued with the earnings of the job(s) you keep.
The SJRfor the purpose of calculating the ARE shall be determined on the basis of the remuneration corresponding to the job lost.
You keep an employee activity
When you lose one of your jobs, the calculated WIP is fully accrued with the earnings of the job(s) you keep.
The reference daily wage (SJR)for the purpose of calculating the ARE shall be determined on the basis of the remuneration corresponding to the job lost.
You must report your business resumption when your situation is updated monthly. If you are unable to provide proof of your income, Pôle emploi will pay you a provisional advance and then adjust your situation the month after the proof is provided.
When you lose one of your jobs, the calculated WIP is fully accrued with the earnings of the job(s) you keep.
The SJRfor the purpose of calculating the ARE shall be determined on the basis of the remuneration corresponding to the job lost.
Self-employed activity
If you report income without pay (for example, as a micro-entrepreneur) and you report that you are still looking for a job, your AER is partially paid. The amount of the AER paid is the amount of the daily AAR multiplied by the number of days of compensation per month for the AER.
This number of days is calculated using the following formula:
(Monthly AER amount - 70% of declared earnings for social insurance) / Daily AER amount.
The resulting amount is rounded to the nearest integer.
When the income is not known or when the activity begins, the number of days of compensation is calculated on the basis of a lump sum. An annual regularisation is then carried out on the basis of actual remuneration subject to social security contributions.
The amount of time between the paid AAR and your activity must not exceed your reference daily wage (SJR).
You must declare your return to business when monthly discount your situation.
If you are unable to provide proof of your income, Pôle emploi will pay you a provisional advance and then adjust your situation the month after the proof is provided.
End of rights
Termination
Payment of the ARE will stop if you are in one of the following situations:
- You return to a professional activity, whether employed or not, in France or at the foreigner, unless authorised by Pôle emploi to accumulate the ARE with an income from activity
- You perceive Help with recovery or company creation
- You perceive social security daily allowances
- You see the child education shared benefit (Prepare)
- You perceive Daily Parental Attendance Allowance (AJPP)
- You have concluded civil service contract
- You meet the conditions for a full-rate pension or the working age limit
- You no longer live in France
- You made an incorrect or misleading statement resulting in the unjustified payment of unemployment benefits
Specific Solidarity Allowance (SSA)
If your rights end, you may, under certain conditions, specific solidarity allowance (ASS)).
If you are not eligible for the SSA, for a reason other than the resource condition, you can claim a lump sum payment equal to 27 times the amount of the fixed portion of the SSA, either €327.
Persons
Unintentional deprivation of employment
To collect the WFA, you must be involuntarily deprived of a job. Termination of your employment contract must result from one of the following:
- Termination for personal reason or economic reason or revocation
- Conventional Break
- No Renewal CDD
- Resignation considered legitimate (for example, to follow the person you live with as a couple)
FYI : if your contract is for a period of secure voluntary mobility ceases for one of these reasons, you can claim the ARE. However, if you are reinstated by your company or if you refuse your reinstatement, you cannot collect the AER.
Age conditions
You cannot collect the ARE if you have reached minimum legal retirement ageand you meet the conditions for quarters or age of entitlement to full-rate pension.
Physical Fitness
You are physically fit for a job.
Location
You must reside in France.
Register for Pôle emploi
To collect the ARE, you must be registered as an applicant for employment or complete training in your Custom Job Access Project (PPAE). You must register within 12 months of the end of your employment contract. This period may be extended due to certain situations (e.g. sick leave).
In addition, you must perform positive and repeated actions (for example, daily job search) to get back to work or to start or resume a company.
Periods taken into account
Minimum period of work
In order to qualify for the AER, you must have a minimum working period, known as duration of membership 88 days or 610 hours of work, during Last 36 months.
Taking into account last job
Pôle emploi checks to see if you have worked a minimum period of time before you registered.
If this is not the case, Pôle emploi can check if the condition is met by a previous employment contract.
This previous employment contract must have ended within 12 months prior to your registration as a jobseeker.
You must not have received any allocations in relation to this contract.
Training Periods
Training periods, except those paid by Pôle emploi, are treated as working hours. Training periods may also be treated as days of parentage up to 2/3 of the number of days or hours of affiliation taken into account.
Work Contract Suspension Period
Periods of suspension of the employment contract (e.g. occupational illness, accident at work, maternity or paternity leave) shall be taken into account on the basis of one day of affiliation per day of suspension. Periods of suspension of the employment contract during which you have pursued a self-employed professional activity shall not be taken into account except in the following cases:
Chargeable rights
In the event of a loss of business, you benefit from the resumption of your original rights until they are exhausted. This option is only valid if you have resumed a professional activity when you have not exhausted your rights.
You will not have rechargeable rights if you are a former beneficiary of a apprenticeship contract compensated by Pôle emploi for this contract.
If you have worked at least 150 hours (continuous or continuous) on the day your rights are exhausted, you will be entitled to new rights with a new duration of compensation.
Example: you benefit from the ARE for 600 days on a €25 per day. After 300 days, you return to a 50-day job. You will continue to be compensated on a €25 (same amount) per day for 250 days (remaining).
Option for rechargeable rights
You can have an option right between your old and new rights.
The right of option allows you to choose the allowance resulting from the last period of activity without waiting for the exhaustion of unused allowances from a previous right to unemployment.
You must have reworked at least 4 months. In addition, your daily allowance must not exceed €20 or you receive a new daily allowance, due to the last periods of employment, which is at least higher 30% to the remaining
You have 21 days to write to Pôle emploi. Once you have made your choice, you will not be able to reverse your decision.
If you exercise your right of option, you receive your allowance from your last employment period from the day of your application.
ERA amount
Estimate unemployment benefits
Pôle emploi
Gross
The daily gross amount of the AER shall include:
- a fixed part equal to €12.12,
- a variable part equal to 40,4% of reference daily wage (SJR)
This amount cannot be less than 57% and greater than 75% the reference daily wage.
You can use the Pôle emploi simulator to find out the amount of your unemployment benefits.
ARE minimum amounts
The net amount of the ARE cannot be less than €29.56.
However, the minimum amount of Return to Work Allowance Training (Aref) granted if you follow training, prescribed by Pôle emploi, is set to €21.17.
When your working time was less than the legal or conventional time, the minimum allowance is reduced proportionately.
Contributions
A pick equal to 3% of the SJR, intended to finance supplementary pensions for beneficiaries of unemployment insurance, shall be paid on the gross amount of the daily allowance. This levy shall not have the effect of reducing the amount of the daily allowance below €29.56.
The ARE is also subject to a generalised social contribution (CSG) and a social debt repayment contribution (CRDS).
However, such contributions may be reduced or eliminated in any of the following situations:
- The gross amount of the AER is less than the amount of the Daily Sum, or €55
- The CSG and CRDS levy leads to a decrease in the net amount of the AER below the Daily Average
Length of payment of the AER
Between 53 and 54 years
The length of time the Return to Work Allowance (RTA) is paid depends on the minimum period of work prior to your enrolment duration of membershipin the last 36 months.
Duration (the 36 months preceding your contract) | Maximum compensation time |
|---|---|
Less than 4 months | No compensation |
Between 4 months and 3 years | Length of compensation = Length of service |
Over 3 years | 913 days |
FYI : if you are taking training validated by Pôle emploi as part of your custom job access project during your compensation, you can receive up to 6 months of additional unemployment benefits.
55+
The length of time the Return to Work Allowance (RTA) is paid depends on the minimum period of work prior to your registration for the last 36 months. It's called duration of membership,
Duration (the 36 months preceding your contract) | Maximum compensation time |
|---|---|
Less than 4 months | No compensation |
Between 4 months and 3 years | Length of compensation = Length of service |
Over 3 years | 36 months (1,095 days) |
If you are over 62 years of age and have been receiving the WFA for at least 1 year, the payout period may be extended until you qualify for the benefit a full-rate pension or up to the working age limit if you meet the following conditions:
- Contributing 12 years to unemployment insurance (one year of which is continuous or 2 years discontinuous in the 5 years preceding the end of the employment contract)
- Justify 100 quarters of pension contributions
The duration of the payment of the AER shall be maintained
- 61 years and 7 months if you were born in 1954,
- from 61 years and 2 months if you were born in 1953.
Please note : if you participate in training paid by the State or region, the duration of the WRA is reduced by half the duration of the training. However, if your allowance entitlement is greater than 1 month from the date of entry into training, it cannot be reduced to less than 30 days.
If you are a part-time private sector employee (unemployment), beneficiary of the AER, the period of payment of the allowance is fixed at a maximum of 182 days.
However, if the suspension of the company's activity is due to a disaster or a natural disaster, this period may be extended until it is resumed.
Timeout
The ARE cannot be paid until the end of a waiting time, set at 7 days.
However, this waiting period does not apply if it has already been applied in the previous 12 months.
It starts at the end of the compensation deferrals (when applicable to you), if the conditions for the award of the AER are met on that date. Otherwise, it starts from the date on which these conditions are met.
Paid Leave Compensation Deferred
If you received vacation compensation, the ARE is paid after a time limit called compensation deferral.
This difference is determined by dividing the amount of this compensation by your reference daily wage. The result is the number of days of delay. If the result is not an integer, it is rounded to the higher integer.
For example, if you received a vacation pay offset from €570, and your reference daily wage is set at €100, the calculation is as follows: 570/100 = 5.7, reduced to 6 days of delay in compensation.
Specific compensation delay
When you receive severance benefits in addition to the statutory benefits, a specific compensation deferral is applied to these amounts. This specific differential applies, for example, to the following cases:
- Share of the conventional redundancy or conventional severance pay that exceeds the statutory redundancy
- Supplementary redundancy allowance supralegal
- Compensation for non-competition clause
This difference corresponds to a number of days obtained by dividing the amount of the allowance taken into account by 94,4. The result is rounded to the higher integer (if the result obtained is not an integer).
FYI : the delay must not exceed 150 calendar days (5 months) or, in case of dismissal for economic reasons, 75 calendar days.
For example, if you received (in addition to the statutory termination allowance) a supralegal compensation of €10 000 following the breach of your contract, the specific compensation delay is determined as follows: 10,000/94.4 = 106 days. To these 106 days are added the 7 days of waiting time. Your compensation will start after 113 days.
Payment of the ARE
The monthly amount of the allowances shall be equal to the daily amount of the AER multiplied by the number of days of the month concerned.
Allowances are paid monthly due based on updating your situation (for example, early November for the October allocation).
They are paid by Pôle emploi if you were a private sector employee.
They are paid by the administration if you were a public official (except for agreements with Pôle emploi).
Payment depends on what you report each month: return to work, training, illness, etc.
You can request advances and prepayments under certain conditions.
Rollup with Activity Revenue
If you are engaged in a business while still reporting that you are looking for a job, you can combine your Return to Work (RTA) benefit with your employment income. The conditions of this accumulation vary depending on whether you are an employed or self-employed person.
End of rights
Termination
Payment of the ARE will stop if you are in one of the following situations:
- You return to a professional activity, whether employed or not, in France or at the foreigner, unless authorised by Pôle emploi to accumulate the ARE with an income from activity
- You perceive Help with recovery or company creation
- You perceive social security daily allowances
- You see the child education shared benefit (Prepare)
- You perceive Daily Parental Attendance Allowance (AJPP)
- You have concluded civil service contract
- You meet the conditions for a full-rate pension or the working age limit
- You no longer live in France
- You made an incorrect or misleading statement resulting in the unjustified payment of unemployment benefits
Specific Solidarity Allowance (SSA)
If your rights end, you may, under certain conditions, specific solidarity allowance (ASS)).
If you are not eligible for the SSA, for a reason other than the resource condition, you can claim a lump sum payment equal to 27 times the amount of the fixed portion of the SSA, either €327.