What rights to unemployment after a work-study contract?

As an alternate, you are bound to your company by an employment contract, like all other employees. Similarly, like them, you contribute to unemployment. You therefore benefit from the same access to the unemployment benefit as other employees. The rules described apply for the purposes of the contract from 1^er April 2025, in accordance with the new unemployment insurance agreement.

To collect the WFA, you must:

• have worked at least 6 months (130 days or 910 hours) in the last 24 months;
• not having left your position voluntarily;
• be actively looking for work;
• be physically fit to work;
• live in a territory covered by unemployment insurance (metropolitan France, overseas departments outside Mayotte, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin).

What are the steps to take to collect the WFAA?

In order to benefit from the return to employment assistance allowance, you must register at France Labor ; you can register within 12 months of losing your job but it is advisable to do so the day after the last day of your contract.

In particular, you must provide:

• a copy of your salary slips;
• the employer attestation for France Travail that was sent to you at the end of your contract;
• a copy of a piece of identification.

The amount of your WFA depends on the salary you received during your apprenticeship or professionalization contract; it is calculated from a reference daily wage. Since April 2025, the monthly amount of the allowance is calculated on a fixed basis of 30 calendar days, regardless of the month. You can use the France travail simulator to estimate the amount of your ARE.

As with any employee who finds himself unemployed, your compensation does not start at the end of your employment contract but after 7 days. This period may be extended if you have received:

• compensatory leave with pay (a sum of money paid by your company when you have untaken paid leave at the end of your employment contract);
• an indemnity for breach of contract, the amount of which is greater than the minimum provided for by the Labor Code.

The length of time you can collect the WFA varies depending on the length of your work-study contract, but in any case, it may not be more than 2 years (730 days).

What is the right of option?

The right of option allows a recipient to apply for a new entitlement to the WFAA even if his previous entitlements have not been exhausted, allowing him to receive a higher allowance. It can be used when one or more higher-paying jobs have been performed and subsequently lost. The new amount of the WFA and the duration of the compensation are then calculated on the basis of these recent jobs.

In order to exercise this right of option, it is necessary:

• the amount of the daily allowance of the previous entitlement to the WFAA is less than or equal to €20;
• or the remaining "entitlement capital" of the recipient is 30% lower than its potential entitlement capital.

Former apprentices and holders of a professionalization contract may exercise their right of option without any condition linked to the amount of their previous allowance or their entitlement capital, provided that they have worked at least 130 days or 910 hours since the end of their contract.