Unemployment benefit for assistance in returning to employment (ARE) of a public official whose employment contract ends before 1 April 2025
Verified 01 June 2026 - Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
Additional cases ?
Can you receive the unemployment benefit for assistance in returning to work (ARE) in the event of loss of employment? What are the conditions for receiving the allowance? The compensation conditions are not the same depending on your age and the date of your termination of employment contract. We present you the information to know.
This page does not present the specific rules applicable to Mayotte.
What applies to you ?
Rules on compensation following termination of employment contract after 1 April 2025 are presented in another sheet.
You are under 53
If you are a civil servant or a contractor FIXED-TERM: titleContent or in DTA: titleContent unintentionally deprived of employment, you can claim unemployment benefits.
You are involuntarily deprived of employment if you are in any of the following situations:
- Staff member dismissed or revoked
- Staff member not reinstated and automatically kept on standby following secondment or standby
- Contract in permanent or permanent contract
- Fixed-term contract whose contract has expired and to which the administration has not offered a renewal
- A fixed-term contract whose contract has expired and who refuses to renew his contract for a legitimate reason linked to personal considerations or a substantial modification of the contract not justified by the employer administration
- Contract employee on a fixed-term contract who resigns to follow the spouse who changes place of residence to pursue a new job
- Contract worker on a fixed-term contract who resigns due to the substantial modification of the employment contract without justification by the employer
- Public servant who resigns to follow the spouse who changes place of residence to take up a new job
- Staff member who resigns in order to follow his disabled child admitted to a care facility, the removal of which results in a change of residence
- Staff member who resigns because of marriage or Civil partnership provided that less than 2 months elapse between the date of marriage or Civil partnership and the date of resignation
- Staff member who resigns due to change of residence due to domestic violence
- Civil servant or contractor who resigns to enter into a civic service or voluntary service contract
- Civil servant or contract employee on a permanent contract who has signed a contract termination
FYI
A staff member who has abandoned his post may not receive unemployment benefits.
Yes, in order to collect the WFAA, you must be registered as a jobseeker or to complete a training course listed in your contract of employment.
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 need to perform positive and repetitive actions (e.g. daily job posting) in order to find a job or start or resume a company.
Minimum period of work
To qualify for the WFA, you must have worked at least 6 months (either 130 days or 910 hours) in Last 24 months at the end date of your employment contract.
This minimum period of work is called duration of affiliation.
Taking into account the last job held
France Travail checks if you have worked a minimum period of work before your registration.
If this is not the case, France Travail can check whether the condition is fulfilled 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 allowances in connection with this contract.
Training periods
Training periods, except those paid by France Travail, are treated as working hours.
Training periods may also be treated as days of affiliation up to a limit of 2/3 of the number of days or hours of affiliation taken into account.
Periods of suspension of the employment contract
Periods of suspension of the employment contract (e.g. occupational illness, maternity or paternity leave) shall be taken into account at the rate of one day of affiliation per day of suspension.
The periods of suspension of the employment contract during which you have exercised a self-employed professional activity are not taken into account But there are 3 exceptions: leave for company creation, of sabbatical leave and secure voluntary mobility shall be taken into account.
In case of loss of activity, you benefit from the resumption of your initial rights until they are exhausted.
This possibility is only valid if you have resumed a professional activity while you had not exhausted your rights.
You then benefit from so-called rights rechargeable.
You must have worked 6 months (either 130 days or 910 hours) in Last 24 months to benefit from new rights with a new compensation period.
FYI
You will not benefit from rechargeable rights if you have been on an apprenticeship contract and have been compensated by France Travail for this contract.
You can have an option right between your old and new rights.
The right of option allows the choice of the benefit resulting from the last period of activity without waiting for the unused benefits of a previous unemployment entitlement to be exhausted.
In order to exercise your right of option, you must:
- Have unpaid unemployment benefits
- Have worked at least 6 months since opening your current rights
- Receive a daily allowance less than or equal to €20 or claim an increase of at least 30% in relation to the total amount of your initial entitlements.
You have 21 days reflection to inform France Travail in writing. 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 periods of employment from the day of your application.
Gross amount
The gross daily amount of the ARE includes:
- a fixed part equal to €13.18
- and a variable part, equal to 40.4% from reference daily wage (SJR).
This amount may not be less than 57% and may not be greater than 75% of the SJR.
Minimum amount of the ARE
The net amount of the WFA may not be less than €32.13.
If you follow a training prescribed by France Travail, you will receive the return-to-work training allowance (Aref). Its minimum amount shall be €22.99.
When your working hours were less than legal or conventional, the minimum allocation shall be reduced proportionately.
You can estimate the amount of your unemployment benefits using this simulator:
Guide to benefit simulators and aids from France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi)
Coverage of compensation
To find out if a management agreement has been concluded between your administration and France Travail, ask your former employer's human resources department directly.
Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement
Compensation by the administration
Your administration gives you:
- the France Travail certificate to assert your rights to unemployment
- and a work certificate specifying the period of employment, the nature of the job or jobs occupied and, where applicable, the periods of leave not assimilated to periods of actual work.
The administration must fill out a public sector liaison form and provide it to you for you to send it to France Travail.
If the administration ensures your unemployment compensation, France Travail informs you by mail (called rejection letter) explaining that the administration will pay the WFAA. The administration receives a copy of this letter and its claim for compensation.
Upon receipt of the letter from France Travail, you must contact your administration.
After studying your rights, the administration informs you by mail of the amount of the ARE to which you are entitled and its duration of payment.
Please note
If you have worked longer in the public service than in the private sector during the period taken into account for the calculation of your entitlements, you will be compensated by your public employer. However, if you have worked longer in the private sector during the period taken into account for the calculation of your rights, you are compensated by France Travail.
Compensation by France Travail
Your administration gives you:
- the France Travail certificate to assert your rights to unemployment
- and a work certificate specifying the period of employment, the nature of the job or jobs occupied and, where applicable, the periods of leave not assimilated to periods of actual work.
In some cases, for example for certain ministries, the public employer may have signed a management agreement with France Travail. In this case, your contact person will only be France Travail (for example, to know if the agent is entitled to the ARE).
Please note
If you have worked longer in the public service than in the private sector during the period taken into account for the calculation of your entitlements, you will be compensated by your public employer. However, if you have worked longer in the private sector during the period taken into account for the calculation of your rights, you are compensated by France Travail.
Degressivity of ARE
If your daily WFA is higher than a previous gross daily wage on average €159.68 (or €4,857.81 monthly gross on average), a reduction of 30% is applied from 7e month of payment.
Your allowance after degressivity may not be less than €92.57 gross per day (approximately €2,777 crude for a month of 30 days).
Contributions
A levy equal to 3% of your SJR is made on the gross amount of your daily allowance.
This levy may not have the effect of reducing the amount of the daily allowance below €32.13.
The ARE is also subject to a generalized social contribution (CSG) and a social debt repayment contribution (CRDS).
However, such contributions may be reduced or abolished in one of the following situations:
- The gross amount of the ARE is less than the amount of the daily minimum wage, i.e €61.55
- The levy on the CSG and the CRDS leads to a reduction in the net amount of the ARE below the daily minimum wage.
Waiting time
The WFAA cannot be paid until the end of a wait 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 awarding the ARE are met on that date.
Otherwise, it starts from the date on which these conditions are met.
Deferred compensation for paid leave
If you have received a compensatory allowance for paid leave, the WFA is paid after a called time limit deferred compensation.
This deferral is determined by dividing the amount of this compensatory allowance by your reference daily wage. The result obtained gives the number of days of delay. If the result obtained is not an integer, it is rounded up to the next integer.
Example :
If you have received a holiday pay allowance of €570, and your reference daily wage is set at €100, the calculation is as follows: 570/100 = 5.7, reduced to 6 days of deferred compensation.
Specific deferred compensation
When you receive termination benefits in addition to statutory benefits, a specific compensation deferral is applied to these amounts. This specific delay shall apply, for example, in the following cases:
- Part of the contractual termination indemnity or the contractual termination indemnity that exceeds the amount of the statutory termination indemnity
- Supplementary severance pay supralegal
- Compensation paid in case of non-compete clause.
This delay corresponds to a number of days obtained by dividing the amount of the allowance taken into account by 107.9. The result is rounded up to the next integer (if the result is not an integer).
FYI
the delay shall not exceed 150 calendar days (5 months) or, in the case of dismissal for economic reasons, 75 calendar days.
Example :
If you have received (in addition to the statutory termination indemnity) a supralegal indemnity of €10,000 following the termination of your contract, the specific compensation delay is determined as follows: 10,000/107.9 = 93. To these 93 days are added the 7 days waiting period. Your compensation will start after 100 days.
Allowances are paid by France Travail each month according to updating your situation (for example, early November for the October allowance).
The payment depends on what you declare each month: resumption of activity, entry into training, illness, etc.
Under certain conditions, you can request advances and down payments.
Warning
The payment of the WFA is made on the basis of 30 compensable days per month, regardless of the month concerned (instead of the number of days) calendars month). This measure applies to all recipients, regardless of the date on which their entitlements are opened.
The duration of payment of the WFA depends on the end date of your employment contract:
Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement
Your employment contract ended before February 1, 2023
The length of time you receive the Return to Employment Assistance (REA) depends on how long you have been in the last 24 months.
Duration of employment (the 24 months preceding your contract) | Duration of compensation |
|---|---|
Less than 6 months | No compensation |
Beyond 6 months | 182 calendar days minimum and 730 calendar days maximum |
Your employment contract has ended since or after February 1, 2023
Since 1er in february 2023, new rules on the duration of unemployment benefit payments apply depending on the labor market situation :
- If the overall unemployment rate is less than 9% and that it has not progressed 0.8% over 1 quarter, your compensation period is reduced by 25%
- If the overall unemployment rate is less than 9% and that it has made progress in 0.8%, the previous rules on the duration of compensation shall apply.
The overall unemployment rate is currently below 9% and has not made any progress 0.8% over 1 quarter. Reduction of the duration of compensation of 25% applies.
Thus, the maximum duration of payment of your compensation at the opening of your entitlements to the ARE will then be 548 calendar days (instead of 730 days).
France Travail informs you of the reduction of the duration of your entitlements to the ARE or the return of your entitlements to the initial duration.
Warning
- If you register for France Travail from 1er February 2023 and if your dismissal occurred before that date, you are not affected by this provision.
- Expatriates and residents of Drom: titleContent and Com are not affected by that provision either.
You can benefit from a so-called end of rights supplement CFD, depending on your situation.
The duration of this supplement is a maximum of 182 days.
If your compensation period has been calculated according to the rules applicable to 1er in february 2023, you can also benefit from a so-called end-of-training supplement SBB, depending on your situation. To do this, you need to follow a qualifying training, registered at your PPAE and of a duration of 6 months or more.
If you are working and still claiming to be looking for a job, you can combine your Return to Employment Assistance (REA) with income from work.
The conditions for this accumulation vary depending on whether you are employed or self-employed:
Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement
Employed activity
You are resuming paid employment
After resumption of activity, if you declare that you are still looking for a job, your ARE is paid in part. The amount of the WFAA paid is the amount of the daily WFAA multiplied by the number of compensable days per month by the WFAA.
This number of compensable days is calculated using the following formula:
(Monthly WFA amount - 70% of the salary of your new activity) / daily WFA amount
The sum obtained is rounded to the nearest integer.
The cumulative amount of the WFAA paid and your income from work must not exceed your reference daily wage (SJR).
FYI
The days not compensated will decrease the end of your compensation.
You must report your resumption of activity during the monthly update of your situation. If you are unable to provide proof of your income, France Travail will pay you an advance calculated provisionally, then regularize your situation the month following the provision of proof.
When you lose one of your jobs, the calculated WFA is fully cumulated with the income of the job(s) retained.
The SJR, used to calculate the WFA, is determined on the basis of the remuneration corresponding to the job lost.
You keep an employed activity
When you lose one of your jobs, the calculated WFA is fully cumulated with the income of the job(s) retained.
The reference daily wage (SJR), used to calculate the WFA, shall be determined on the basis of the remuneration corresponding to the job lost.
You must report your resumption of activity during the monthly update of your situation. If you are unable to provide proof of your income, France Travail will pay you an advance calculated provisionally, then regularize your situation the month following the provision of proof.
When you lose one of your jobs, the calculated WFA is fully cumulated with the income of the job(s) retained.
The SJR, used to calculate the WFA, is determined on the basis of the remuneration corresponding to the job lost.
Self-employment
If you report self-employed income (for example, as a micro-entrepreneur) and you report that you are still looking for a job, your ARE is paid in part. The amount of the WFAA paid is the amount of the daily WFAA multiplied by the number of days compensable per month for the WFAA.
This number of compensable days is calculated using the following formula:
(Amount of the monthly ARE - 70% of the declared remuneration for social insurance) / amount of the daily ARE
The sum obtained is rounded to the nearest integer.
When the income is not known or when the activity begins, the calculation of the number of days eligible for compensation is based on a lump sum. An annual adjustment is then made on the basis of actual earnings subject to social security contributions.
The cumulative amount of the WFAA paid and your activity must not exceed your reference daily wage (SJR).
You must declare your business resumption when the monthly update of your situation.
If you are unable to provide proof of your income, France Travail will pay you an advance calculated provisionally, then regularize your situation the month following the provision of proof.
Termination of payment
The payment of the WFAA ceases if you are in one of the following situations:
- You resume a professional activity, whether salaried or not, in France or abroad, unless authorized by France Travail to accumulate the ARE with an income from activity
- You perceive aid for the recovery or creation of a company
- You perceive daily allowances from the Social Security
- You perceive the shared child-rearing benefit (Prepare)
- You perceive the daily allowance for parental presence (AJPP)
- You have concluded a civic service contract
- You are eligible for a full-rate pension or you have reached the working age limit
- You no longer reside in France
- You have made an inaccurate or misleading statement resulting in the unjustified payment of unemployment benefits.
Specific Solidarity Allowance (SSA)
If your rights end, you may, under certain conditions, benefit from the specific solidarity allowance (SSA)).
If you are not eligible for the SSA, for reasons other than the means test, you can apply for a lump sum equal to 27 times the amount of the fixed part of the WFA, i.e. €356.
You are between 53 and 54 years old
If you are a civil servant or a contractor FIXED-TERM: titleContent or in DTA: titleContent unintentionally deprived of employment, you can claim unemployment benefits.
You are involuntarily deprived of employment if you are in any of the following situations:
- Staff member dismissed or revoked
- Staff member not reinstated and automatically kept on standby following secondment or standby
- Contract in permanent or permanent contract
- Fixed-term contract whose contract has expired and to which the administration has not offered a renewal
- A fixed-term contract whose contract has expired and who refuses to renew his contract for a legitimate reason linked to personal considerations or a substantial modification of the contract not justified by the employer administration
- Contract employee on a fixed-term contract who resigns to follow the spouse who changes place of residence to pursue a new job
- Contract worker on a fixed-term contract who resigns due to the substantial modification of the employment contract without justification by the employer
- Public servant who resigns to follow the spouse who changes place of residence to take up a new job
- Staff member who resigns in order to follow his disabled child admitted to a care facility, the removal of which results in a change of residence
- Staff member who resigns because of marriage or Civil partnership provided that less than 2 months elapse between the date of marriage or Civil partnership and the date of resignation
- Staff member who resigns due to change of residence due to domestic violence
- Staff member who resigns to enter into a civic service or voluntary service contract
- Civil servant or contract employee on a permanent contract who has signed a contractual breach.
FYI
A staff member who has abandoned his post may not receive unemployment benefits.
Yes, in order to collect the WFAA, you must be registered as a jobseeker or to complete a training course listed in your contract of employment.
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 need to perform positive and repetitive actions (e.g. daily job posting) to find a job or to start or resume a company.
Minimum period of work
To qualify for the WFA, you must have worked at least 6 months (either 130 days or 910 hours) in Last 24 months at the end date of your employment contract.
This minimum period of work is called duration of affiliation.
Taking into account the last job held
France Travail checks if you have worked a minimum period of work before your registration.
If this is not the case, France Travail can check whether the condition is fulfilled 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 allowances in connection with this contract.
Training periods
Training periods, except those paid by France Travail, are treated as working hours.
Training periods may also be treated as days of affiliation up to a limit of 2/3 of the number of days or hours of affiliation taken into account.
Periods of suspension of the employment contract
Periods of suspension of the employment contract (e.g. occupational illness, maternity or paternity leave) shall be taken into account at the rate of one day of affiliation per day of suspension.
Periods of suspension of the employment contract during which you have exercised a self-employed professional activity are not taken into account. But there are 3 exceptions: the periods of leave for company creation, of sabbatical leave and secure voluntary mobility shall be taken into account.
In case of loss of activity, you benefit from the resumption of your initial rights until they are exhausted.
This possibility is only valid if you have resumed a professional activity while you had not exhausted your rights.
You then benefit from so-called rights rechargeable.
You must have worked 6 months (either 130 days or 910 hours) in Last 36 months to benefit from new rights with a new compensation period.
FYI
You will not benefit from rechargeable rights if you have been on an apprenticeship contract and have been compensated by France Travail for this contract.
Choice of rechargeable rights
You can have an option right between your old and new rights.
The right of option allows the choice of the benefit resulting from the last period of activity without waiting for the unused benefits of a previous unemployment entitlement to be exhausted.
In order to exercise your right of option, you must:
- Have unpaid unemployment benefits
- Have worked at least 6 months since opening your current rights
- Receive a daily allowance less than or equal to €20 or claim an increase of at least 30% in relation to the total amount of your initial entitlements.
You have 21 days reflection to inform France Travail in writing. 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 periods of employment from the day of your application.
Gross amount
The gross daily amount of the ARE includes:
- a fixed part equal to €13.18
- and a variable part, equal to 40.4% from reference daily wage (SJR).
This amount may not be less than 57% and may not be greater than 75% of the SJR.
Minimum amount of the ARE
The net amount of the WFA may not be less than €32.13.
If you follow a training prescribed by France Travail, you will receive the return-to-work training allowance (Aref). Its minimum amount shall be €22.99.
When your working hours were less than legal or conventional, the minimum allocation shall be reduced proportionately.
You can estimate the amount of your unemployment benefits using this simulator:
Guide to benefit simulators and aids from France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi)
Coverage of compensation
To find out if a management agreement has been concluded between your administration and France Travail, ask your former employer's human resources department directly.
Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement
Compensation by the administration
Your administration gives you:
- the France Travail certificate to assert your rights to unemployment
- and a work certificate specifying the period of employment, the nature of the job or jobs occupied and, where applicable, the periods of leave not assimilated to periods of actual work.
The administration must fill out a public sector liaison form and provide it to you for you to send it to France Travail.
If the administration ensures your unemployment compensation, France Travail informs you by mail (called rejection letter) explaining that the administration will pay the WFAA. The administration receives a copy of this letter and its claim for compensation.
Upon receipt of the letter from France Travail, you must contact your administration.
After studying your rights, the administration informs you by mail of the amount of the ARE to which you are entitled and its duration of payment.
Please note
If you have worked longer in the public service than in the private sector during the period taken into account for the calculation of your entitlements, you will be compensated by your public employer. However, if you have worked longer in the private sector during the period taken into account for the calculation of your rights, you are compensated by France Travail.
Compensation by France Travail
Your administration gives you:
- the France Travail certificate to assert your rights to unemployment
- and a work certificate specifying the period of employment, the nature of the job or jobs occupied and, where applicable, the periods of leave not assimilated to periods of actual work.
In some cases, for example for certain ministries, the public employer may have signed a management agreement with France Travail. In this case, your contact person will only be France Travail (for example, to know if the agent is entitled to the ARE).
Please note
If you have worked longer in the public service than in the private sector during the period taken into account for the calculation of your entitlements, you will be compensated by your public employer. However, if you have worked longer in the private sector during the period taken into account for the calculation of your rights, you are compensated by France Travail.
Degressivity of ARE
If your daily WFA is higher than a previous gross daily wage on average €159.68 (or €4,857.81 monthly gross on average), a reduction of 30% is applied from 7e month of payment.
Your allowance after degressivity may not be less than €92.57 gross per day (approximately €2,777 crude for a month of 30 days).
Contributions
A levy equal to 3% of your SJR is made on the gross amount of your daily allowance.
This levy may not have the effect of reducing the amount of the daily allowance below €32.13.
The ARE is also subject to a generalized social contribution (CSG) and a social debt repayment contribution (CRDS).
However, such contributions may be reduced or abolished in one of the following situations:
- The gross amount of the ARE is less than the amount of the daily minimum wage, i.e €61.55
- The levy on the CSG and the CRDS leads to a reduction in the net amount of the ARE below the daily minimum wage.
Waiting time
The WFAA cannot be paid until the end of a wait 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 awarding the ARE are met on that date.
Otherwise, it starts from the date on which these conditions are met.
Deferred compensation for paid leave
If you have received a compensatory allowance for paid leave, the WFA is paid after a called time limit deferred compensation.
This deferral is determined by dividing the amount of this compensatory allowance by your reference daily wage. The result obtained gives the number of days of delay. If the result obtained is not an integer, it is rounded up to the next integer.
Example :
If you have received a holiday pay allowance of €570, and your reference daily wage is set at €100, the calculation is as follows: 570/100 = 5.7, reduced to 6 days of deferred compensation.
Specific deferred compensation
When you receive termination benefits in addition to statutory benefits, a specific compensation deferral is applied to these amounts. This specific delay shall apply, for example, in the following cases:
- Part of the contractual termination indemnity or the contractual termination indemnity that exceeds the amount of the statutory termination indemnity
- Supplementary severance pay supralegal
- Compensation paid in case of non-compete clause.
This delay corresponds to a number of days obtained by dividing the amount of the allowance taken into account by 107.9. The result is rounded up to the next integer (if the result is not an integer).
FYI
The delay shall not exceed 150 calendar days (5 months) or, in the case of dismissal for economic reasons, 75 calendar days.
Example :
If you have received (in addition to the statutory termination indemnity) a supralegal indemnity of €10,000 following the termination of your contract, the specific compensation delay is determined as follows: 10,000/107.9 = 93. To these 93 days are added the 7 days waiting period. Your compensation will start after 100 days.
Allowances are paid by France Travail each month according to updating your situation (for example, early November for the October allowance).
The payment depends on what you declare each month: resumption of activity, entry into training, illness, etc.
Under certain conditions, you can request advances and down payments.
Warning
The payment of the WFA is made on the basis of 30 compensable days per month, regardless of the month concerned (instead of the number of days) calendars month). This measure applies to all recipients, regardless of the date on which their entitlements are opened.
The duration of payment of the WFA depends on the end date of your employment contract:
Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement
Your employment contract ended before February 1, 2023
The duration of the return to employment assistance (RTA) payment depends on your length of service in the last 36 months.
Duration of employment (the 36 months preceding your contract) | Maximum compensation period |
|---|---|
Less than 6 months | No compensation |
Beyond 6 months | 182 calendar days minimum and 913 calendar days maximum |
Your employment contract has ended since or after February 1, 2023
Since 1er in february 2023, new rules on the duration of unemployment benefit payments apply depending on the labor market situation :
- If the overall unemployment rate is less than 9% and that it has not progressed 0.8% over 1 quarter, your compensation period is reduced by 25%
- If the overall unemployment rate is less than 9% and that it has made progress in 0.8%, the previous rules on the duration of compensation shall apply.
The overall unemployment rate is currently below 9% and has not made any progress 0.8% over 1 quarter. Reduction of the duration of compensation of 25% applies.
Thus, the maximum duration of payment of your compensation at the opening of your entitlements to the ARE will then be 685 calendar days (instead of 913 days).
France Travail informs you of the reduction of the duration of your entitlements to the ARE or the return of your entitlements to the initial duration.
Warning
- If you register for France Travail from 1er February 2023 and if your dismissal occurred before that date, you are not affected by this provision.
- Expatriates and residents of Drom: titleContent and Com are not affected by that provision either.
You can benefit from a so-called end of rights supplement CFD, depending on your situation.
The duration of this supplement is a maximum of 182 days.
If your compensation period has been calculated according to the rules applicable to 1er in february 2023, you can also benefit from a so-called end-of-training supplement SBB, depending on your situation. To do this, you need to follow a qualifying training, registered at your PPAE and of a duration of 6 months or more.
If you are working and still claiming to be looking for a job, you can combine your Return to Employment Assistance (REA) with income from work.
The conditions for this accumulation vary depending on whether you are employed or self-employed:
Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement
Employed activity
You are resuming paid employment
After resumption of activity, if you declare that you are still looking for a job, your ARE is paid in part. The amount of the WFAA paid is the amount of the daily WFAA multiplied by the number of compensable days per month by the WFAA.
This number of compensable days is calculated using the following formula:
(amount of the monthly ARE - 70% of the salary of your new activity) / amount of the daily ARE
The sum obtained is rounded to the nearest integer.
The cumulative amount of the WFAA paid and your income from work must not exceed your reference daily wage (SJR).
FYI
The days not compensated will decrease the end of your compensation.
You must report your resumption of activity during the monthly update of your situation. If you are unable to provide proof of your income, France Travail will pay you an advance calculated provisionally, then regularize your situation the month following the provision of proof.
When you lose one of your jobs, the calculated WFA is fully cumulated with the income of the job(s) retained.
The SJR, used to calculate the WFA, is determined on the basis of the remuneration corresponding to the job lost.
You keep an employed activity
When you lose one of your jobs, the calculated WFA is fully cumulated with the income of the job(s) retained.
The reference daily wage (SJR), used to calculate the WFA, shall be determined on the basis of the remuneration corresponding to the job lost.
You must report your resumption of activity during the monthly update of your situation. If you are unable to provide proof of your income, France Travail will pay you an advance calculated provisionally, then regularize your situation the month following the provision of proof.
When you lose one of your jobs, the calculated WFA is fully cumulated with the income of the job(s) retained.
The SJR, used to calculate the WFA, is determined on the basis of the remuneration corresponding to the job lost.
Self-employment
If you report self-employed income (for example, as a micro-entrepreneur) and you report that you are still looking for a job, your ARE is paid in part. The amount of the WFAA paid is the amount of the daily WFAA multiplied by the number of days compensable per month for the WFAA.
This number of compensable days is calculated using the following formula:
(Amount of the monthly ARE - 70% of the declared remuneration for social insurance) / amount of the daily ARE
The sum obtained is rounded to the nearest integer.
When the income is not known or when the activity begins, the calculation of the number of days eligible for compensation is based on a lump sum. An annual adjustment is then made on the basis of actual earnings subject to social security contributions.
The cumulative amount of the WFAA paid and your activity must not exceed your reference daily wage (SJR).
You must declare your business resumption when the monthly update of your situation.
If you are unable to provide proof of your income, France Travail will pay you an advance calculated provisionally, then regularize your situation the month following the provision of proof.
Termination of payment
The payment of the WFAA ceases if you are in one of the following situations:
- You resume a professional activity, whether salaried or not, in France or abroad, unless authorized by France Travail to accumulate the ARE with an income from activity
- You perceive aid for the recovery or creation of a company
- You perceive daily allowances from the Social Security
- You perceive the shared child-rearing benefit (Prepare)
- You perceive the daily allowance for parental presence (AJPP)
- You have concluded a civic service contract
- You are eligible for a full-rate pension or you have reached the working age limit
- You no longer reside in France
- You have made an inaccurate or misleading statement resulting in the unjustified payment of unemployment benefits.
Specific Solidarity Allowance (SSA)
If your rights end, you may, under certain conditions, benefit from the specific solidarity allowance (SSA)).
If you are not eligible for the SSA, for reasons other than the means test, you can apply for a lump sum equal to 27 times the amount of the fixed part of the WFA, i.e. €356.
You are 55 years of age or older
If you are a civil servant or a contractor FIXED-TERM: titleContent or in DTA: titleContent unintentionally deprived of employment, you can claim unemployment benefits.
You are involuntarily deprived of employment if you are in any of the following situations:
- Staff member dismissed or revoked
- Staff member not reinstated and automatically kept on standby following secondment or standby
- Contract in permanent or permanent contract
- Fixed-term contract whose contract has expired and to which the administration has not offered a renewal
- A fixed-term contract whose contract has expired and who refuses to renew his contract for a legitimate reason linked to personal considerations or a substantial modification of the contract not justified by the employer administration
- Contract employee on a fixed-term contract who resigns to follow the spouse who changes place of residence to pursue a new job
- Contract worker on a fixed-term contract who resigns due to the substantial modification of the employment contract without justification by the employer
- Public servant who resigns to follow the spouse who changes place of residence to take up a new job
- Staff member who resigns in order to follow his disabled child admitted to a care facility, the removal of which results in a change of residence
- Staff member who resigns because of marriage or Civil partnership provided that less than 2 months elapse between the date of marriage or Civil partnership and the date of resignation
- Staff member who resigns due to change of residence due to domestic violence
- Staff member who resigns to enter into a civic service or voluntary service contract
- Civil servant or contract employee on a permanent contract who has signed a contractual breach.
FYI
A staff member who has abandoned his post may not receive unemployment benefits.
Yes, in order to collect the WFAA, you must be registered as a jobseeker or to complete a training course listed in your contract of employment.
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 need to perform positive and repetitive actions (e.g. daily job posting) to find a job or to start or resume a company.
Minimum period of work
To qualify for the WFA, you must have worked at least 6 months (either 130 days or 910 hours) in Last 36 months at the end date of your employment contract.
This minimum period of work is called duration of affiliation.
Taking into account the last job held
France Travail checks if you have worked a minimum period of work before your registration.
If this is not the case, France Travail can check whether the condition is fulfilled 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 allowances in connection with this contract.
Training periods
Training periods, except those paid by France Travail, are treated as working hours.
Training periods may also be treated as days of affiliation up to a limit of 2/3 of the number of days or hours of affiliation taken into account.
Periods of suspension of the employment contract
Periods of suspension of the employment contract (e.g. occupational illness, maternity or paternity leave) shall be taken into account at the rate of one day of affiliation per day of suspension.
Periods of suspension of the employment contract during which you have exercised a self-employed professional activity are not taken into account. But there are 3 exceptions: the periods of leave for company creation, of sabbatical leave and secure voluntary mobility shall be taken into account.
In case of loss of activity, you benefit from the resumption of your initial rights until they are exhausted.
This possibility is only valid if you have resumed a professional activity while you had not exhausted your rights.
You then benefit from so-called rights rechargeable.
You must have worked 6 months (either 130 days or 910 hours) in Last 36 months to benefit from new rights with a new compensation period.
FYI
You will not benefit from rechargeable rights if you have been on an apprenticeship contract and have been compensated by France Travail for this contract.
You can have an option right between your old and new rights.
The right of option allows the choice of the benefit resulting from the last period of activity without waiting for the unused benefits of a previous unemployment entitlement to be exhausted.
In order to exercise your right of option, you must:
- Have unpaid unemployment benefits
- Have worked at least 6 months since opening your current rights
- Receive a daily allowance less than or equal to €20 or claim an increase of at least 30% in relation to the total amount of your initial entitlements.
You have 21 days reflection to inform France Travail in writing. 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 periods of employment from the day of your application.
Gross amount
The gross daily amount of the ARE includes:
- a fixed part equal to €13.18
- and a variable part, equal to 40.4% from reference daily wage (SJR).
This amount may not be less than 57% and may not be greater than 75% of the SJR.
Minimum amount of the ARE
The net amount of the WFA may not be less than €32.13.
If you follow a training prescribed by France Travail, you will receive the return-to-work training allowance (Aref). Its minimum amount shall be €22.99.
When your working hours were less than legal or conventional, the minimum allocation shall be reduced proportionately.
You can estimate the amount of your unemployment benefits using this simulator:
Guide to benefit simulators and aids from France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi)
Coverage of compensation
To find out if a management agreement has been concluded between your administration and France Travail, ask your former employer's human resources department directly.
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Compensation by the administration
Your administration gives you:
- the France Travail certificate to assert your rights to unemployment
- and a work certificate specifying the period of employment, the nature of the job or jobs occupied and, where applicable, the periods of leave not assimilated to periods of actual work.
The administration must fill out a public sector liaison form and provide it to you for you to send it to France Travail.
If the administration ensures your unemployment compensation, France Travail informs you by mail (called rejection letter) explaining that the administration will pay the WFAA. The administration receives a copy of this letter and its claim for compensation.
Upon receipt of the letter from France Travail, you must contact your administration.
After studying your rights, the administration informs you by mail of the amount of the ARE to which you are entitled and its duration of payment.
Please note
If you have worked longer in the public service than in the private sector during the period taken into account for the calculation of your entitlements, you will be compensated by your public employer. However, if you have worked longer in the private sector during the period taken into account for the calculation of your rights, you are compensated by France Travail.
Compensation by France Travail
Your administration gives you:
- the France Travail certificate to assert your rights to unemployment
- and a work certificate specifying the period of employment, the nature of the job or jobs occupied and, where applicable, the periods of leave not assimilated to periods of actual work.
In some cases, for example for certain ministries, the public employer may have signed a management agreement with France Travail. In this case, your contact person will only be France Travail (for example, to know if the agent is entitled to the ARE).
Please note
If you have worked longer in the public service than in the private sector during the period taken into account for the calculation of your entitlements, you will be compensated by your public employer. However, if you have worked longer in the private sector during the period taken into account for the calculation of your rights, you are compensated by France Travail.
Degressivity of ARE
If your daily WFA is higher than a previous gross daily wage on average €159.68 (or €4,857.81 monthly gross on average), a reduction of 30% is applied from 7e month of payment.
Your allowance after degressivity may not be less than €92.57 gross per day (approximately €2,777 crude for a month of 30 days).
Contributions
A levy equal to 3% of your SJR is made on the gross amount of your daily allowance.
This levy may not have the effect of reducing the amount of the daily allowance below €32.13.
The ARE is also subject to a generalized social contribution (CSG) and a social debt repayment contribution (CRDS).
However, such contributions may be reduced or abolished in one of the following situations:
- The gross amount of the ARE is less than the amount of the daily minimum wage, i.e €61.55
- The levy on the CSG and the CRDS leads to a reduction in the net amount of the ARE below the daily minimum wage.
Waiting time
The WFAA cannot be paid until the end of a wait 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 awarding the ARE are met on that date.
Otherwise, it starts from the date on which these conditions are met.
Deferred compensation for paid leave
If you have received a compensatory allowance for paid leave, the WFA is paid after a called time limit deferred compensation.
This deferral is determined by dividing the amount of this compensatory allowance by your reference daily wage. The result obtained gives the number of days of delay. If the result obtained is not an integer, it is rounded up to the next integer.
Example :
If you have received a holiday pay allowance of €570, and your reference daily wage is set at €100, the calculation is as follows: 570/100 = 5.7, reduced to 6 days of deferred compensation.
Specific deferred compensation
When you receive termination benefits in addition to statutory benefits, a specific compensation deferral is applied to these amounts. This specific delay shall apply, for example, in the following cases:
- Part of the contractual termination indemnity or the contractual termination indemnity that exceeds the amount of the statutory termination indemnity
- Supplementary severance pay supralegal
- Compensation paid in case of non-compete clause.
This delay corresponds to a number of days obtained by dividing the amount of the allowance taken into account by 107.9. The result is rounded up to the next integer (if the result is not an integer).
FYI
The delay shall not exceed 150 calendar days (5 months) or, in the case of dismissal for economic reasons, 75 calendar days.
Example :
If you have received (in addition to the statutory termination indemnity) a supralegal indemnity of €10,000 following the termination of your contract, the specific compensation delay is determined as follows: 10,000/107.9 = 93. To these 93 days are added the 7 days waiting period. Your compensation will start after 100 days.
Allowances are paid by France Travail each month according to updating your situation (for example, early November for the October allowance).
The payment depends on what you declare each month: resumption of activity, entry into training, illness, etc.
Under certain conditions, you can request advances and down payments.
Warning
The payment of the WFA is made on the basis of 30 compensable days per month, regardless of the month concerned (instead of the number of days) calendars month). This measure applies to all recipients, regardless of the date on which their entitlements are opened.
The duration of payment of the WFA depends on the end date of your employment contract:
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Your employment contract ended before February 1, 2023
The duration of the return to employment assistance (RTA) payment depends on your length of service in the last 36 months.
Duration of employment (the 36 months preceding your contract) | Maximum compensation period |
|---|---|
Less than 6 months | No compensation |
Beyond 6 months | 182 calendar days minimum and 1,095 calendar days maximum |
Your employment contract has ended since or after February 1, 2023
Since 1er in february 2023, new rules on the duration of unemployment benefit payments apply depending on the labor market situation :
- If the overall unemployment rate is less than 9% and that it has not progressed 0.8% over 1 quarter, your compensation period is reduced by 25%
- If the overall unemployment rate is less than 9% and that it has made progress in 0.8%, the previous rules on the duration of compensation shall apply.
The overall unemployment rate is currently below 9% and has not made any progress 0.8% over 1 quarter. Reduction of the duration of compensation of 25% applies.
Thus, the maximum duration of payment of your compensation at the opening of your entitlements to the ARE will then be 822 calendar days (instead of 1,095 days).
France Travail informs you of the reduction of the duration of your entitlements to the ARE or the return of your entitlements to the initial duration.
Warning
- If you register for France Travail from 1er February 2023 and if your dismissal occurred before that date, you are not affected by this provision.
- Expatriates and residents of Drom: titleContent and Com are not affected by that provision either.
You can benefit from a so-called end of rights supplement CFD, depending on your situation.
The duration of this supplement is a maximum of 182 days.
If your compensation period has been calculated according to the rules applicable to 1er in february 2023, you can also benefit from a so-called end-of-training supplement SBB, depending on your situation. To do this, you need to follow a qualifying training, registered at your PPAE and of a duration of 6 months or more.
If you are a part-time private sector employee (short-time work), you can benefit from the partial activity allowance for a maximum of 182 days.
However, if the suspension of the company's activity is due to a disaster or natural disaster, this period may be extended until it resumes its activity.
If you are working and still claiming to be looking for a job, you can combine your Return to Employment Assistance (REA) with income from work.
The conditions for this accumulation vary depending on whether you are employed or self-employed:
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Employed activity
You are resuming paid employment
After resumption of activity, if you declare that you are still looking for a job, your ARE is paid in part. The amount of the WFAA paid is the amount of the daily WFAA multiplied by the number of compensable days per month by the WFAA.
This number of compensable days is calculated using the following formula:
(Monthly WFA amount - 70% of the salary of your new activity) / daily WFA amount
The sum obtained is rounded to the nearest integer.
The cumulative amount of the WFAA paid and your income from work must not exceed your reference daily wage (SJR).
FYI
The days not compensated will decrease the end of your compensation.
You must report your resumption of activity during the monthly update of your situation. If you are unable to provide proof of your income, France Travail will pay you an advance calculated provisionally, then regularize your situation the month following the provision of proof.
When you lose one of your jobs, the calculated WFA is fully cumulated with the income of the job(s) retained.
The SJR, used to calculate the WFA, is determined on the basis of the remuneration corresponding to the job lost.
You keep an employed activity
When you lose one of your jobs, the calculated WFA is fully cumulated with the income of the job(s) retained.
The reference daily wage (SJR), used to calculate the WFA, shall be determined on the basis of the remuneration corresponding to the job lost.
You must report your resumption of activity during the monthly update of your situation. If you are unable to provide proof of your income, France Travail will pay you an advance calculated provisionally, then regularize your situation the month following the provision of proof.
When you lose one of your jobs, the calculated WFA is fully cumulated with the income of the job(s) retained.
The SJR, used to calculate the WFA, is determined on the basis of the remuneration corresponding to the job lost.
Self-employment
If you report self-employed income (for example, as a micro-entrepreneur) and you report that you are still looking for a job, your ARE is paid in part. The amount of the WFAA paid is the amount of the daily WFAA multiplied by the number of days compensable per month for the WFAA.
This number of compensable days is calculated using the following formula:
(Amount of the monthly ARE - 70% of the declared remuneration for social insurance) / amount of the daily ARE
The sum obtained is rounded to the nearest integer.
When the income is not known or when the activity begins, the calculation of the number of days eligible for compensation is based on a lump sum. An annual adjustment is then made on the basis of actual earnings subject to social security contributions.
The cumulative amount of the WFAA paid and your activity must not exceed your reference daily wage (SJR).
You must declare your business resumption when the monthly update of your situation.
If you are unable to provide proof of your income, France Travail will pay you an advance calculated provisionally, then regularize your situation the month following the provision of proof.
Termination of payment
The payment of the WFAA ceases if you are in one of the following situations:
- You resume a professional activity, whether salaried or not, in France or abroad, unless authorized by France Travail to accumulate the ARE with an income from activity
- You perceive aid for the recovery or creation of a company
- You perceive daily allowances from the Social Security
- You perceive the shared child-rearing benefit (Prepare)
- You perceive the daily allowance for parental presence (AJPP)
- You have concluded a civic service contract
- You are eligible for a full-rate pension or you have reached the working age limit
- You no longer reside in France
- You have made an inaccurate or misleading statement resulting in the unjustified payment of unemployment benefits.
Specific Solidarity Allowance (SSA)
If your rights end, you may, under certain conditions, benefit from the specific solidarity allowance (SSA)).
If you are not eligible for the SSA, for reasons other than the means test, you can apply for a lump sum equal to 27 times the amount of the fixed part of the WFA, i.e. €356.
ARE (condition, form, etc.)
Entitlement to unemployment benefits
Article L5422-2-1: rechargeable rights
Certificate of unemployment insurance
Special provisions for certain employees in the public sector
Work certificate (State civil service)
Work certificate (Territorial civil service)
Certificate of employment (hospital civil service)
Online service
Online service
FAQ
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