Unemployment benefits such as chomage, also known as Allocation d’aide au retour à l’emploi (ARE) are calculated based on various factors. These include your employment periods, your age, and the end date of your last employment contract.
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You can use an online simulator to estimate your eligibility for various unemployment benefits
Pole Emploi was renamed as France Travail
Calculation of chomage duration
These various stages of the calculation of the chomages duration can be found on the site monallocation.pole-emploi.fr at the stage “Duration of compensation“.
An overview of these stages is given below.
1. France Travail (ex-Pôle emploi) starts by looking for the reference period during which you acquired the rights to unemployment benefits.
- To find this reference period, they look for the end date of your last employment contract (CDI, CDD, contrat de mission, d’intérim, etc.)
- Then, they must go back in the previous 2 years, from your last end of contract, to find the beginning of the reference period.
- If you are 53 years or older on the day of the end of your last employment contract, France Travail must go back in the previous 3 years.
2. In this reference period, France Travail looks for the 1st day you were on an employment contract, to calculate the total number of days elapsed between the beginning of this first employment contract and the end of the last employment contract.
3. Then, certain events are removed from the number of days used to calculate the chomage period.
- Periods of professional activity that you have not declared to Pôle emploi.
- Days corresponding to certain events that take place outside the employment contract:
- Periods of maternity leave and periods of maternity in receipt of pension benefits;
- Periods of compensation granted to the adoptive mother or father;
- Periods of sick leave of more than 15 consecutive days;
- Periods of occupational accidents;
Periods of illness of occupational origin; - Periods of paternity leave and foster care of the child compensated.
- If you have had periods of unemployment between your contracts, the number of non-working days is capped for the calculation of the benefit period. The number of non-working days taken into account cannot exceed 75% of the days worked (multiplied by 1.4).
- A coefficient of 0.75 is applied to the number of days thus obtained to have your compensation period. Whatever your situation, this duration cannot be less than 182 calendar days.
Example: You have taken a sick leave of 47 days
4. Then, additional duration is added depending on the following 2 situations:
- During training, if you reach the end of your entitlement to the allowance, your benefit period can be extended by taking a qualifying training of at least 6 months and registered in the Personalized Project of Access to Employment (PPAE) developed with your advisor.
- In the event of a deterioration in employment as noted by a decree of the Ministry of Labour, an end of rights extensjon may be awarded.
Maximum duration of chomage based on your age
Regardless of the situation, your chomage compensation cannot exceed a certain duration, which varies depending on your age.
- If you are under 53 years old: You will be compensated for a maximum of 730 days (24 months).
- If you are 53 or 54 years old: You are entitled to a maximum of 913 days (30 months) with the possibility of an extension of up to 137 days in the case of training.
- If you are 55 years old or older: You are entitled to a maximum of 1,095 days (36 months).
- If you are at least 62 years old and have been receiving compensation for at least one year, your compensation may be maintained beyond the specified duration, up to the age of full retirement (up to 67 years).
To benefit from the extended rights to benefits, you need to justify:
- 12 years of affiliation with the unemployment insurance system or equivalent periods.
- Including 1 continuous year or 2 discontinuous years within the 5 years preceding the end of the employment contract that opened or reloaded the right.
- 100 quarters validated by the old-age insurance.
Example: An example calculation of chomage duration with a sick leave
Sources & References
- Essential things to know about receiving unemployment benefits in France www.francetravail.fr
- Everything to know about registering with France Travail www.francetravail.fr
- Registration to the list of job-seekers Code du travail : articles R5221-47 à R5221-48
- What are the various categories of Job-seekers? www.service-public.fr
- Documents required for registration on France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi)? www.service-public.fr
- Returning back to France : what are the rights to unemployment benefits? www.service-public.fr
- Are you entitled to unemployment in France after a stay in Europe? www.service-public.fr
