On Tuesday, October 11, the Ministry of Labor inaugurated a first round of consultations on pension reform around the issue of the employment of seniors. A subject on which it “may be the easiest to find agreements”, comments Capital. And yet, several dissonances have already made themselves felt.

Unions and employers must therefore examine the government’s proposals, and present their own solutions.

But concretely, what does this aspect of the reform carried out by the Borne government consist of? The executive’s proposals in this direction are based on this observation: seniors (from 55, 50, or even 45 years old, depending on the definitions) remain unemployed for longer.

In the third quarter of 2021, the registration period for jobseekers over 55 or over was 771 days, compared to 349 days for all ages, notes the challenge-jobs site.

Among the government’s ways to “maintain” these categories, directly affected by the pension reform, in employment, we find:

Other measures also aim to facilitate the return to work of unemployed seniors. The Minister of Labour, Olivier Dussopt, mentioned in the JDD one of the measures envisaged in this respect, namely the possibility for an older employee to accept a less well paid job, while retaining part of his return to work allowance. employment, “in order to compensate for the loss of earnings”.

The proposal is far from unanimous among the social partners.

“We are not in favor of it because it would give companies the possibility of hiring seniors with lower salaries”, maintains Pascale Coton, vice-president of the CFTC, at Capital.

Discussions are due to continue until the end of November, in accordance with the timetable announced by the government. The actors will address, from the beginning of next month, the question of a minimum pension, but also the decline in the retirement age to 65, the “flagship” measure the reform wanted by Emmanuel Macron.