Signing of the amendment to the unemployment insurance agreement, modification of the Bonus-Malus rules

In a communication dated July 22, 2025, Unédic announced that the social partners had signed the amendment to the unemployment insurance agreement concerning the adjustment of the so-called “Bonus-Malus” system. The Bonus-Malus scheme involves adjusting the unemployment insurance contribution rate for companies with 11 or more employees based on their use of short-term contracts, in order to encourage companies to offer permanent contracts.

This amendment must be submitted for ministerial approval before it can come into force on March 1, 2026.

Three major changes are expected:

Change in the sectors of activity covered by the scheme

Six new sectors of activity are added to the seven currently covered:

• manufacture of food, beverages and tobacco products;
• water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities;
• other specialized, scientific and technical activities;
• transportation and storage;
• accommodation and food services;
• manufacture of rubber and plastic products and other non-metallic mineral products.

Change to the list of contract terminations taken into account

Only employment contract terminations of less than three months will be taken into account.

In addition, the amendment provides for new cases of exclusion from the scheme. The following situations will no longer be taken into account when calculating the separation rate:

• the end of seasonal contracts;
• the end of employment contracts resulting from dismissal for non-professional reasons;
• the end of employment contracts resulting from dismissal for serious misconduct or gross negligence.

Refined sectoral comparison grid between companies

Currently, the adjusted rate is calculated at the level of an entire sector of activity. From March 1, 2026, employers will be compared at a more refined level within the same sector of activity using a subcategory of the NAF classification (another level of granularity in the nomenclature).