France Travail and support for jobseekers

Register via francetravail.fr as soon as possible after losing your job (and in the first 12 months you have benefits), and create an account with FranceConnect or your email, and enter your details, date of job loss and CV. You receive an attestation d'inscription, and a diagnostic interview with an adviser is set within weeks (entretien de situation).

• You need: an ID or residence permit allowing work, the social security number, an RIB, the certificat de travail, payslips and the most important end-of-contract documents that the employer hands over: the attestation employeur destinée à France Travail.
• After registration a PPAE (Projet personnalisé d'accès à l'emploi) is signed, a personal plan setting out search efforts.
• You renew your status monthly via actualisation (status update) between the 28th and the end otherwise you are removed from the lists.
• And France Travail organises workshops, interviews and training opportunities.

To obtain the ARE you must: have lost your job involuntarily (dismissal, the end of a CDD, rupture conventionnelle or a legitimate resignation), and have worked (or contributed) at least 6 months (130 days or 910 hours) in the last 24 months (36 months for those over 53), and be registered and actively looking for work and able to work and residing in France.

• The ARE amount is about 57 percent of the daily reference wage (with a minimum of about 32 euros a day and a maximum of about 75 percent of pay), and its duration according to your previous work duration up to 18 months (and 22 and 27 months for those over 55 and 57), and decreases after a period for those with high income.
• It is paid monthly to your account after a délai d'attente (waiting period) and limited by a différé d'indemnisation when there are end-of-contract payments.
• An ordinary resignation does not grant ARE except in cases (such as a spouse's transfer or a legitimate reason).
• And the ARE is subject to income tax.
• And France Travail offers a simulator to estimate your right.

The RSA (Revenu de solidarité active) is a minimum income of about 646 euros a month for one person (changes yearly), for one with no income or weak income, aged 25 or over (or less with a child or pregnancy), and resident in France.

• It is requested from the CAF or MSA via caf.fr, and for a non-European foreigner requires holding a residence card allowing work for at least five years (except refugees and those with protection and cases provided), and requires looking for work and registering with France Travail and signing a contrat d'engagement.
• And the prime d'activité is an aid for low-income workers.
• And the ASS for those who have exhausted the ARE, the AAH for the disabled, the APL for housing, transport cards at reduced prices, and the chèque énergie.
• And municipalities (CCAS) offer emergency aid.
• Check your eligibility via mesdroitssociaux.gouv.fr (free).
• And some require nationality or residence for a period.

France Travail and the Regions offer funded training: the Compte personnel de formation (CPF) accumulates a balance (500 euros a year) that you use via Mon Compte Formation for vocational and French courses, and the formation préalable and POEI, the AFPR, preparation for qualifications (CAP and BTS), and the VAE.

• And for young people under 26 the Contrat d'engagement jeune (CEJ) with financial help.
• Among your obligations: actively looking for work and proving it, accepting a reasonable job offer (offre raisonnable d'emploi), attending summonses, and updating your status monthly.
• If you do not comply sanctions (suspension or radiation) may be applied that reduce or cut your allowance.
• To object request a recours via the account or by post, and you can resort to the médiateur.
• And report any short work you do or income otherwise it is considered fraud.
• And France Travail grants leave for training and illness.

Legally resident foreigners with a residence card allowing work have the right to register with France Travail and benefit from the ARE if they meet the conditions, and French nationality is not required for the ARE.

• As for foreign students and those arriving on special work visas their eligibility varies, and for asylum seekers permission to work after six months.
• And recognition of your qualifications via ENIC-NARIC and the VAE helps in hiring.
• And France Travail sometimes offers interpreters and workshops to improve French and integration, and Parcours d'intégration tracks for protection holders.
• For help with files go to France Services, a Mission Locale, the CCAS or associations such as the Secours populaire, the Cimade and Forum Réfugiés.
• And to object to a decision use a recours gracieux then the tribunal administratif.
• And for fraud worries (intermediaries promising work) avoid them, since the service is free.
• And keep all your correspondence and reference numbers.

What is France Travail?