Scholarships: the government emphasizes the prevention of difficulties at work

It assures the government that pension reform will be an opportunity to “make changes to scale” to make certain jobs less difficult. This Thursday, Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt made it clear that the executive intends to better support people doing hard work, particularly through the use of the prevention and training fund.

The government, which intends to delay the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 or even 65, surprised everyone on Monday by delaying the introduction of its reform, normally scheduled for this week, until January 10. This period should allow for progression on the age and contribution period dimensions. “We are open to different scenarios,” Olivier Dussopt told the press during a progress report.

100,000 early departure

These extensions should also be an opportunity to make progress on “preventing professional attrition”, the minister insisted. The tense labor issue is being closely watched by the unions, and in particular the CFDT, even if they are still determined to take to the streets after the strike to protest the reform.

Olivier Dussopt said, “It’s one in six pensions expected for professional wear and tear questions, no one can figure it out.” According to him, every year 100 thousand people retire early because they are considered unfit for work.

To remedy this situation, the government proposes to create a “training fund for professional obsolescence”. This should fund prevention and training plans implemented by branches in relation to difficult cases. Professional areas can rely on the redundant Social Security (Industrial Accidents-Occupational Diseases) department to target and fund their activities.

Enhanced medical supervision

These plans may take into account situations where workers are forced to adopt awkward postures, carry heavy loads, or endure vibrations. As of 2017, these special working conditions are no longer taken into account in the context of the hardship account, which allows workers to take early retirement. The reintegration of these so-called ergonomic criteria into the analysis of difficult work is the trade unions’ warhorse.

At the forefront of this, CFDT wants workers affected by vibrations, heavy loads or painful postures to be able to retire earlier by earning points that contribute to their hardship scores. But the government still does not want to go this way. This Thursday, the Minister of Labor proposed “intensified medical monitoring in the most exposed occupations”, “prevention” and “remediation”.

Regarding this difficult issue, the government has stated that it wants to give “special attention” to the care professions. He also reaffirmed his desire to adapt the long-career system, which allows very early starters to leave before the legal retirement age. “Very long” careers, which can be separated four years before the legal age, “must represent several tens of thousands of departures per year. »

Sanction for bad students of the Index

The executive branch also wants to use a stick to force companies to employ the elderly. He already mentioned the creation of an index on the employment of older people, reminiscent of what already exists to promote professional equality between men and women. This “index will be discussed in each branch to take into account the age pyramid of each professional field and will be published in each company with more than 50 employees,” said the Labor Minister.

Above all, Olivier Dussopt mentioned the idea of ​​creating “punishment for those who do not fulfill this advertising obligation”. The prospect of sanctions in this regard is enough to create tension in the employers’ camp, where it is certain that it is difficult to create an appropriate indicator in terms of employment of the elderly. If the index shows a bad result in terms of the employment of the elderly, the minister also mentioned the “obligation to discuss social negotiations”.