Unemployment insurance is essential protection for workers in the event of job loss. To find out if you are eligible for this coverage, France Travail offers a specific questionnaire. Here’s what you need to know about the process.
What’s the point of a questionnaire?
The France Travail questionnaire is used to check whether you meet the necessary conditions to benefit from unemployment insurance. It is mainly aimed at company directors, corporate officers and partners, who must have an employment contract in addition to their duties in order to be covered.
Eligibility requirements
To be entitled to unemployment insurance, a number of conditions must be met:
- You must carry out technical tasks separate from your duties as a manager or partner. This means that you must have specific operational tasks in addition to your management duties.
- Remuneration: You must receive remuneration for your salaried functions. This remuneration must be separate from dividends or other forms of income linked to your status as a director or partner.
- Relationship of subordination: There must be a legal relationship of subordination enabling the employer to direct and control your work. This relationship of subordination is essential to prove that you are an employee of the company and not simply a director or partner.
Prior request process to France Travail
France Travail allows you to check your situation directly on the simplified procedures site.
- If you are still in employment and would like to carry out a study prior to your departure, click on this link to access the website DEMANDE DE RESCRIT RELATIF A LA PARTICIPATION A L’ASSURANCE CHOMAGE · demarches-simplifiees.fr
- If you are already registered as a jobseeker and have applied for unemployment benefit, click on this link to access the website Demande relative à la participation à l’assurance chômage – Etude mandataire social – Demandeur d’emploi · demarches-simplifiees.fr
You will need to create a personal account to access:
- the online application form;
- a single access point for submitting your supporting documents;
- to track your application in real time;
- an online messaging system to communicate with the unemployment officer.
How do I complete the questionnaire?
The questionnaire is made up of different sections:
- Information about the company: General information about the company, such as name, address and sector of activity. This information provides a clear context for your request.
- Person concerned by the study: Information on the person for whom eligibility for unemployment insurance is being studied, including details of the employment contract and duties performed. It is important to provide accurate and complete information to avoid any delay in processing your application.
France Travail will ask you to provide a number of documents, such as the company’s articles of incorporation, a copy of the employment contract, an organisation chart, or a bank certificate of delegation of signature in order to prove a subordinate relationship.
Submission procedure
Once the questionnaire has been completed, it must be submitted to France Travail for assessment. The experts at France Travail will examine the information provided to determine whether you are subject to unemployment insurance and whether you are eligible for benefits in the event of job loss.
In the best of cases, the processing time is 6 days. For files requiring a few exchanges, the processing time is approximately one month.
If your application is incomplete or requires a great deal of discussion with the authorities, the processing time is approximately 2 months.
We recommend that you keep a copy of your questionnaire and all documents submitted for your personal files.
What should I do if I am declared ineligible?
If your application is rejected, you can contest the decision. You can make an informal appeal to the person who made the decision, and then, if necessary, make a hierarchical appeal to the higher authority. As a last resort, you can appeal to the administrative court. It is recommended that you consult a lawyer specialising in administrative law to assist you with these procedures.
The impact on contributions of ineligibility decisions
If the company representative is not considered as an employee by France Travail, the Company does not have to pay unemployment insurance contributions and AGS contributions in respect of his remuneration.
The company can also obtain reimbursement of the unemployment insurance and AGS contributions paid over the last 3 years. To do this, it must send a letter requesting reimbursement together with the unfavourable opinion issued by France Travail.
As a result, the employer will also no longer be able to benefit from a reduction in contributions on the company representative’s remuneration, applicable to the following employers’ contributions:
- social insurance (sickness, maternity, invalidity, death, retirement);
- family benefits;
- occupational accidents and diseases (AT/MP);
- compulsory supplementary pension (Agirc-Arrco);
- national housing assistance fund (Fnal);
- solidarity for autonomy (CSA);
- unemployment insurance.
Conclusion
The France Travail questionnaire is a valuable tool for checking your eligibility for unemployment insurance. By completing this questionnaire carefully, you can ensure that you have the necessary protection in the event of job loss. You can also check whether the company is eligible for a reduction in contributions on the salaries of the company representative concerned, and so avoid a recovery of URSSAF contributions in case of inspection.
As usual, all the team of French Business Advice is at your disposal to give you the support you need: do not hesitate to contact us!