Purchasing power law: social security contributions, Macron bonus… three new measures in favor of workers

The deputies adopted several measures of the purchasing power bill on Tuesday 19 July. It took two days of debate before the adoption on Tuesday of the first article of the purchasing power bill, relating to the Macron bonus, but barely a few minutes for the vote on article 2, which provides for , a reduction in social security contributions for the self-employed. It was then the turn of the thorny company profit-sharing scheme which was adopted overnight. We take stock of these first three measures supposed to restore purchasing power to the French. 1 – Extension of the Macron bonus Voted 327 votes in favor against 119 against, the extension of the Macron bonus was therefore the first measure voted by the deputies, including some from Nupes. Thus, the article provides for tripling the ceiling of the bonus by granting employers the possibility of paying a bonus of a maximum amount of 3,000 euros or even 6,000 euros to employees receiving three times less than the minimum wage. A measure deemed “phony” by the deputy LFI François Ruffin who denounces a device far from concerning all employees. “What are we talking about? People siphoning off one of their cars to pour gas into the second, to go to work in the morning! We’re talking about 8% inflation soon. And we’re supposed to solve that with your proposals cans?” pic.twitter.com/Z4NSdXXOcY— François Ruffin (@Francois_Ruffin) July 20, 2022 2 – Lower social contributions The second article adopted concerns this time a provision relating to social contributions for self-employed workers. This new measure aims to “lower the social security contributions of self-employed workers in order to allow an increase in the annual purchasing power of 550 euros for those with an income equivalent to the level of the minimum wage. The professionals thus concerned are craftsmen, traders , all the liberal professions as well as heads of farms or agricultural businesses, i.e. approximately 2.25 million people”, specifies the National Assembly. 3 – Corporate profit-sharing As reported by Capital, the measure concerning the corporate profit-sharing scheme has been the subject of heated debate. It will now be easier for companies to set up profit-sharing bonuses, especially in small structures with fewer than 50 employees. Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt praised a mechanism of “simplification” and “facilitation” for the “sharing of value” within the company. Thus, the article allows a system of profit-sharing on “unilateral decision” of the heads of these small companies in the absence of institutions representing the personnel or in the event of failure of the negotiations, when the company is not covered by an approved branch agreement providing for a profit-sharing scheme. The text also proposes to extend the duration of the profit-sharing agreements: from 3 years, they will increase to 5 years.