June 5, 2023
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The government presented Wednesday in the Council of Ministers its bill on the “sharing of value” within companies, “faithful” transposition of an agreement concluded between unions and employers, a method that the government would like to resume on other social subjects after the pension dispute.

Concluded in February in a context of high inflation, the national interprofessional agreement (ANI) aims to extend mechanisms such as profit-sharing, participation or value-sharing bonuses (PPV) to all companies over 11 employees.

“This bill illustrates what we want to do with the social partners, that is to say let them take control of the issues of concern expressed by employees, whether it is the prevention of professional wear and tear, the employment of seniors, career paths, salaries”, commented Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne during a press briefing.

The government is aiming for adoption of its text before the end of the parliamentary session this summer.

Participation is a mechanism for redistributing profits, currently compulsory in companies with more than 50 employees, while profit-sharing is an optional bonus linked to results or non-financial performance, schemes which come with tax advantages.

But smaller companies are still lagging behind: 88.5% of employees in companies with more than 1,000 people benefited from a “value sharing” scheme in 2020, compared to less than 20% in those with less than 50 employees, according to the Statistics Department of the Ministry of Labor (Dares).

To generalize these mechanisms, the agreement provides that companies between 11 and 49 employees that are profitable — that is to say that their net profit represents at least 1% of turnover for three consecutive years — “put in place at least one value-sharing device.

Companies with less than 11 employees “have the possibility” of sharing the profits with their employees, according to the ANI, signed by four out of five unions, with the exception of the CGT.

The government has chosen 2025 as the date of entry into force, contrary to the recommendation of a parliamentary report which at the beginning of April advocated implementation “from 2024” given inflationary pressures.

“superprofits”

The text opens up the possibility of awarding the value-sharing bonus twice a year (known as the “Macron bonus”) within the limit of the total exemption ceilings (3,000 or 6,000 euros) and placing it on a plan of employee savings.

In companies with less than 50 employees, this bonus will remain, for employees whose remuneration is less than three Smic, exempt from tax and social security contributions, as well as from income tax until the end of 2026.

However, the Council of State warned the government that the continuation of this measure reserved for SMEs could be unconstitutional in the name of a breach of equality.

In 2022, the value-sharing bonus had benefited 5.5 million employees for an average amount of around 790 euros, according to the Ministry of Labor.

But the most debated issue in Parliament should be that of “windfall profits”.

The text provides that companies with at least 50 employees will have to negotiate the definition and sharing.

The initial agreement left it up to the employers alone but, after consulting the Council of State, the government revised its copy. This mechanism should be made more secure during parliamentary debate, particularly in the absence of a company agreement.

This subject of “superprofits” should be the subject of numerous amendments on the left of the Assembly. The LFI deputies have already presented “a counter-proposal for the sharing of wealth in companies and the increase in wages”.

Mr. Dussopt sees there “a risk of one-upmanship” and will only defend any modification to the ANI “with a consensus of the signatories”.

In February, the president of Medef, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, had estimated that “any unraveling” would constitute “a stab in the back of the social partners”.

The text does not attack large companies which devote their “exceptional” income to share buybacks when Emmanuel Macron had asked the government to think about ways to make workers “benefit” from this windfall.

“Technical work is still in progress at Bercy,” explained Mr. Dussopt, referring a possible measure to the next finance bill.

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