NEAR HELPING LEAVE – As part of the Social Security budget, which is to be voted by the deputies on Tuesday, a close assisting paid leave must be created. 200,000 people could claim it.
[Mis à jour le 29 octobre 2019 à 12h14] MEPs gave the green light for the review of the 2020 Social Security budget. They must now give it a final agreement, the PLFSS to be voted on Tuesday in the National Assembly: the close leave helping compensated. Currently, 8.3 million people help a loved one who is losing their autonomy, almost half of whom are employees, sometimes to the detriment of their professional life, which translates into a sharp drop in their income. The objective is to remedy the latter. 200,000 people could thus claim this paid leave. Its amount? It would be 43.52 euros per day for a couple and 52 euros for a single person.
As part of the Social Security budget, the government is launching an experiment for paid caregiver close leave from October 2020 for “employees, self-employed workers and public officials”, can be read in the PLFSS file.
In detail, the amount of paid leave will be 43.52 euros per day for a couple and 52 euros for a single person. In practice, this is the same scale as the daily parental presence allowance. Financial assistance “may be paid during a period of up to 3 months for the whole caregiver’s career“it says.” Its payment will open up pension rights. “The measure will cost 100 million euros.
You may be able to claim, as an employee, caregiver leave to help a loved one who is losing their autonomy. Bear in mind that you still have to prove that you have been in the company for at least one year. Also note that the loved one must have been recognized to the degree of dependence GIR 1 to 3 – of the Aggir grid, used for the allocation of the personalized autonomy allowance (APA) -, or disabled with a permanent disability rate of 80% or more. What do we mean by relative? Caregiver leave provides that the person helped by the employee may be: your spouse, your father or mother, a child for whom you are responsible for the family benefits, your brother or sister, your aunt or uncle, your cousin or cousin germain, your nephew or niece, an elderly or disabled person, not related, with whom you live.
The duration of caregiver leave may vary depending on the collective agreement, branch agreement or collective agreement of the company. Ask for information beforehand. In the absence of provisions, keep in mind that the caregiver leave cannot exceed three months. Warning, it cannot exceed one year over the entire career of the employee.
You must send a letter, by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, to your employer, checking beforehand the arrangements and deadlines within your company. In this letter, specify the date of departure on leave and, if desired, indicate if you wish it to be split. You will find a model letter on the service-public.fr site, by clicking here.
Caregiver leave request must be sent to the employer at least one month before the start of the leave that you are considering. Be aware that leave can start immediately, for the following reasons: sudden deterioration in the state of health of the person receiving care; crisis situation which requires urgent action by the employee; abrupt cessation of accommodation in the assisted person’s establishment.
As part of a caregiver leave request, you must provide supporting :
- A copy of the award decision of the APA for classification in GR 1 to 3 or a copy of the decision which justifies a permanent incapacity rate at least equal to 80%.
- A declaration on honor your family relationship with the person being helped or the help you provide to the elderly or disabled person you wish to accompany.
- A sworn statement in which you indicate that you have never used caregiver leave or, if you have already used it, mention the duration of it.
To note : Your employer can refuse you close caregiver leave only if you do not meet the conditions of seniority or deadline. You can contest a refusal by going to the industrial tribunal.
To avoid a significant loss of income during close caregiver leave, the employee can opt for a leave divided or transformed into part-time. Clearly, you alternate the periods of leave and work. In this case, the employee must notify his employer at least 48 hours before the planned leave date – unless sudden deterioration in the state of health of the person receiving assistance or a crisis situation. If you choose to split, be aware that the minimum duration of each period of leave must be one day.
An employee may request a renewal of the informal caregiver leave, within the limit of the number of authorized renewals and provided that the deadlines are respected. In the absence of an agreement, know that you must send your renewal request fifteen days before the end of the caregiver leave initially planned. Close caregiver leave can be stopped early, for the following reasons :
- Death of the assisted person;
- The assisted person is admitted to an establishment;
- The employee’s resources are falling too sharply;
- The employee uses home help;
- Close caregiver leave is taken by another family membere.
Unlike employees in the private sector, civil servants have benefited from close leave helping recently. This leave was created for public servants in August 2019 only. It can be granted only to a civil servant and not to a contractual agent. The conditions relating to the assisted person are identical to those of employees. The duration of the close assisting leave for an official is three months, renewable, up to a year over the entire career. Like employees, civil servants are not paid during the leave.