The decree of 14 April 2025 on long-term partial activity rebound has been published. It specifies the conditions for the application of this mechanism, which will be in force until February 28, 2026.

What is APLD-R?

Long-term partial rebound activity is a device set up to respond to the large number of restructurings and company failures. It therefore aims to avoid economic redundancies and to protect employment.

This system allows companies facing a sustainable reduction in activity without compromising their sustainability by shrink or suspend the activity of their employees while preserving their employment.

An employee placed on a part-time basis shall be entitled to compensation, paid by the employer, to compensate him for his loss of wages. In return, the employer receives a partial reimbursement from the State and Unédic in the form of an allowance.

The application decree provided the following details concerning the benefit of this scheme:

• companies will be able to benefit from the scheme for 18 consecutive or non-consecutive monthsover a reference period of 24 consecutive months;
• the placement in APLD-R is done per 6-month period. The company receives authority from the Authority when the collective agreement (or unilateral collective agreement application document) is approved or certified.

What conditions?

An employer wishing to take advantage of this arrangement must, at his option, conclude and obtain confirmation from the prefect of his department:

• a collective establishment, company or group agreement;
• an extended collective agreement in the sector.

The implementation of the LRPA may also result from the certification of a unilateral application document of a extended collective sectoral agreement. This document, prepared by the employer, must specify the conditions for implementing the provisions of this agreement.

The APLD-R arrangement shall apply for a maximum period of 24 consecutive months from a date chosen by the APLD-R and fixed by the approval decision.

The application decree provides that the collective agreement (or unilateral document) transmitted to the administration includes a diagnosis with the following information:

• the economic situation of the company justifying a sustained decline in activity;
• ‘business prospects’;
• the skills development needs of employees.

What information is included in the agreement?

The agreement shall state:

• the start date and the length of application ;
• the activities, establishments and employees covered by the LRPA (in the case of a collective establishment, company or group agreement);
• the reductions in working hours which may give rise to compensation;
• the commitments in the field of maintenance of employment and vocational training (need to prepare a document listing these commitments, after consulting the ESC: titleContent where available);
• the information arrangements the signatory trade unions and staff representative institutions concerning the implementation of the Agreement. This information shall be communicated at least every 3 months.

The following information may also be included in the agreement:

• the conditions under which the employee managers operating within the scope of the agreement, the company's representatives and the shareholders make "efforts proportionate to those required of the employees" during the period of application of the arrangement;
• the conditions under which employees take their paid leave and use their personal training account (before or during the implementation of the scheme);
• the means used by trade unions to monitor the agreement;
• specific measures to keep employees aged 57 and over in employment.

What information should be communicated to the employees concerned?

The employer must inform all employees concerned by the LRPA of the commitments which it has taken in the field of job retention and vocational training.

The ESC: titleContent must also be informed when the company has at least 50 employees.

Allowance and allowance: what payment?

Compensation paid to the employee

For each hour of non-working time, the employee in APLD-R receives from his employer an allowance fixed at 70% his previous gross hourly earnings.

This allowance shall be increased to 100 % of the employee's previous net earnings when he takes training during his non-working hours.

The amount of compensation paid to the employee may not exceed €37.42 (€28.29 in Mayotte) per non-working hour.

Allowance paid to the employer

The employer shall receive, for each employee placed in LRPA-R, an allowance corresponding to 60% the gross hourly remuneration previously paid to the employee.

The amount of this allowance shall not exceed €32.08 (at €24.25 in Mayotte) per hour compensated.

This allocation cannot be less than €9.40 (at €8.10 in Mayotte) per hour compensated. This minimum does not apply to employees whose remuneration is below the minimum wage and employees on an apprenticeship or professionalization contract.

Completion of a balance sheet by employers

Before the application of the LRPA-R scheme is completed, the employer must submit to the administrative authority:

• a final assessment of compliance with the maximum reduction in working hours and with the commitments made regarding job retention and vocational training;
• a presentation of the business prospects of the company, establishment or group;
• minutes of the last meeting at which the ESC: titleContent, where it exists, has been briefed on the implementation of the APLD-R.