French Employees Who Abandon Their Jobs Presumed to Have Resigned and Will Not Receive Unemployment Insurance: Decree

An employee who abandons his job and has not resumed it two weeks after a formal notice will now, with some exceptions, be presumed to have resigned, which will deprive him of unemployment insurance, according to a decree published on Tuesday in the Official Journal. This decree implements a provision of the unemployment insurance law passed at the end of 2022. Until now, these employees who no longer came to work without justification, generally ended up being dismissed for misconduct by their employer. They could then receive unemployment insurance.

From now on, the employee who has abandoned his position and has not resumed it 15 days after being given formal notice to do so is presumed to have resigned. This presumption of resignation does not apply in cases where the employee asserts medical reasons, the exercise of the right of withdrawal or the right to strike, the refusal to carry out an instruction contrary to a regulation or a modification of his employment contract at the initiative of the employer.