Overseas, the delicate question of employment aid

Employment policy

[La politique de l’emploi s’appuie sur des dispositifs créés au fil des besoins, qui restent parfois méconnus longtemps après leur création. Quelle est leur efficacité contre le chômage ? Elle n’est pas toujours évaluée. Le Monde publie une série d’articles sur les aides à l’emploi, pour tenter d’estimer ce qu’on en sait – leur objectif initial, leurs résultats.]

The objective of the device

On September 7, the planned meeting between President Emmanuel Macron and the presidents of overseas communities, signatories of the Fort-de-France appealwill undoubtedly be an opportunity to address the thorny subject of the employment support systems deployed in these territories.

Their landlocked economies and the narrowness of the labor market make it difficult to absorb the growth of their active population, recalls a Senate report. With, as a consequence, an explosive social situation and a unemployment rate more than half that of mainland France : 12% against 8% on average in 2021 in the overseas departments (DOM) and even 30% in Mayotte.

In order to fight against structural unemployment, these territories benefit from “special regimes” in terms of subsidized contracts and exemptions from charges, which are more advantageous than for the rest of the territory.

Operation

Reviewed and corrected many times since its implementation in 1994, the load relief device, known as “Lodeom” [loi pour le développement économique des outre-mer], is aimed at private employers located in Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique, Reunion, Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin. It is the General Social Security Funds (CGSS) of the overseas territories that oversee this system.

In season of its cost, its exemption thresholds and its scope of application have been modified several times. In its current version, all VSEs with less than 11 employees can benefit from an almost total exemption from employer contributions for incomes below 1.3 smic of their permanent employees, regardless of their activity. This exemption becomes degressive, then zero from 2.2 minimum wage. Companies in certain sectors (construction, media, transport) are entitled to it regardless of their workforce.

Employers with less than 250 employees and who achieve an annual turnover of less than 50 million euros benefit from an exemption if they work in the following fields: industry, tourism and catering, environment, new technologies, agriculture and sin. This exemption is total for incomes below 2 smic, then decreasing and ends when the income reaches 2.7 smic.

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