Unemployment, Benefits and Job Seeking in France

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Unemployment, Benefits and Job Seeking in France

ANPE and ASSEDIC are the two French national organisations concerned with unemployment and job seekers.

ANPE Agence Nationale Pour Emploi  (job centre for employment seekers) works closely with the Assédic Association pour l'Emploi Dans l'Industrie et le Commerce (the unemployment office).

ASSEDIC: Unemployment Office

If a work contract has come to an end or if you have been dismissed, your first step is to register with your local Assédic office. By law, to be registered with Assédic and ANPE, you must be actively searching for employment, be available for interviews and be ready to work, but most of all, you must be completely legal in France. 

Conditions for receiving benefits are quite complex and depend on a individual circumstances. However, one criteria is that you must have worked at least 6 months out of the previous 22 months and not have left the employment of your own free will (unless, for example, you left to follow a spouse to another part of the country for their job, or you have left as the result of a rupture conventionnelle du contrat de travail - details in French here). Unemployment is not allocated to anyone over 65.

It is recommended that you make your initial registration by telephone. 

• To find the appropriate office contact information: Click here 
  • Job seekers: enter residential postal code in the second box and "validate", then find the contact details by selecting "Nos coordonnées et contacts" from the left hand menu 
  • Employers: enter department number in the first box and "validate", then find the contact details by selecting "Nos coordonnées et contacts" from the left hand menu 

You will be pre-registered and given an appointment at your local Assédic office. You will receive a notice of an appointment, a convocation, by post, stating when to attend this meeting. During the meeting an advisor will explore and elaborate on your PAP Projet d’Action Personalisée or "plan of action" to find a job. If you are eligible for Assédic payments you will immediately be registered as an employment seeker. At the initial meeting you will be given an identifying number and personal code to be used in all correspondence and at all meetings.

You may also go in person to register at your local Assédic office (beware, the queues can be long) and if you have no office in your area, you may go to the Mairie. You will need to take the following documents:

• EU Citizens: Passport or Titre de Sejour mentioning employment rights: "toutes activités professionnelles en vertu du règlement 1612- 68"; Social Security Card; work contracts and testimonials (attestations) from previous employers
• Non-EU citizens will need to show a Work Visa. (The right to work in France may be stated on your Carte/Titre de Sejour. Look for the phrase: "toutes activités professionnelles" on the reverse.)

Once your file (dossier) is completed, and the form allowing you to receive unemployment benefit (allocation de chômage) completed and signed, your dossier will be examined and you will be notified of your rights. If you are eligible, you will be paid monthly. You must inform Assédic each month of your situation and to notify them if, for example, if you find a job (even a temporary one), become pregnant, enrol in a course, fall ill or change your address. 

• Tel: 08 36 642 642 
• Minitel: 3614 Assédic code DSM
• For information - in English - on The French Social Protection System Against the Loss of Employment (with downloadable PDF) Click here: Notice DAJ 266 

ANPE: Job Centre

Once you are registered with Assédic it is time to use ANPE to help you find a job. Your inscription with them lasts only one month so you must renew it monthly.

If you do not respond to the ANPE’s offers of meetings with possible employers, your application may be cancelled and your benefits stopped. ANPE must be informed of all changes to your circumstances (finding employment, even temporary, pregnancy, change of address, enrolment in courses, illness) and if you are going to be out of the country for more than 7 days. You are authorised only 35 days a year. All situation changes must be made within 72 hours.

Websites for job seekers in France:

1. APEC
2. AFPA Association nationale pour la Formation Professionnelle des Adultes: Training and employment for poorly qualified job seekers.
3. CadreEmploi
4. CadresOnline
5. Monster

Further Information

• ASSEDIC France
• ANPE  
• Use the interactive map to find your local branch: ANPE Régions or use the French White or Yellow Pages (type ANPE into the "name" box, along with your département name and click "submit query")