The decree of April 16^th, 2020 specifies the methods for calculating the partial activity indemnity and allowance for employees whose working time is computed in days or hours per year.

The partial activity indemnity and allowance are determined by taking into account the number of hours or days or half-days not worked by the employee during the period of partial activity.

The conversion into hours must be made as follows:

– a half-day not worked corresponds to 3h30 not worked;

– a day not worked corresponds to 7 hours not worked;

– a week not worked corresponds to 35 hours not worked.

During this period of partial activity, days of paid leave and rest taken, as well as public holidays not worked (which correspond to working days) are converted into hours according to the above methods. The hours resulting from this conversion shall be deducted from the number of hours not worked for which the company requests a partial activity allowance.

The Executive Order n° 2020-428 dated April 15^th, 2020 provides an important clarification concerning the opening of the partial activity scheme to senior executives, since it stipulates that they may benefit from the scheme only in the event of a temporary closure of their establishment or a part of the establishment. A decree is expected to specify the methods for calculating this allowance.

For sales representatives (“VRP”), the partial activity indemnity and allowance are calculated as follows:

– the reference monthly salary corresponds to the average gross salary received over the past 12 calendar months (or all the calendar months previously worked if the employee has worked less than 12 months),

– the hourly amount is determined by referring the amount of the monthly reference pay to the legal working time;

– the loss of salary corresponds to the difference between the monthly reference salary and the monthly salary actually received during the same period;

– the number of unworked hours which may be compensated corresponds, within the limit of the legal working time, to the difference in remuneration obtained in relation to the hourly amount.

For employees receiving variable salary (or are paid at a non-monthly frequency), the reference salary takes into account the average of the variable salary received during the past 12 calendar months (or over all the months worked if the employee has worked less than 12 calendar months), preceding the first day of partial activity.

Are excluded from the calculation base the sums representing professional expenses and the other element of the remuneration which, although having the character of a salary, are not the counterpart of actual work or are not affected by the reduction or absence of activity and are allocated for the year.

Moreover, when the remuneration includes a fraction of the salary corresponding to the payment of the paid leave allowance, this fraction is deducted for the determination of the basis for the calculation of the partial activity indemnity and allowance, without affecting the payment by the employer of the paid leave.

In a press release published on April 17^th, 2020, the Government announced a new compensation package for individuals currently under sick leave in the context of the covid-19 crisis (vulnerable persons and employees on sick leave for childcare).

From May 1^st, these employees will be placed under the partial activity scheme. They will therefore be able to receive an indemnity corresponding to 70% of their gross salary, i.e. around 84% of their net salary (or 100% of their salary for employees paid at the SMIC level). This compensation will be paid to the employee at the normal pay period by the company, which will be reimbursed entirely by the State under the same limits and conditions as those provided for under the usual partial activity scheme.

However, until April 30^th, these employees will be compensated by their employer, in addition to the daily social security allowances, up to 90% of their salary, regardless of their seniority.

These provisions are applied retroactively since March 12^th, 2020.

This announcement is compliant with the provisions of the Decree n° 2020-434 dated April 16^th, 2020 (published on April 17^th, 2020) which provides for a temporary adjustment of the time limits and terms of payment of the additional indemnity provided for in Article L.1226-1 of the French Labor Code until April 30^th, 2020.

The measures laid down in this Decree provide for:

• Alignment of the waiting periods applicable for the payment of these additional allowances with those applicable for the payment of the usual daily allowances by the social security system, i.e. from the first day of absence. On the other hand, for work leave that began between 12 and 23 March 2020, the additional allowance is paid from the 4^th day of absence;
• The payment of an indemnity equal to 90% of the gross remuneration that the employee would have received if he/she had continued to work, for the period between 12^th March and 30^th
• By derogation to Article D.1226-3 of the French Labor Code, the calculation of the compensation does not take into account the periods of compensation paid during the last 12 months.