Work Initiative Contracts(Contrat Initiative Emploi)

The Contrat Initiative Emploi (CIE) helps unemployed people return to work. The payees eligible for this contract must meet certain requirements. Depending on the situation of the payee, the employer is entitled to help and exemptions from contributions.

There are two values in the Contract Type table used to identify the CIE contract:

• INE is the value for a CIE without a fixed term.

• IND is the value for a CIE with a fixed term.

Before the CIE contract was created, there was a similar contract that helped the unemployed return to work called the Contrat de Retour à l'Emploi (CRE). When the CIE was introduced, many payees continued to work under old CRE contracts. Payees who are still working with CRE contracts follow the same rules as payees under CIE. The only difference is the social security code used to manage the URSSAF contributions for these two contracts.

For the CRE, the social security code used is code 944 (945 for Alsace-Moselle) and is applied to payees over 50 years of age and unemployed for more than one year when they signed their contracts. For the CIE, two social security codes may be used: 956 for general cases or 960 for contracts concluded with people over 50 years of age (957 and 961 for Alsace-Moselle).

The CIE may be a fixed-term contract (IND) or a contract without term (INE). CDD contracts are for a minimum of 12 months and a maximum of 24 months.

At the end of the CDD, the payee is not eligible for the end-of-contract allowance.

Employers hiring people under CIE are entitled to exemption from social security contributions for illness, maternity, disability, death, and old age deductions. The exemption is applied to the part of the salary that does not exceed the SMIC. The part greater than the SMIC is then subject to the normal contributions based on the associated régime.

To manage work initiative contracts, assign the contract type IND or INE and social security code 956 (for normal cases) or 960 (for those over 50) to eligible payees on the Contract Type/Clauses page in PeopleSoft HR.

The limit for the contribution exemption is equal to the hourly SMIC value multiplied by the number of paid hours.

For the CDD, the exemption is granted for a maximum of 24 months. For the CDI, the exemption is granted for 24 months. For payees over 50 years of age and some other specific categories, the exemptions are granted for the complete duration of their contracts.

At the end of the two years exemption limit, you must modify the social security codes at the payee level for payees under 50 years of age. Payees who were over 50 years of age when their contracts were signed are still entitled to exemptions after two years, so you do not need to change their codes.

Payees with CIE contracts are not included in the organization head count, except for the valuation of the work accident rate made by Social Security. Payees with fixed-term contracts are not counted until the end of the contract. Payees without fixed-term contracts are not counted for two years after the hiring date.

The system does not count payees with the contract types INE or IND. Payees without fixed-term contracts are not counted in the staff of the organization until their contract type value equals CDI. The system does not check whether the contracts last more than two years.