The Integration through Economic Activity is a national policy in France. It is foreseen in the Labour Code – Integration through Economic Activity IAE (Articles L5132-1 to L5132-17)

The purpose of integration through economic activity is to enable unemployed people, experiencing particular social and professional difficulties, to benefit from employment contracts in order to facilitate their work integration. It implements specific hosting and support procedures.

In 2019 France has adopted The Ambition Pact for Integration through Economic Activity which calls for the creation of 100,000 jobs in IAE structures by 2022 :

Built around the following 5 commitments for a return to sustainable employment based on a philosophy of inclusion, the pact encourages the acceleration of the change of scale in the territories, in order to promote social progress and economic efficiency.

1 – Personalized support – reveal everyone’s potential to build paths to sustainable employment

2 – Innovation and job creation – develop the IAE by supporting the various players and increasing the resources allocated to it, as well as the number of jobs and career paths.

3 – The rallying of companies and public actors to the cause of inclusion – changing the paradigm to make inclusion everyone’s business

4 – Collective action throughout the territory – mobilize synergies and strengthen the IAE in territories in great socio-economic difficulty

5 – Optimization and collaboration – digitize, simplify, promote the collaboration of the various actors and training in good practices.

Organisation of the national policy of integration through economic activity in France

The integration policy is organised by the Departmental Prefecture (national public administration) and the Departmental Council (regional government).

The framework is based on three pillars :

 

1. Local steering of the whole system by a departmental council for integration through economic activity (CDIAE) established in each department, under the responsibility of the State representative (the Prefect). This council is both a steering and consultation body for the department’s intervention in the field of integration through economic activity.

• It determines the actions to be carried out in terms of integration through economic activity (IAE). It draws up an action plan for integration through economic activity and ensures that it is consistent with the other measures contributing to integration, in particular the departmental integration programme (PDI) and, where applicable, the multi-year local plans for integration and employment (PLIE).
• It has a consultative role in the accreditation of new integration structures through economic activity organisations and in the management of the departmental funds for integration.

2. An agreement negotiated with the State services at the departmental level. This procedure allows for the legal recognition of a structure within the IAE sector and therefore to various financial support programs. All agreements signed must systematically include negotiated objectives in terms of :

• social and professional support programs ;
• training of both benefiairies and the staff of IEA organisations ;
• integration employment of the employees in integration, divided into three main categories: “Durable” employment, “Transitional” employment and “Positive” exits.
• Durable exits: permanent, fixed-term or temporary work contracts of 6 months or more, internship or work integration into the civil services and business creation.
• Transitional exits: fixed-term or temporary work contracts of less than 6 months, subsidised contracts within a company.
• Positive exits: Pre-qualifying or qualifying training, employment in another IEAO.

[Dynamic exit rate = Durable exit rate + Transition exit rate + Positive exit rate]

3. Prior approval of the public by the “IEA Pass”, issued through the Inclusion Platform: compulsory for all new recruitments in an IEAO. In parallel with the creation of this platform, the way recruitments are carried out is changing:

• new prescribers are empowered to refer candidates to IEAO ;

Authorised prescribers = professionals from the civil employment services (Pôle emploi, Mission Locale, CAP emploi, Social Services of the départemental Council, etc.)

• non-authorised prescribers, known as referrers, can now also place candidates, provided that they meet a number of criteria.
• Referrers: Accommodation and Social Reinsertion Centre, Emergency Accommodation Centre, Temporary Emergency Centre, etc.

Types of disadvtantaged workers eligible for integration (eligibility criterias for Integration via Economic Activity)

The IEA qualifying process of an applicant is determined through a socio-professional diagnosis carried out by an authorised prescriber or an IEAO

For a candidate to qualify for IEA by an IEAO, he/she must have :

• At least 1 administrative criteria of level 1 (RSA beneficiary, ASS beneficiary, AAH beneficiary or DETLD +24 months)

[RSA : Active Solidarity Income; ASS : Specific Solidarity Action ; AAH : Disabled Adult Allowance; DETLD : Very Long Term Jobseeker +24mois]

• Or the consolidation of 3 administrative criterias of level 2 (secondary evel of education, Senior +50 years old, youth -26 years old, People leaving the ASE, DELD 12-24 months, etc.

 [ASE : Social assistance for children; DELD : Long-term jobseeker 12-24 months]

A candidate referred by an authorised prescriber on the inclusion jobs site is not subject to these administrative criterias. Clearly, if an authorised prescriber supports a candidate who has no criterias or not the required numbers and he/she considers that an IEA pathway is relevant for this candidate, he/she will be able to waive the administrative criteria procedure.

Operation of the system via Inclusion Platform

Types of Operators of Integration via Economic Activity IEAO

Integration through economic activity (IAE) allows people furthest from employment, due to particular social and professional difficulties (age, state of health, precariousness) to benefit from reinforced support which should facilitate their social and professional integration through specific employment contracts.

France had 3,843 integration through economic activity structures (SIAE) at the end of 2019 . These specialized structures, such as integration workshops and sites (1907 ACI), intermediary associations (655 AI), integration companies (981 EI) or temporary integration work companies (300 ETTI) sign agreements with the State that allow them to welcome and support these workers . The IAE in figures in 2019 .

The IAE extranet is a tool shared between the Services and Payment Agency (ASP), the State, certain departmental councils and the structures of the IAE. It makes it possible to manage and monitor the devices relating to the IAE.

• The intermediary association allows people with particular social and professional difficulties to work occasionally on behalf of users.
• The integration workshops and sites offer a professional activity to unemployed people encountering social and professional difficulties.
• An integration company operates in the market sector with a social purpose and offers people in difficulty a productive activity accompanied by benefits.
• The temporary work integration company is an interim company whose activity is centered on professional integration.
• The integration through self-employment enterprise (EITI) allows unemployed people, encountering particular social and professional difficulties, to exercise a professional activity by benefiting from a service of connection with customers and A support.
• Employer groups for integration and qualification bring together companies which, faced with recruitment problems, provide member companies with people who have difficulty accessing employment.

https://travail-emploi.gouv.fr/emploi-et-insertion/insertion-activité-économique/

The 5 types of IEAO

1. Workshops and Integration Jobsites (Les ateliers et chantiers d’insertion ACI)

Organized on a one-off or permanent basis, the ACI workshops and integration sites (ACI) are approved systems that can be created and “supported” by:

• a non-profit private law organization (an association for example) whose purpose is to hire the people mentioned below or to employ detainees who have signed an act of commitment in order to facilitate their social and professional integration in developing activities having mainly a character of social utility,
• a common, a department, a public institution for inter-municipal cooperation, a municipal or inter-municipal social action center (CCAS or CIAS),
• a mixed syndicate,
• a state vocational and agricultural education institution,
• a departmental chamber of agriculture,or the National Forestry Office.

Integration workshops and sites (ACI) fall within the scope of the social and solidarity economy. They play an essential role in the creation and development of new activities. Their activities can be carried out in all sectors of activity provided that the advantages and aid granted by the State do not create distortion of competition and that the jobs thus created do not replace private or public jobs. existing.

The goods and services they produce can be marketed, when this marketing contributes to the performance and development of social and professional integration activities for the people hired. However, revenue from the marketing of goods and services produced can only cover less than 30% of the expenses related to these activities: this share can be increased by decision of the representative of the State in the department, without being able to reach 50%, after a favorable opinion from the departmental council for integration through economic activity, if the activities developed are not already provided and satisfied by local businesses.

– 1907 organisations (associations, local authorities)

– Sector : Activities related to unsatisfied collective needs (Environment, construction, agriculture, personal services and historic heritage maintenance)

1. Integration Enterprises (EI)

An integration enterprise  is a company operating in the commercial sector, but whose purpose is above all social: to offer people in difficulty a productive activity accompanied by various services defined according to the needs of the person concerned (re-training at the rhythms work, training, social support, etc.) to build and finalize a sustainable socio-professional integration path with them.

No legal form is imposed on the integration company, which produces goods or services like any other company.

– 981 organisations (commercial or associative)

– Sector : Marketing of goods and services on a market

(Landscape management, building sector, collection-recycling, cleaning, craft activities, trade-distribution, catering, industrial activities) 

2. Intermediary Associations (AI)

An intermediary association (AI) is a non-profit association governed by the law of 1901. It must be approved by the State.

The intermediary association (AI) ensures the reception of people as well as the monitoring and support of its employees with a view to facilitating their social integration and seeking the conditions for sustainable professional integration.

Thus, it ensures:

– the recruitment of people in difficulty and their availability to users (companies, associations, local authorities, individuals, etc.) within the framework of a provision contract:

– the reception of job seekers and the reception of offers of activities,

– the organization of vocational training courses, the information of interested parties on their rights.

– 655 organisations (Associative)

– Sector : Service provider to individuals, local authorities or companies for occasional work

(cleaning, gardening, handling, maintenance of premises, building work, etc.)

3. Temporary employment integration agencies (ETTI)

An interim company, the temporary integration work company is unique in that its activity is entirely focused on the professional integration of people in difficulty . It offers them assignments with user companies, but also follow-up and social and professional support, during and outside the assignments.

The temporary integration work company (ETTI) is subject to all the rules relating to temporary work. The duration of assignment contracts can however be extended to 24 months, including renewal, instead of 18 months in the general case.

The company must conclude an agreement with the State, in particular to be able to benefit from financial aid.

– 300 organisations (commercial or associative)

– Sector : Temporary work contracts in companies

4. Enterprises for Integration through Self-Employment (EiTI) – New form of structure, experimentation extended until 2023)

A new form of structure for integration through economic activity (SIAE), the enterprise for integration through independent work (EITI) allows unemployed people, encountering particular social and professional difficulties, to carry out an activity professional by benefiting from a service of putting in contact with customers and an accompaniment.

This is an experiment, permitted under article 83 of the law of September 5, 2018 for the freedom to choose one’s professional future, which aims to broaden integration through economic activity at work. independent.

– 63 organisations

– Sector : Support for an entrepreneurial project

Funding

 

      I.         Departmental integration fund (FDI)

The FDI is state aid for integration structures through economic activity. It can be mobilized to support structures during their creation and development, and to strengthen their economic viability, a condition for the quality of their social project. The FDI can also allow the implementation of collective actions for the benefit of several structures at the departmental or regional level. This aid is not automatic, it is flexible depending on the project.

In each department, an integration fund finances the development and consolidation of local initiatives in terms of integration through economic activity.

What types of structures can benefit from it?

FDI beneficiary structures can be:

• Integrationenterprises (EI)
• Temporary integration work companies(ETTI)
• Intermediary associations(AI)
• Integration workshops and projects(ACI)
• Exceptionally, other structures can benefit from it, for example: groups of structures for integration through economic activity (such as solidarity economic groups) and local networks for integration through economic activity.

 

What aid is granted by the state?

• Start-up aidto support the creation of new structures, in addition to the State’s common law intervention tools.
• Development aidto finance growth investment projects or investments necessary for a reorientation of activities, next to other financing, particularly private.
  Consolidation aid to support the recovery efforts of structures subject to temporary difficulties; this exceptional aid capped at €22,500 should have a leverage effect on other sources of funding.
• Aid for advicelimited to 70% of the amount of the studies within the limit of €15,000 including tax per operation must be articulated with aid from local support systems (DLA) .
• Aid for professionalizationfor the purpose of pooling and exceptionally for the acquisition of skills, particularly managerial. This assumes that common law financial resources have been mobilised. Training of employees in integration is not eligible.
• Lastly, exceptionally, aid for evaluation and experimentation.

 

How to apply for the FDI?

The structure that requests credits that can be mobilized under the FDI must file a request for agreement with the Regional Directorate for the Economy, Employment, Labor and Solidarity (DREETS-DDETS) in your territory, which assesses the quality of the project presented by the structure.

The request is subject to the opinion of the Departmental Council for integration through economic activity (CDIAE). The amount is determined by the prefect of the department according to the project, the credits available and the opinion of the CDIAE. With the exception of aid for consolidation and advice, aid from the FDI is not capped. The agreement is concluded for a maximum period of one year.

What are the conditions for the payment of aid?

The aid is paid by the Services and Payment Agency (ASP) in two instalments: an advance of 40% of the total amount of the aid upon signature of the agreement and the balance in view of the assessment of the achievement of the state-approved shares.

    II.         Local Support Framework (Dispositif Local d’Accompagnment DLA)

The DLA is a public system that allows employer associations, structures for integration through economic activity and other social utility companies to benefit from tailor-made support in order to develop their activities, help them to consolidate and create or sustain jobs.

The structures are supported locally thanks to a network of 103 departmental DLAs and 17 regional DLAs, supported by associative structures with varied skills. These are also supported by sectoral and thematic experts organized at the national level in DLA Resource Centers: sport , IAE , culture , social , environment, financing .

  III.      Subsidised contracts

• The Fixed Term Integration Contract

The fixed-term integration contract (CDDI) came into effect on June 1st, 2009 (Law No. 2008-1249 of December 1st, 2008) and is a work contract for jobseekers experiencing particular social and professional difficulties.

Its objective is to offer an employment framework for employees hired by integration through economic activity organisations, but also to benefit from specific support and adapted training.

The duration of the CDDI, ranging between 4 and 24 months, corresponds to the time needed for the employee to acquire a professional autonomy and skills that will enable him/her to access a traditional job or professional training.

This period may be extended to a further 24 months to allow the employee in integration to complete a professional training program that is still in progress at the end of the contract. 

Certain groups of people are given the priority for fixed-term integration contract recruitments :

• People under 26 years of age encountering serious difficulty (social, financial, etc.)
• Beneficiaries of social minimum allowances such as Active Solidarity Income, Specific Solidarity Action, etc.
• People who have been unemployed for a long time (long-term jobseekers)
• Persons recognised as disabled workers

Open-ended Integration Contract CDI: a scheme for the employment of senior citizens – people over 57 years of age

The CDI inclusion is a new employment contract created in December 2020. It is intended for people aged 57 and over who are experiencing socio-professional difficulties, to enable them to build a pathway to retirement.

Only organisations involved in integration through economic activity can recruit employees on a sustainable integration contract.

The CDI inclusion contract can be concluded for a period up to the acquisition of pension rights

The minimum weekly working time for the permanent inclusion contract is set at 24 hours per week.

The SIAE must pay the CDI inclusion contract holder at least the minimum wage.

The hiring of employees on a permanent inclusion contract by an IEAO is eligible for financial aid, within the limit of a number of inclusion posts set by the agreement. The financial aid paid in the first year of the CDI is equal to the basic amount of a fixed-term integration contract and from the second year onwards to 70% of the basic amount.

The insertion CDI can be concluded within the limit of 20% of the number of full-time insertion positions within the IEAO fixed by the State/IEAO agreement.