Morocco will get (still modest) unemployment insurance
12 September 2013
Read by 1510 persons
An "Unemployment Benefit" will be created in Morocco by the end of the year. The employers gave their final agreement to its operation at the end of August. Its funding will be based on social contributions. This unambitious agreement is nevertheless a first step. It should allow around 50,000 unemployed people to receive, at most, compensation equivalent to the minimum wage for 6 months.
This is a first in Morocco's economic history, an old problem that has become a reality. The country will be equipped with unemployment insurance, following negotiations in recent months between the government of Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane, the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM, the Moroccan employers' federation). This project will still have to be translated into law.
"The government must now make the Unemployment Benefit (IPE) operational. The aim is to see it implemented from 1 January 2014," says Jamal Belahrach, president of the employment commission at the CGEM, and also CEO of Manpower in Morocco.
On 23 August 2013, the employers' federation finally gave its definitive agreement to the embryo of Morocco's first unemployment insurance. "We estimate that 50,000 or 60,000 people will be affected initially," he estimates.
CGEM AND UNIONS IN AGREEMENT
The government has accepted the two conditions required by the CGEM: to increase from 250 million to 500 million dirhams (22.4 to 44.8 million euros) the sum advanced by the state to prevent the system from immediately being in deficit, and "to associate the benefit with a support programme for the unemployed by the Anapec (National Agency for the Promotion of Employment and Skills) to find a new job", insists Jamal Belahrach.
At the end of July, the draft Unemployment Benefit (IPE) was approved by the Board of Directors of the National Social Security Fund (CNSS), chaired by the Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, Abdelouahed Souhail.
The five Moroccan trade union federations (CDT, FDT, UGTM, UMT and UNTM) have supported the principle of the IPE since the agreement of 26 April 2011. "We had given our agreement to the previous government. Since then, we have not been consulted on the subject by the Benkirane government," stresses Mbarek Mouataoukil, a member of the executive office of the Democratic Confederation of Labour (CDT).
Since November 2011, the Moroccan government has been made up of a coalition led by the Party of Justice and Development (PJD), an Islamist party that had highlighted social issues during the election campaign, but still with few concrete legislative actions.
THE STATE PROVIDES 500 MILLION DIRHAMS
According to the mechanism established for the IPE, an employee who has involuntarily lost their job will receive the equivalent of 70% of their average monthly salary over the last 36 months, capped at the level of the SMIG (currently 12.24 dirhams per hour, or 1.10 euros for the industry, commerce and services sectors), for a maximum of 6 months. In other words, this means that, in the best-case scenario, the unemployed person will receive 2333.76 dirhams (209.37 euros) for 6 months.
The fund that will pay the benefits will be provided through a double contribution of 0.19% for employees and 0.38% for businesses, in addition to the public start-up fund of 500 million dirhams. "This formula will be tested for three years and then re-evaluated," announces the CGEM representative.
CONTRIBUTIONS WILL NOT INCREASE
To those who criticise the IPE for its lack of ambition, the president of the employment commission at the CGEM points out that "the most beautiful bride can only give what she has. For Morocco, the creation of this benefit is historic." The employers' federation does not plan to increase its contribution to the IPE fund, even in the future. "We will only be able to exceed 0.38% if employers' contributions are reduced," he indicates.
"We had proposed that the salary charges allocated to pensions levied on the pensions of retirees should not be returned to them, as is currently the case, but should be paid into the IPE fund, but nobody accepted," regrets the trade unionist. For him, it will be "difficult to ask for a higher contribution from employees. When they earn the SMIG, they already do not have enough income to meet all their daily expenses."
Julie Chaudier.
Some elements of social protection in the Maghreb
The minimum wage in Morocco is 12.24 dirhams per hour, which represents 2,333 dirhams per month, or 189.25 euros. The official unemployment rate is 9.4% for a working-age population of 11.4 million (out of 32.6 million inhabitants). This rate is approximately double in urban areas.
ALGERIA
In Algeria, the law on unemployment insurance dates from 1 July 1994. Unemployment contributions represent 1.5% of gross salary, shared between employer and employee. When the insured person has worked for more than 3 years for the same company, the employer is required to pay the CNAS (National Social Insurance Fund) a sum equal to 80% of the average monthly salary received during the last year of employment of the dismissed employee for each year worked, up to a maximum of 12 years.
Minimum wage: 18,000 dinars, or 165.02 euros - Unemployment rate: 10.2% - Estimated working-age population: 11 million out of 38 million inhabitants.
TUNISIA
In Tunisia, a monthly allowance of 200 dinars (90 euros) in the first semester and 150 dinars in the second semester is granted under certain conditions. The amount of this allowance ("Amal" or now "work encouragement bonus") increases if the beneficiary finds a job or creates their own project after six months. In the latter case, they may be entitled to an allowance of up to 5,000 dinars for self-financing.
Minimum wage: 320 dinars, or 146.49 euros - Unemployment rate: 18.8% - Estimated population: 3.9 million out of 10.8 million inhabitants.
Nasser Djama.
Usinenouvelle.com
Published on 12 September 2013.
Online since 12 September 2013.
This is a first in Morocco's economic history, an old problem that has become a reality. The country will be equipped with unemployment insurance, following negotiations in recent months between the government of Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane, the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM, the Moroccan employers' federation). This project will still have to be translated into law.
"The government must now make the Unemployment Benefit (IPE) operational. The aim is to see it implemented from 1 January 2014," says Jamal Belahrach, president of the employment commission at the CGEM, and also CEO of Manpower in Morocco.
On 23 August 2013, the employers' federation finally gave its definitive agreement to the embryo of Morocco's first unemployment insurance. "We estimate that 50,000 or 60,000 people will be affected initially," he estimates.
CGEM AND UNIONS IN AGREEMENT
The government has accepted the two conditions required by the CGEM: to increase from 250 million to 500 million dirhams (22.4 to 44.8 million euros) the sum advanced by the state to prevent the system from immediately being in deficit, and "to associate the benefit with a support programme for the unemployed by the Anapec (National Agency for the Promotion of Employment and Skills) to find a new job", insists Jamal Belahrach.
At the end of July, the draft Unemployment Benefit (IPE) was approved by the Board of Directors of the National Social Security Fund (CNSS), chaired by the Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, Abdelouahed Souhail.
The five Moroccan trade union federations (CDT, FDT, UGTM, UMT and UNTM) have supported the principle of the IPE since the agreement of 26 April 2011. "We had given our agreement to the previous government. Since then, we have not been consulted on the subject by the Benkirane government," stresses Mbarek Mouataoukil, a member of the executive office of the Democratic Confederation of Labour (CDT).
Since November 2011, the Moroccan government has been made up of a coalition led by the Party of Justice and Development (PJD), an Islamist party that had highlighted social issues during the election campaign, but still with few concrete legislative actions.
THE STATE PROVIDES 500 MILLION DIRHAMS
According to the mechanism established for the IPE, an employee who has involuntarily lost their job will receive the equivalent of 70% of their average monthly salary over the last 36 months, capped at the level of the SMIG (currently 12.24 dirhams per hour, or 1.10 euros for the industry, commerce and services sectors), for a maximum of 6 months. In other words, this means that, in the best-case scenario, the unemployed person will receive 2333.76 dirhams (209.37 euros) for 6 months.
The fund that will pay the benefits will be provided through a double contribution of 0.19% for employees and 0.38% for businesses, in addition to the public start-up fund of 500 million dirhams. "This formula will be tested for three years and then re-evaluated," announces the CGEM representative.
CONTRIBUTIONS WILL NOT INCREASE
To those who criticise the IPE for its lack of ambition, the president of the employment commission at the CGEM points out that "the most beautiful bride can only give what she has. For Morocco, the creation of this benefit is historic." The employers' federation does not plan to increase its contribution to the IPE fund, even in the future. "We will only be able to exceed 0.38% if employers' contributions are reduced," he indicates.
"We had proposed that the salary charges allocated to pensions levied on the pensions of retirees should not be returned to them, as is currently the case, but should be paid into the IPE fund, but nobody accepted," regrets the trade unionist. For him, it will be "difficult to ask for a higher contribution from employees. When they earn the SMIG, they already do not have enough income to meet all their daily expenses."
Julie Chaudier.
Some elements of social protection in the Maghreb
The minimum wage in Morocco is 12.24 dirhams per hour, which represents 2,333 dirhams per month, or 189.25 euros. The official unemployment rate is 9.4% for a working-age population of 11.4 million (out of 32.6 million inhabitants). This rate is approximately double in urban areas.
ALGERIA
In Algeria, the law on unemployment insurance dates from 1 July 1994. Unemployment contributions represent 1.5% of gross salary, shared between employer and employee. When the insured person has worked for more than 3 years for the same company, the employer is required to pay the CNAS (National Social Insurance Fund) a sum equal to 80% of the average monthly salary received during the last year of employment of the dismissed employee for each year worked, up to a maximum of 12 years.
Minimum wage: 18,000 dinars, or 165.02 euros - Unemployment rate: 10.2% - Estimated working-age population: 11 million out of 38 million inhabitants.
TUNISIA
In Tunisia, a monthly allowance of 200 dinars (90 euros) in the first semester and 150 dinars in the second semester is granted under certain conditions. The amount of this allowance ("Amal" or now "work encouragement bonus") increases if the beneficiary finds a job or creates their own project after six months. In the latter case, they may be entitled to an allowance of up to 5,000 dinars for self-financing.
Minimum wage: 320 dinars, or 146.49 euros - Unemployment rate: 18.8% - Estimated population: 3.9 million out of 10.8 million inhabitants.
Nasser Djama.
Usinenouvelle.com
Published on 12 September 2013.
Online since 12 September 2013.
