This is a site for expats, expecting and accepting criticism and sometimes generalization, as it's natural for them to have a safety valve.
If you aren't comfortable with it, you may choose not to participate..... or go elsewhere as you suggested!
I am in no way spitting on the system Jean-Louis. I am 36 years old and have worked for the last 18 years. In 2012 I took a job as a chambermaid on a temporary contract, because I couldn't find any other work in the region that I moved to. I am actually a director's assistant by trade.
In 2010 I took a job as a waitress and barmaid in order to work. I also worked as a night watchperson in order to prolong my contract. At one point I had a full time job on minimum wage plus two extra weekend jobs in order to pay my mortgage.
I am not trying to sound like a victim but in this particular instance, circumstances mean that I am in a financially precarious situation. I also live in an area where work is highly seasonal and the floods at the end of the season have also reduced the availability of extra work.
However it is preferable to living in a house with all my bills paid and having to support constant psychological abuse in return for such a luxury.
This could mean that RSA will give you more than pole emploi, but it might not be worth the hassle and the time you spend without an income... not to mention the trip to England to retrieve what they require!
Thanks Marie-Claire. I did already ask about the "missing" 78 days and was told that it was removed because financially it was not in my best interests....? Go figure!
Agreed. Nothing more to add.
I can confirm that a French payslip is an A4 page and it is line after line of deductions which don't include your income tax. For a basic minimum wage, your payslip starts with 1537.00€ at the top and by the time everything is deducted, you end up with 1292.00€ at the bottom!
Sadly there is no motivation to help you find work. All the Pole Emploi want to know is whether you have work for the next summer season. I have not been called in once since my original interview back in September. I have been trying to find something to take me through to mid March when my next contract starts but to no avail.
Thanks for the link Conor, I did the online simulation earlier last year just in case. I haven't ever heard of the ASS so will apply for both concurrently and see which one brings a measure of success. The RSA may be refused as I don't pay any rent. I am housed in return for living in and keeping an eye on the hotel where I will be working this year.
P.S. I have just counted and on my last payslip there are 27 lines of which 21 are deductions!
I like it when people spit on a system from which they are greatly taking through unemployment benefits, health care system, etc..etc...which, in a way is also what made you come here.... and calling the Civil Servants "parasites"....Just love it...Have you ever wondered if YOU were not the parasites? From a teacher who is more than fed up with being called a parasite...
The govt has known this for decades. Civil servants, however, vote. And the ones in the best positions have friends in the government, and make sure that civil servants vote properly, and make a mess of things so that they can be privatized, which is profitable for the government....
This said, Damaris, I would go to pole emploi and challenge them, I have a school friend who works there (works??!!) and I know that they make mistakes all the time. There is a good chance you'll just get your allowance back without having to go rummaging in your sister's attic!
I agree, too much bureaucracy, over-complicated systems. Apparently there are about 20 different items on a French payslip -- I don't know, I work for myself (translation).
Basically the private sector is subsidising the public sector. The reason the crisis has affected France less than the UK and Ireland is that the public sector economy is so big here.
Trop de Foncionaires = Trop de Taxe
one day somebody in the Govt will realise that this countries tax burden is at least double what it should be or could be if this tax income was not needed to service salaries / pensions and lots of other benefits for these overpaid civil servants who are doing their utmost to keep this country in the dark ages & prolong the agony for everyone else.
Parasites.
Sounds to me like you might be entitled to the RSA -- see http://www.caf.fr/aides-et-services/s-informer-sur-les-aides/solida... -- for which the formalities may be more straightforward (you should just have to prove that you're British -- I'm assuming -- and that you're out of work).
The benefit is about €600 -- depending on no. of depedent children, etc. -- but is maybe more then the now-legendary "ASS".
HTH.
(As an aside: my "Code Parrain" for ING Direct, so that I can recommend people to the bank, is "USMYASS"!!!)