Introducing the SENEF and Progisap Press Review. This monthly press review is a digest of all the latest news from the personal services sector. Here is the March issue.

Studies Home help for disabled people: an emergency situation

Fédésap Frank NATAF, President of Fédésap, expresses concern over lack of funding. In order to meet the persistent challenges of the homecare sector. In an article published by Le Media Social, he highlights the difficulties facing the sector. Particularly for people with disabilities, are highlighted.

Frank Nataf particularly highlights the problem of the low increase in the floor rate. It is set at €23.50 for 2024. This situation is leading to complex dilemmas for SAD (Services d'Aide à Domicile).

Decisions taken in this context have a negative impact on service users. But also on the structures themselves, and on the employees. This creates a dynamic in which all stakeholders are affected by the constraints of the current system.

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Families in temporary difficulty: from 2024, the CAF will pay more for home help

The family branch of the Caisse d'Allocations Familiales (CAF) offers financial assistance to families facing temporary difficulties. These include situations such as parental separation, parental illness or the birth of a child.

This aid, known as Aide à l'Accompagnement à Domicile (AAD), is now more accessible to low-income families. Thanks to a revision of the scales by the CAF in 2024. Families now pay less according to their income, with a significant reduction for the most modest. What's more, families are entitled to a 50% tax credit for home services, regardless of their tax situation.

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Personal services: two out of three employees work exclusively for individual employers

Definition: The employee can be recruited, paid and declared by the private individual, without any intermediary or by an organization. The employer-employee relationship entails rights and obligations for both parties.

A recent Insee study reveals that two-thirds of personal services employees prefer to work directly for individual employers rather than for organizations.

This choice is often motivated by lower hourly rates. The sector, which includes 26 activities such as assistance for the elderly or disabled, benefits from a 50% tax credit and attracts mainly women, accounting for nine out of ten employees.

Employees working for private individuals put in an average of 560 hours a year, while those working for organizations put in 890. They also have more flexibility when it comes to choosing customers and schedules.

However, this self-employed status has its drawbacks, such as the lack of job security and social benefits. Despite this, one in five employees of these organizations also works for private individuals. This booming sector is dominated by the for-profit private sector, to the detriment of the voluntary and public sectors.

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Reminder: what is the SAAD?

The Service d'Aide et d'Accompagnement à Domicile (SAAD) offers a range of home services designed to help elderly, disabled or sick people remain independent in their own homes .

It is staffed by a team of qualified professionals, such as care assistants and social workers, who provide personalized support tailored to the specific needs of each beneficiary.

Services include assistance with toileting, meals, household chores, accompaniment to medical appointments, and basic care management.

The SAAD helps people to remain in their own homes in conditions of comfort and safety, while preserving social ties and the well-being of frail people and their families. To find a SAAD near you, you can consult your GP, town halls, CCAS or MDPH, or search online on specialized sites such as Aladom.

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Home help, Ehpad... what the law on ageing well and autonomy contains

The Joint Committee, comprising members of both chambers, reached a compromise on the points of disagreement. Here are the main measures contained in the adopted text:

• Creation of a departmental autonomy service to centralize information and support for people losing their autonomy.
• Fighting elder abuse by setting up a departmental alert unit.
• Authorization for mayors to consult registers of recipients of certain benefits to detect isolated persons.
• Authorization for Ehpad residents to bring in their pets, subject to consultation with the health authorities.
• Increased support for homecare services, including a budget for professional mobility and the creation of a professional card.
• Experimentation with lump-sum payments for home help services.
• Grandchildren no longer have to pay alimony to grandparents living in a nursing home.
• Reinforcement of controls in Ehpad, with automatic non-renewal of authorizations in the event of unsatisfactory external evaluations.
• Creation of a home autonomy service combining nursing care and home assistance, with a period of adaptation until 2030.
• Modulation of Ehpad rates according to resources and type of place, subject to certain limitations.

In addition, the government plans to launch a debate on a programming law for the elderly, to define the means of financing and the reforms to be undertaken, although it is not yet certain that this will take place.

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Parliament strengthens support for the elderly at home

After more than a year of deliberation, parliamentarians have finalized a bill aimed at improving support for the elderly. Despite the best efforts of the majority, this proposal fails to meet the expectations of dependency experts, who are urging the government to adopt a more comprehensive approach to the aging population.

While some recognize its importance as a first step, many criticize its lack of ambition. The main aim of the text is to make it easier for the elderly to stay at home rather than in specialized institutions.

In particular, it provides for the introduction of a professional card for homecare workers and measures to facilitate their mobility. In addition, we plan to experiment with new ways of financing homecare services, as well as creating a one-stop shop to better guide the elderly and their families towards the services available.

However, the proposal does not meet the immediate needs of homecare facilities, which are in financial difficulty. What's more, profit-making establishments have abandoned their obligation to invest in improving accommodation conditions, which is a crucial aspect.

Dependency specialists express their disappointment at the absence of a genuine law on "old age" on the legislative agenda.

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Study on salaries in the Personal Services sector: Comparing, yes, but with the right focus

The DARES ( La direction des études, de la recherche, et des statistiques du ministère du Travail) and INSEE recently published a study on Personal Services salaries in 2019, showing a significant gap between employees of individual employers and those of Personal Services organizations. The average hourly rate for an employee employed by a private employer is 14.30 euros gross, compared with 11.80 euros for an employee of a Personal Services organization.

However, Fédésap, the leading national federation of Personal Services companies, disputes these conclusions. It claims that the explanation put forward by DARES and INSEE, according to which Personal Services organizations deduct part of their revenues for operating costs, is incorrect.

According to Fédésap, the pay gap can be explained by two main factors:

1. Individual employers pay their employees' ICCP (Indemnités Compensatrices des Congés Payés) on a monthly basis, while personal services organizations pay them when the leave is taken. This results in a difference in remuneration.
2. The hourly rate for employees of individual employers represents their total remuneration, whereas for employees of Personal Services organizations, it is only part of their remuneration. Travel time, training, etc., are also paid in addition.

Fédésap advocates social, fiscal and regulatory harmonization in the Personal Services sector. To avoid distortions between the different forms of intervention and the different legal status of employers.

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