Coronavirus - Partial Activity Should Remain The Last Resort

On Thursday, March 19th, the President Macron called on "businesses essential to our economy to continue their activity while complying with health and safety rules". He referred to "the companies' civic responsibility to continue their activity whenever possible".

The same day, this position was conveyed by the Medef (French employers' federation) in a letter sent to all the companies' heads in France to urge them to "imperatively continue to produce during this period of containment".

Many companies have indeed contemplated applying for partial activity, particularly after the Ministry of Labor announced an extension of the partial activity scheme by decree to be published in the following days. This decree should, in particular, provide for an increase of the State's reimbursement of the indemnification paid by companies to their concerned employees.