A decree of November 1988 defined technical terms and laid down rules governing the general conditions with which installations must comply regarding the protection of workers in establishments using electrical currents.
The Arrete of December 1988 set up panels of three doctors with specialist knowledge of the diseases caused by dust containing free silica, asbestos or iron oxide, who were required to consider each case and deliver an opinion.
[1] The Arrete of January 1989 provided for special medical surveillance of workers assigned to workplaces with a daily noise exposure of 85 decibels or above.
Recommendations and technical Instructions for occupational physicians performing such medical surveillance are laid down in a document specifying the nature and frequency of the examinations.
There was also a "procedure" element providing for the works council to be kept informed and to be consulted, while the obligation to implement redeployment and retraining agreements was made generally applicable to all cases of redundancy for economic reasons.
The law also set out methods of calculating the special award payable to workers who lost their jobs as a result of an accident or an occupational illness.
[4] A plan to encourage household savings was launched,[5] while ALMP (Active Labour Market Policies) were expanded, notably public internships, training programmes, and subsidies for hard-to-place youths and the long-term unemployed.
The TUC, SIVP, and PIL were folded into one programme (contrats emploi-solidarite, or CES), which acquired legal standing with a fixed-term contract.
Funding was also increased for a holdover program from the previous Chirac Government (the allocation de formation-reclassement) that encouraged recipients of unemployment insurance to receive training.
[10] The “loi Soisson” of 1989 codified the procedures and requirements for so-called “plans sociaux” for firms laying off more than ten employees, “requiring efforts on the part of firms to avoid layoffs and compensation for workers who did lose their jobs.”[11] The budget of 1990 provided supplementary budgetary allocations to support the long-term unemployed, the creation of several thousand new civil-service posts, a reduction of taxes on rents, and a surtax on high incomes.
Parents were responsible for selecting providers and also had a financial incentive to follow the recommended schedule of preventive care visits for their children.
[19] In July 1990, the age limit for the payment of family benefits was raised from 17 to 18 years,[20] and in January 1990 an Act was passed that extended to elderly persons living with their relatives “an exoneration for employers social security contributions for using a home help.”[21] In 1990, universal access to day-care services was made a subjective right for every child under the age of three.
[23] Additional day-care services and related services for working mothers and families were introduced,[24] and a new allowance for skilled baby-sitters (L'aide a la famille pour l'emploi d'une AFEAMA) was created in 1990 to promote the employment of skilled baby-minders, recognised by public authorities, through a reduction of insurance contributions and through tax incentives.
The act required local authorities to develop schemes for those in need of housing, as well as to create special funds for assisting the poor in paying for rental deposits or moving expenses.
The decree also set up the Délégation interministérielle à la ville (DIV), an interministerial delegation that was allocated the task of co-ordinating urban policy.
Members of the Socialist Party group called for the transition features of the Mehaignerie Law (introduced under the previous Chirac Government) to be made permanent.
That same year, the Grands Projets Urbains (GPU) were launched, largely physical projects targeting 14 particularly deprived urban neighbourhoods which aimed for a thorough restructuring of the estates.
[41] Modifications were also made to some of the harsher legislation introduced by the previous Chirac Government on immigration and the rights of landlords and employers to get rid of unwanted tenants and workers.
This improvement was achieved by a law passed in June 1989 that redesigned the curriculum and provided extra support for schools in poor areas.
It also stated that priority should be given to providing school places for two-year-olds living in socially underprivileged areas such as inner-city, rural or mountainous districts.
[43] The 1989 Education Act also advised expanding in-company internships and reaffirmed the goal of all pupils of a given age group reaching at least the level of CAP (“Certificat d’Aptitude Professionel”) or BEP (Brevet d’Etudes Professionnel”) within the next ten years.
[17] To combat political corruption, a law was passed in January 1990 that provided for strict regulation of campaign contributions and personal use of funds for non-governmental organisations.
Other measures included increases in minimum social benefits,[54] a major investment in education, the reform of the legal profession, and the modernisation of the public sector.
[55] Public housing for the poor was improved while the aged and handicapped received new benefits, and a new law was passed that allowed for the suspension of all civic rights (including voting or running for office) for anyone convicted of serious racist or anti-Semitic offences.
[57] A cancellation of one-third of the debts owed to France by the poorest countries was announced, while technical and liberalising adjustments were also made to several controversial bills passed by the previous Chirac Government, amongst the notable being changes to measures which made it easier for landlords to impose higher market rents, for the police to expel summarily (without court order) illegal aliens picked up on suspicion, and making it easier for firms to dismiss their workers.