Claiming unemployment benefit (ARE) in France: conditions, deadlines and documents

Step by step

1. Check that you meet the conditions. You must have lost your job involuntarily (dismissal, mutually agreed termination, end of a fixed-term or temp contract, resignation recognised as legitimate), have worked at least 6 months (130 days or 910 hours) in the last 24 months, live in France, be fit for work and be looking for a job. Since 1 April 2026, 5 months are enough if you have never received benefit or not for more than 20 years.
2. Get your employer certificate. When the contract ends (the end of the notice period, even if not worked), the employer must have your France Travail certificate ready for you: they don't have to post it, so collect it or ask for it. They also send it to France Travail online (compulsory from 11 employees). Check the reason for leaving and the salaries: a mistake can block or reduce your entitlement.
3. Register and fill in the benefit claim. On francetravail.fr, Register, re-register: the benefit claim is its second step. Declare all your contracts from recent months, your sick leave, training and leave, and your bank details. Don't delay: benefit cannot start before your registration date, and you must register no later than 12 months after the contract ends.
4. Send the proof requested. At the end of registration, France Travail tells you which documents to send (missing employer certificates, payslips, ID). Upload them from your personal space or the Mon espace app. If a certificate is missing, chase the employer in writing (template below), then let your adviser know.
5. Plan for the delay before the first payment. Benefit does not start the day after the contract ends. On top come a 7-day waiting period (once per 12-month period), a paid-leave deferral if you received pay in lieu of untaken leave (30 days at most) and a specific deferral on the part of your termination payments above the legal minimum (150 days at most, 75 for an economic dismissal).
6. Read your notice of entitlement. France Travail sends you its decision, which you will find in your personal space (Mes courriers reçus): start date, daily allowance and duration. The duration depends on the days in your period of employment, reduced by 25%: at least 182 days, at most 548 days (18 months) under 55. After a mutually agreed termination, for a contract ended on or after 1 September 2026, it is capped at 15 months under 55 and 20.5 months from 55.
7. Do your monthly update to get paid. Benefit is paid every month, at the start of the following month, after your monthly update (from the 28th to the 15th), on the basis of 30 days a month. The site's unemployment simulator estimates the gross and net amount, the duration, the reduction after 6 months and the first payment date, so you can check your notice.

Documents to prepare

• The employer certificate (attestation France Travail) for each contract that ended
• Your payslips for the last 24 months (36 months from age 55)
• Your carte Vitale, an ID document and proof of address
• Bank details (RIB) in your name (an account in France or the SEPA area)
• Depending on your case: sick notes, proof of a legitimate resignation (police report receipt, employment tribunal decision…)

Pitfalls to avoid

• A wrong reason for leaving on the certificate (resignation instead of end of fixed-term contract, for example): ask the employer to correct it; if they refuse, you can go to the employment tribunal (conseil de prud'hommes).
• Forgetting to declare a contract or a period of sick leave in your claim: the period is not counted, or you will have to pay back later.
• Negotiating a payment above the legal minimum without considering the specific deferral: it can delay your first payment by up to 150 days.
• Thinking everything stops if you work a little: pay and benefit can be partly combined, provided you declare everything in your monthly update.
• Sick leave: ARE stops during the sick leave and the health insurance fund takes over with its daily sickness benefit if you are entitled to it; report the sick leave to both the health insurance fund and France Travail.