France Travail Claims 129,253 Euros from Him for His Stays in Morocco

The man received the return-to-work allowance from November 5, 2019, to February 28, 2021, and then from October 8, 2022, to October 31, 2024. In April and July 2025, France Travail formally demanded that he repay exactly 129,253.46 euros.

The organization accused him of failing to declare absences of more than seven days and of exceeding the annual limit of 35 days of absence in order to stay in Morocco. It therefore considered that he no longer ordinarily resided in France, a condition required for receiving unemployment benefits.

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The beneficiary challenged this analysis before the Nanterre Judicial Court. He acknowledged part of the debt but asked for it to be limited to 28,804.86 euros.

His trips did not prove that he had settled in Morocco

In its ruling of July 30, available on Pappers Justice, the court noted that most of the recorded flights between France and Morocco corresponded to stays of less than seven days. They were therefore insufficient to establish an ordinary residence in Morocco.

The presence of a home in the kingdom did not convince the judges either. The water bill submitted by France Travail revealed consumption incompatible with permanent occupancy. Conversely, the beneficiary’s bank statements showed numerous withdrawals and payments physically made in France between 2019 and 2023.

The court also recalled that failing to declare an absence may result in a penalty or suspension of the allowance, but is not automatically sufficient to require repayment of all benefits if the eligibility conditions remained fulfilled.

No overpayment was therefore established for the years 2019 to 2023. The situation was different in 2024: the man acknowledged that he had lived mainly, or even exclusively, in Morocco in February, April, May, July and September.

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For those five months, the court confirmed that he could not claim unemployment benefits. The amount to be repaid was ultimately reduced from 129,253.46 to 26,374.62 euros.

The judge also granted him a payment schedule: nineteen monthly installments of 1,315 euros, followed by a final payment of 1,389.62 euros. France Travail was dismissed with regard to the remainder of its claims, notably the 5,000 euros sought for legal costs.