The new rights of ESAT workers since the reform: what it changes
The law of July 19, 2023, and the ESAT reform constitute the most significant legislative change for disabled workers in establishments since 2005. Here is what monitors, supervisors, HR managers, and partner companies need to know.
For decades, workers in ESAT (Establishments and Services for Work Assistance) occupied an ambiguous legal position: they benefited from medico-social support but did not have access to the fundamental rights of regular employees. No employee representation, no right to vocational training, no unemployment coverage, no access to independent occupational health services. The reform brought by the law of July 19, 2023, regarding the acceleration of the social and solidarity economy, and its implementing decrees of 2023 and 2024, radically changes the situation. These new provisions create concrete obligations for ESATs, workshop monitors, and partner companies. This guide presents all the new rights, their implementation timeline, and the practical implications for all stakeholders involved.
1. Understanding ESATs: mission, public, and operation
1.1 What is an ESAT?
An Establishment and Service for Work Assistance (ESAT) is a medico-social structure that offers disabled individuals whose work capacity is less than one-third of that of a valid worker an adapted work environment, professional activity, and medico-social support. ESATs employ disabled workers (and not employees in the sense of the Labor Code) in very varied activities: industrial subcontracting, green spaces, laundry, catering, digital, market gardening, crafts.
The contractual relationship is based on a support and work assistance contract (CSAT) — and not on an employment contract. It is precisely this legal uniqueness that explains why ESAT workers were, until the reform, deprived of many rights that ordinary employees consider to be acquired. The 2023 law begins to bridge this gap — without, however, eliminating the medico-social specificity of the ESAT status.
disabled workers welcomed in ESATs in France (DREES 2023)
ESATs spread across the entire French territory
Law of July 19: historic reform of ESAT workers' rights
OETH: quota for employing disabled workers, including ESAT purchases under conditions
1.2 The public welcomed in ESAT
ESATs mainly welcome adults with mental, psychological, motor, or sensory disabilities whose work capacity is insufficient to access the ordinary environment. The vast majority of ESAT workers have an intellectual disability, an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a psychological disability (schizophrenia, bipolar disorders), or combinations of these disorders. This public is particularly vulnerable to changes in their environment and requires specific support to understand and exercise their new rights — hence the increased responsibility of workshop instructors and supervisors in implementing the reform.
1.3 The central role of the workshop instructor
The workshop instructor is the pivot of daily life in ESAT. They supervise work activities, support workers in their professional development, ensure the link with medical-social teams, and represent the first level of implementing new rights. The 2023 reform significantly increases their responsibilities — particularly regarding informing workers about their rights, participating in new representative bodies, and adapting working conditions to the requirements of the law.
The training Working in ESAT: understanding and adapting the work environment from DYNSEO is specifically designed to support instructors and supervisors in this skills enhancement — with a module dedicated to the reform of rights and its practical implications.
2. Before and after: what the reform changes concretely
2.1 The situation before the reform: very limited rights
Before the law of July 19, 2023, workers in ESAT had a hybrid status that kept them in a particularly unfavorable legal gray area. Their relationship with the ESAT was governed solely by the support and work assistance contract, without the fundamental protections of the Labor Code. The absence of staff representation meant they could not collectively make their voices heard on working conditions or management decisions. The lack of access to common law continuing vocational training limited their opportunities for advancement and transition to the ordinary environment.
✗ Before the reform (before 2023)
- No staff representation
- No common law vocational training
- No access to independent occupational health services
- No unemployment coverage
- No personal training account (CPF)
- No right to collective health insurance
- No protection against moral harassment
- No access to CSE services (holiday vouchers, etc.)
✓ After the reform (since 2023-2024)
- Mandatory representation of staff
- Access to continuing professional training
- Monitoring by common law occupational medicine
- Partial affiliation to unemployment insurance
- Access to the CPF opened
- Right to collective health insurance
- Protection against applicable moral harassment
- Access to social and cultural activities of the CSE
3. The new rights in detail: the complete overview
Representation of staff
Mandatory establishment of representative bodies for workers in all ESATs. Workers can now elect representatives who engage in dialogue with management about working conditions, organization, and projects of the establishment.
Continuing professional training
Access to common law professional training, including funding of the Personal Training Account (CPF). ESAT workers can now finance certification training towards the ordinary labor market or enhance their professional skills.
Occupational medicine
Medical monitoring provided by common law occupational health services (SPST). Information and prevention visit upon hiring, enhanced individual monitoring for high-risk positions, possibility of referral for job accommodation.
Protection against harassment
Explicit extension of protection against moral and sexual harassment to ESAT workers. The employer (ESAT director) is now subject to the same prevention obligation as for common law employees.
Collective health insurance
Right to mandatory collective health insurance, with employer (ESAT) participation in funding. This provision aligns ESAT workers with the rights of ordinary employees regarding supplementary health coverage.
Social and cultural activities
Access to the social and cultural activities of the CSE (or equivalent) — vacation vouchers, ticketing, sports and cultural activities. A symbolic and practical advance that concretely improves daily life.
3.1 Staff representation: functioning and stakes
The creation of representative bodies for workers in ESAT is undoubtedly the most structuring measure of the reform. These bodies — whose precise modalities are defined by decree — allow workers to collectively express their positions on the organization of work, employment conditions, and the establishment's projects. For ESAT, this represents a significant cultural shift: moving from a paternalistic logic (where decisions are made for the workers) to a participatory logic (where decisions are made with the workers).
The establishment of these bodies raises important practical questions for the supervising teams: how to support workers in exercising this right to representation, given their possible cognitive or communication difficulties? How to facilitate access to this body for workers with ASD or those with an intellectual disability? Training for instructors and directors on this new reality is essential.
💡 For workshop monitors: Your role in setting up representative bodies is central. You are often the first trusted contact for workers — your way of explaining their new rights, simply and visually, will largely determine their ability to actually exercise them. Appropriate communication materials (pictograms, easy-to-read language) are essential.
3.2 The right to vocational training: a lever for transition
Access to continuous vocational training is one of the most concrete advances for the future prospects of ESAT workers. The Personal Training Account (CPF) can now be funded for workers in ESAT, allowing them to finance certification training — including training aimed at transitioning to the ordinary work environment. This provision fits into the overall logic of the reform: to enable those who wish and can to progress towards greater professional autonomy.
For ESAT, this involves structuring an adapted training plan, training monitors to identify the training needs of each worker, and developing partnerships with training organizations capable of adapting their content and teaching methods to ESAT profiles. The FIPHFP (public sector) and AGEFIPH (private sector) can co-finance these trainings.
3.3 Common law occupational medicine
The integration of ESAT workers into the common law occupational medicine system is a significant advancement for their health and safety. In practical terms, this means that an independent occupational physician (and not the physician from the medico-social establishment) will ensure the health follow-up of workers, with the possibility of issuing fitness or unfitness opinions, job accommodation prescriptions, and alerts about working conditions.
This provision is particularly important for workers exposed to professional risks (noise, chemicals, restrictive postures in laundry or green spaces) who were previously not covered by the enhanced medical surveillance system. The Occupational Health and Safety Service (SPST) becomes a mandatory contact for ESAT — a relationship to be built and structured.
Working in ESAT: understanding and adapting the work environment
This online training, 100% remote and at your own pace, is designed for workshop monitors, supervisors, ESAT directors, and partner companies. It covers the legal framework of the reform, the new rights of workers, adaptations of the work environment, and the challenges of the company-ESAT partnership. Qualiopi certified, deployable in multi-collaborator licenses, fundable via OPCO and skills development plan.
Discover the training →4. The implementation calendar: what is in effect in 2026
The reform has been gradually deployed since the promulgation of the law of July 19, 2023. Some provisions came into effect immediately, while others required implementing decrees whose publication has been staggered until 2024-2025. In 2026, the entire system is theoretically in effect — but the level of effective implementation varies significantly from one ESAT to another.
Law of 11/02
Foundation of the modern ESAT status
The law of February 11, 2005 for equal rights and opportunities defines the legal framework for ESAT, the support and work assistance contract (CSAT), and recognizes the ESAT as a medico-social establishment. It also creates the OETH and the obligation to employ disabled workers.
Rist Law
First extensions of rights
The Rist law of 2022 opens a first breach by extending certain social rights to ESAT workers — particularly in terms of complementary health coverage. It lays the groundwork for the 2023 reform.
ESS Law
Law of July 19, 2023 — The central reform
Entry into force of the new provisions: staff representation, vocational training, occupational medicine, protection against harassment, complementary health, social and cultural activities. The implementing decrees specify the practical modalities.
Decrees
Implementing decrees and regulatory clarifications
Publication of decrees specifying the modalities for the election of staff representatives, the conditions for funding the CPF for ESAT workers, and the procedures for involving occupational medicine. Gradual entry into force in the establishments.
Deployment
Effective deployment and consolidation
Effective implementation across all ESATs. Initial application assessments, potential regulatory adjustments, training of supervisory teams. This is the phase in which the vast majority of ESATs find themselves in 2026.
5. Implications for partner companies of ESATs
5.1 The enterprise-ESAT partnership: a strengthened OETH lever
Companies that outsource activities to ESATs benefit from a valuation of their purchases in the calculation of their contribution to the OETH (Obligation to Employ Disabled Workers). Since the 2020 reform (Avenir Professionnel law), this valuation is capped at 50% of the employment obligation — but it remains a significant lever for companies struggling to meet the 6% quota for employing disabled workers.
The 2023 reform enhances the attractiveness of the ESAT partnership by improving the working conditions of ESAT workers and strengthening the quality framework of services. A company that chooses to work with an ESAT now partners with an organization whose management practices are closer to common law — which facilitates exchanges, reduces misunderstandings, and improves the quality of common working relationships.
5.2 The provision of ESAT workers in companies
The provision of ESAT workers in ordinary companies is a developing system that allows ESAT workers to carry out all or part of their activities in the premises of a partner company. This system, governed by a tripartite agreement between the ESAT, the company, and the worker, now benefits from a more secure legal framework thanks to the reform.
For the host company, this provision presents several advantages: OETH valuation, discovery of workers with often underestimated skills, contribution to a documented CSR approach. For the worker, it is an opportunity to discover the ordinary environment in a secure setting, with the safety net of ESAT support. The Enterprise-ESAT partnership guide from DYNSEO supports you in setting up this system.
5.3 What the new ESAT obligations change for partner companies
Companies that work with ESATs must be aware that their partners are now subject to additional legal obligations — particularly regarding harassment prevention and working conditions. This means that the practices of contractors towards ESAT workers made available are now likely to be examined in light of these new obligations. A company that imposes degraded working conditions on ESAT workers made available potentially engages the responsibility of the ESAT — and its own by extension.
| Partnership aspect | Before reform | After reform (2026) | Impact for the partner company |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status of workers made available | Only medico-social status | Enhanced rights (health, harassment, training) | Vigilance obligation on working conditions |
| OETH valuation | Full valuation | Capped at 50% of the obligation | Partial lever — to be complemented by direct employment |
| Quality of services | Variable depending on the ESAT | Quality framework strengthened by new obligations | Better reliability of partnerships |
| Reception of workers made available | Poorly regulated | Mandatory tripartite agreement, enhanced monitoring | Formalization required of agreements |
| CSR and ESG reporting | Possible mention in the annual report | More precise data available (training, health) | Better documentation for reporting |
6. The actors of the reform: who does what
Direction of the ESAT
Responsible for ensuring legal compliance, organizing the election of representatives, implementing health insurance, and the training plan.
Workshop Supervisor
First informant for workers about their new rights. Adapts communication, facilitates access to representative bodies, and reports training needs.
Occupational Doctor (SPST)
Conducts individual medical follow-up for ESAT workers. Prescribes necessary workplace adjustments. Alerts on occupational risks.
Employee Representatives
New actors elected by and among ESAT workers. Engage in dialogue with management about working conditions and the establishment's projects.
AGEFIPH / FIPHFP
Fund workplace adjustments, training, and support necessary for implementing the reform in ESATs.
Partner Companies
Order givers or host structures for the workers made available. Responsible for working conditions during the provision period.
7. The implementation challenges: what still hinders progress
7.1 Accessibility of information to workers
The main challenge of the reform is not legal — it is communicational. Informing workers with intellectual disabilities, ASD, or mental health issues about their new rights, in a way that they truly understand and can exercise, is a considerable pedagogical challenge. Official documents written in standard legal language are inaccessible to the vast majority of ESAT workers. Materials in Easy to Read and Understand (FALC), with pictograms and simple wording, are essential.
Workshop supervisors are on the front line for this pedagogical mediation. Their training in adapted communication and FALC materials is a prerequisite for the effective implementation of the reform. DYNSEO training includes a specific module on adapted communication in ESAT.
7.2 Tensions between medico-social logic and rights logic
The reform creates a structural tension between two logics that coexist in ESAT: the medico-social logic (which aims to protect and support vulnerable people) and the rights logic (which aims to recognize their autonomy and capacity to exercise prerogatives). This tension is real and complex to manage on a daily basis: how to ensure that elected employee representatives can exercise their mandate meaningfully, while some of them have significant cognitive difficulties? How to establish authentic representation without falling into a formal representation that is devoid of meaning?
These questions are not unsolvable — they simply require a creative and caring adaptation of representation tools. Pioneering ESATs in France have already developed innovative approaches: co-facilitation of representation meetings by a supervisor and a worker representative, use of pictograms and visual supports for debates, prior training of elected representatives for their role. These experiences are a valuable resource for ESATs in the implementation phase.
7.3 The resources necessary for compliance
Compliance with the reform has a cost that not all ESATs can absorb without help. Organizing staff elections, implementing supplementary health insurance, developing a tailored training plan, contracting with a SPST — all of these projects require time and resources. AGEFIPH and FIPHFP offer specific assistance to ESATs for the implementation of the reform, but access requires a good understanding of the systems and an investment in project engineering that small ESATs do not always have.
🎓 Train your supervisory teams on the ESAT reform
The training Working in ESAT: understanding and adapting the work environment from DYNSEO covers the entire reform, its practical implications for supervisors and managers, and the tools to support workers in exercising their new rights. Qualiopi certified, fundable by OPCO, deployable in multi-collaborator licenses.
8. Adapting the work environment in ESAT: best practices 2026
8.1 Adapting workstations within the new legal framework
The reform strengthens the obligation to adapt workstations to the capabilities of each worker. The intervention of the common law occupational physician — now mandatory — provides an external and independent perspective on working conditions that can lead to more ambitious recommendations for adjustments than what was practiced until now. ESATs must now be able to respond to these recommendations within reasonable timeframes, with documented resources.
The ESAT workstation adaptation grid from DYNSEO is a structured tool to prepare and document these adaptations — integrating ergonomic, cognitive, and sensory dimensions specific to ESAT profiles.
8.2 The personalized project: the pivot of support
The personalized project of each ESAT worker — a document that defines their professional development goals, support needs, and aspirations — takes on a new dimension with the reform. It must now incorporate new dimensions: training plan, access to rights, medical follow-up, and if applicable, aspirations for a transition to the ordinary environment. This personalized project becomes a living document, regularly revised, co-constructed with the worker — and no longer an administrative document produced by teams without real participation from the person concerned.
The ESAT personalized project template from DYNSEO integrates all these new dimensions in an accessible and adaptable format for the profiles of workers.
9. Practical DYNSEO tools for ESAT teams
📋 ESAT Job Adaptation Grid
Evaluate and document the necessary job adaptations for each worker, incorporating the new requirements of occupational medicine.
Download →📊 ESAT Worker Tracking Sheet
Track the journey of each worker, their objectives, training, and support needs within the new legal framework.
Download →🤝 Business-ESAT Partnership Guide
Structure and formalize a partnership agreement with a regular business, integrating the new legal obligations.
Download →📝 ESAT Personalized Project Template
Co-construct with each worker their personalized project incorporating the new rights to training and representation.
Download →🛡️ ESAT Professional Wear and Tear Prevention Checklist
Identify and prevent the risks of professional wear and tear for ESAT workers — a requirement reinforced by the reform.
Download →🗂️ Complete Tools Catalog
More than 50 practical tools for inclusive management and quality support.
See all tools →10. DYNSEO Applications to Support ESAT Workers
🟦 CLINT — Adults
Cognitive stimulation for adults — memory, attention, executive functions. Particularly suitable for ESAT workers wishing to maintain and enhance their cognitive abilities in a playful and supportive environment.
Discover CLINT →🟥 MY DICTIONARY — Communication
Alternative and augmented communication — ideal for non-verbal ESAT workers or those with significant expression difficulties, especially for exercising their new rights.
Discover MY DICTIONARY →🟨 SCARLETT — Seniors
Cognitive support for seniors. Suitable for older ESAT workers in a process of maintaining abilities and quality of life at work.
Discover SCARLETT →🟩 COCO — Children
Cognitive stimulation application for children aged 5-10. Useful for instructors supporting young adult ESAT workers whose cognitive level corresponds to this age group.
Discover COCO →11. Going Further: DYNSEO B2B Training Catalog
DYS Disorders in the Workplace: Identify, Adapt, and Value
❓ FAQ — Rights of ESAT Workers and Reform 2023
1. Does the 2023 reform transform ESAT workers into regular employees?
No. ESAT workers retain their specific status and their support and work assistance contract (CSAT) — they are not subject to the Labor Code like ordinary employees. The reform extends certain specific rights to these workers without removing the medical-social specificity of their status. This distinction is important: ESATs remain medical-social establishments governed by the Social Action and Families Code — not ordinary businesses.
2. Are all ESATs compliant with the reform by 2026?
In theory, yes — the texts have been applicable since 2023-2024. In practice, the level of effective implementation varies significantly. Large ESATs well-equipped with administrative resources and training have generally progressed faster. Small rural ESATs may still lag behind on certain provisions — particularly the effective establishment of staff representation and contracting with a SPST. An internal compliance audit is recommended to identify areas of concern.
3. How to explain the new rights to workers with intellectual disabilities?
The FALC (Easy to Read and Understand) is the recommended standard for communication with this audience. Pictograms, short sentences, concrete examples, and visual aids are essential. Specialized organizations like Inclusion Europe offer free FALC resources. Workshop monitors play a key role in this mediation — their training in adapted communication is a priority investment. DYNSEO training includes modules on adapted communication in ESATs.
4. What is the impact of the reform on the calculation of the OETH contribution for partner companies of ESATs?
The 2023 reform did not change the rules for valuing ESAT purchases in the OETH calculation — these rules were defined by the Professional Future Law of 2018, which established a cap of 50% of the obligation. This cap remains in effect in 2026. ESAT purchases continue to be eligible for valuation in the DOETH declaration, but cannot alone cover the entirety of the employment obligation — hence the importance of combining them with a direct employment policy for disabled workers.
5. Can an ESAT worker leave the ESAT to join the ordinary workforce since the reform?
The possibility of transitioning to the ordinary workforce existed before the reform, but it is facilitated by the new provisions — particularly access to vocational training and the CPF. Specific mechanisms like supported employment or placement in companies allow for gradual and secure transitions. The reform also strengthens the personalized project as a planning tool for these transitions. However, the transition is only appropriate for workers who have the capacity and desire — it should never be imposed.
6. Is DYNSEO's Working in ESAT training suitable for workshop monitors without specialized initial training?
Yes. The training is designed to be accessible to all professionals who supervise workers in ESATs — monitors, educators, workshop leaders, coordinators — regardless of their level of initial training. It starts from concrete work situations and provides immediately applicable tools. Qualiopi certified (N° 11757351875), it produces a training certificate that can be valued in the professional's skills portfolio.
7. How can an ordinary company formalize a partnership with an ESAT under the new legal framework?
A company-ESAT partnership is formalized through a subcontracting or placement agreement, depending on the nature of the collaboration. For the placement of workers, a tripartite agreement (ESAT + company + worker) is mandatory. DYNSEO's company-ESAT partnership guide offers a model agreement and a checklist of elements to verify in light of the new legal framework. The company's Disability Mission referent can lead the establishment of this partnership with the support of AGEFIPH.
8. What are the penalties for an ESAT that is not compliant with the reform in 2026?
ESATs that do not comply with the new legal obligations face warnings from the labor inspection, lawsuits initiated by staff representatives or workers, and potentially suspensions or withdrawals of authorization by regulatory authorities (ARS, DDETS). The reputational risk is also significant — particularly in relations with partner companies and public funders who increasingly require proof of social compliance.
🚀 Prepare your teams for the ESAT reform
The training Working in ESAT: understanding and adapting the work environment from DYNSEO gives you all the keys to implement the reform, support workers in exercising their new rights, and adapt your organization. Qualiopi certified, fundable by OPCO, deployable in multi-collaborator licenses.
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