Two schemes run by the French sector of user-employers and household employment, and developed by IPERIA, a member of EFFE, have been selected by the European Labour Authority (ELA): RAVie (Relais Assistants de Vie, a support network for home care assistants) and COEPS (Conseil en Orientation et Évolution Professionnelle Sectoriel, a sector-specific career guidance service). Both feature among the 2025 European good practices addressing labour and skills shortages in the health and care sectors. RAVie also received an award at ELA’s annual conference in Cyprus.
The European Labour Authority (ELA) is an EU agency. It works to ensure fair labour mobility and supports cooperation between Member States in applying EU rules on labour mobility and social security coordination.
Each year, ELA issues a call for good practices to identify relevant initiatives, promote them and encourage the exchange of experience between countries. Selected practices are published in an online database on the Authority’s website, and some may receive an award at an ELA event.
For the 2025 edition, two schemes developed by IPERIA were selected in the category dedicated to labour and skills shortages in the health and care sectors. RAVie was also among the award winners.
Developed by IPERIA, RAVie (Relais Assistants de Vie) supports and professionalises those who provide home care to older people and people with disabilities.
It addresses a well-identified problem: the professional isolation of home care assistants, especially in rural or poorly served areas. The scheme creates local networks where care workers can meet, share their practices and support one another. It also gives them access to practical tools and a training programme tailored to their day-to-day work.
These employees often work alone in their employer’s home. RAVie gives them a framework for exchange and support, and in doing so responds to the sector’s professionalisation challenges. Its selection and award by ELA confirm the value of this approach in a sector facing difficulties in recruitment, retention and skills development.
COEPS (Conseil en Orientation et Évolution Professionnelle Sectoriel) has been developed by IPERIA since 2023. It offers personalised support to people working in the user-employers and household employment sector, as well as to those wishing to enter it.
It helps individuals identify their skills, define their career goals and build a realistic development path that fits both their aspirations and the realities of the sector. This support is valuable in a field where employees’ experience and skills are still too little recognised, and where career progression remains a major challenge.
By structuring this guidance, COEPS makes career paths clearer, whether someone wants to enter household employment or continue their career in it. Its selection by ELA recognises the relevance of the initiative in European discussions on labour and skills shortages in the care sector.
For EFFE, the selection of these two initiatives by its member IPERIA highlights practices developed by the French user-employers and household employment sector.
The two schemes complement each other: RAVie fosters exchange between home care assistants and supports their professional practice, while COEPS helps individuals identify their skills and build their career path. Their selection by ELA helps share them beyond the national context and feeds European reflection on labour and skills shortages in care.
This recognition gives visibility to a sector whose professions and realities often remain little known. It also shows that a well-structured sector can put in place organised schemes to professionalise its workers and support their career paths.
Under the same 2025 call for good practices, ELA also selected an initiative led by EFFE: Dom&CareValue. This economic simulator assesses the effects of public support for household employment and identifies the levers that would make declared work more attractive. In this way, it helps fight undeclared work and supports the formalisation and strengthening of the sector.
Learn more: