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SALARY PAYMENT IN Euro (EUR, €)
CONTRACT LANGUAGES French / English
PAYROLL TAX 29.50% – 31.30%
PAYROLL CYCLE Monthly
TIME TO HIRE 12 hours
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France
Employees in France receive a variety of guaranteed benefits, including health care mostly financed by the government. The French government refunds up to 70% of patients’ health care costs and up to 100% for costly or long-term issues. Employers and employees pay contributions into this mandatory health insurance system and health insurance premiums are automatically deducted from employees’ paychecks.
French healthcare covers hospitals, physicians and long-term care, as well as prescription drugs. Patients are responsible for co-insurance, co-payments and balances for physician charges that exceed covered fees.
Every employer must also provide private health insurance to complement French Social Security. Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) determine the amount of this insurance based on your industry. In most cases, employers must pay at least 50% of the base coverage for employees. This supplemental insurance (called a “mutuelle”) helps with out-of-pocket costs and it is mandatory for employers to offer complementary collective health coverage to their employees, which includes a minimum care basket (“panier de soins min.”) covering consultations, hospital, dental and optical care.
For example, the Swiss Life Mutuelle has a minimum cost of € 42.50/month, where the employee pays €21.25 and the employer pays €21.25. The employee will then pay for any additional options themself.
Many top French employees, however, may expect their employers to offer a full mutuelle as part of their benefits package, as well as coverage for partners and family members.
In addition, all employees are entitled to a medical check-up, known as an information and prevention visit (IPV) within three months of them taking up employment in a company and is renewed once every five years, unless advised differently by a doctor. Its purpose is to protect the employee both from performing work they may not be physically able to perform and to ensure they remain safe in the workplace. It takes place via a video call from CMIE (Goglobal dedicated Medical Center). It costs USD250, charged at the start of the employee’s employment and then every 12 months after.
The state pension in France is a three-pillar system. It’s made up of – state pensions, compulsory supplementary pensions and voluntary private pensions.
The state pension is a compulsory pay-as-you-go system, called the Minimum State Pension or “Régime de base”. All employees and employers in France must pay into the system through social security contributions.
The state pension enables retirees to take a minimum of 37.5% (for those born after 1953) and a maximum of 50% of their annual average earnings on retirement – up to a maximum of €39,732 a year. The minimum retirement age in France is 62, but the age of full pension entitlement is 67 (for those born in or after 1955).
At the same time, workers must also pay into a compulsory supplementary pension plan (Régime complémentaire)administered by the specific industry they work within (for example, AGIRC for executives or ARRCO for non-executives). These have been designed to complement public pensions to supply between 70-80% of the retiree’s income.
French pension contributions are calculated per ‘trimestre’ (quarterly). Every trimester that you work in France and pay your contributions counts towards your total number of trimesters. Under the current system, the amount of your pension depends upon this number of trimesters, as well as your average salary throughout your working life.
Taking out a private pension plan is not deemed as essential in France as it might be in some other countries. The only private pension plan available in France is a Plan d’Epargne Retraite (PER), a retirement savings plan. Most banks offer PERs, but the biggest draw is that they provide immediate tax advantages. Savings invested in a PER, PERP, or Madelin are tax-deductible up to a limit of 10% of your income. If you are a high taxpayer in France, this might be a beneficial option.
Companies can also offer an employer-paid private pension plan, although these plans are usually reserved for executives.
French law, a worker with a disability is any person whose opportunities to obtain or maintain employment are effectively reduced as a result of the impairment of at least one physical, sensory, mental or psychological function.
There are three leading pieces of legislation for disabled workers in France: The French Labour Law (“Code du Travail”), the 1987 Disability Employment Act (“Loi numero 87-517 du 10 juillet 1987 en faveur de l’emploi des travailleurs handicaps”) and The 2005 Disability Act (“Loi numero 2005-102 du 11 février 2005 pour l’égalité des droits et des chances, la participation et la citoyenneté des personnes handicapées”)
From Jan 1, 2020, employers in France with at least 20 employees must have workers with disabilities account for 6 percent of their total workforce. This includes full- and part-time employees, trainees and temporary workers. Companies that don’t meet the annual quota have to implement a collective bargaining agreement that favors workers with disabilities or pay into a government fund to support their employment.
Each disabled employee age 50 or over will count as 1.5 when calculating the number of employees with disabilities.
Companies with at least 250 employees must appoint a designated employee to guide, inform and support employees with disabilities.
It is prohibited to punish or dismiss employees, or exclude potential employees from the recruitment process, on the basis of their disability (as well as other factors). Discrimination is prohibited by the Labour Code and the Criminal Code.
Employing people with disabilities benefits companies by broadening the pool of workers from which to choose, increasing the diversity of staff, promoting a culture of inclusion, and, in many cases, increasing productivity and the bottom line.
In the second quarter of 2022, the unemployment rate in France stood at 7.4%, up slightly from 7,3% the previous quarter. There are around 6.5 million people in France registered with the Pôle emploi (unemployment office) but only around 2.6 million of them receive benefits.
The back-to-work allowance (allocation d’aide au retour à l’emploi, ARE) is the unemployment allowance paid insurance to employees, providing they can prove a minimum duration of work prior to the unintentional loss of their job. They must also prove that they are actively seeking work under the individual job-seeking plan (projet personnalisé d’accès à l’emploi, PPAE).
Your business can easily hire employees in France without opening a local entity. We handle local employment law, complex tax regulations, and international payroll in 180+ countries worldwide. All you need to do is focus on your business.
Mandatory benefits on France include:
Profit sharing (Depending on the industry and the applicable collective bargaining agreement)
Although France provides many guaranteed benefits, employers may also provide supplemental benefits to help attract a greater pool of talent.
Horizons can cover any employee benefit you want to offer in France. We ensure full compliance with the labor law by making sure all mandatory benefits are offered, and provide our client company flexibility in which other benefits, and how much, they want to offer their employees in France.
No. The provision of bonuses isn’t mandatory in France, but it is standard practice to pay a 13th month.
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71 Robinson Road #13-153
068895, Singapore
+65 3105 1170
Skalitzer Str. 85/86
10997, Berlin
+49 30 3119 9653
1700 S. Lamar Blvd Suite 338
Austin, Texas 78704
+1 (737) 265-6065
See more locations
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