The information has been prepared in collaboration with Primexis.
France has released payroll updates, including changes to minimum wage and social security ceilings, ‘special’ leave, and changes to its electronic payroll reporting requirements (DNS). Find a brief summary here.
Minimum wage (SMIC) has increased to €10.57 per hour from 1 January 2022, and gross minimum monthly wage to €1,603.12 (based on 35 hours per week). There are also new rates for apprentices, interns and professionalisation contracts.
Social security ceiling rates for 2022 are €3,428 per month or €41,136 per year. These are to be calculated on either the 30th or the 31st of the month. There are also specified rates for quarterly (€10,284), bi-weekly (€1,714), weekly (€791), daily (€189) and hourly (€26) ceilings.
The 2022 payroll tax scale is as follows:
- 25% on the portion of annual salary less than €8,132
- 5% on salaries between €8,132 and €16,237
- 6% above €16,237
Moving on to employee leave, a new allowance has been added: ‘leave for child with chronic disease or cancer’. A parent can take at least two days leave at employer expense, with longer periods covered by collective agreement, or branch agreement. While medical certification is required, the duration of this leave cannot be allocated to the worker’s annual leave allowance.
There are also changed to ‘parental presence leave’, providing time for a worker to care for a child (under 16 years, or under 20 years in certain cases), who has a disease, handicap, or has suffered a serious accident and requires parental presence. This leave can last a maximum of 310 days, taken consecutively or as required, for a period of up to three years for a single child (and per disease, handicap or accident). Changes to this regulation mean that, should the 310 day limit be reached before the three year period is reached, parents can renew this leave for the same disease, handicap or accident.
Minimum wage (SMIC) has increased to €10.57 per hour from 1 January 2022, and gross minimum monthly wage to €1,603.12 (based on 35 hours per week)
‘Leave for the mourning of a child’ has increased from five to seven working days for a child or person less than 25 years and in direct ‘actual and permanent care’ of the employee. There is an additional eight working days leave now available, to be taken within 12 months and in at least two separate periods.
The regulations around ‘teaching and research leave’ have also been updated. This leave allowance was suspended in January 2019 but has been re-established as public policy, with modifications. ‘Teaching and research leave’ allows the employee to undertake full- or part-time leave to teach or carry out research and innovation activities, if:
- The worker has been employed for at least 12 months and has employer approval – and after 24 months of employment, whether the employer approves or not.
- Full-time leave is not required to be compensated by the employer, except in the circumstance that there are favourable contractual measures or uses. Part-time leave means the employee must be paid for the work completed.
However, the employer can defer or refuse the ‘teaching and research leave’ request:
- Depending on the percentage of employees currently on such leave (or depending on the company, if less than 300 employees).
- Refusal is acceptable if the employer identifies that, if the employee exercises their right to ‘teaching and research leave’, it will directly jeopardise the company’s policies of research, development, and technological innovation.
2022 also brings changes to electronic payroll reporting (DNS), which are extensive and list specific codes to be used on the electronic system. These include withholding tax, leave for the mourning of a child, paid leave, professional training, statutory leave, and termination of a single employment contract. Auxadi’s professionals are on hand if you need specific payroll advice.
There are also changes to COVID-related emergency benefits. While benefits for short-term working finished on 31 January 2022, ‘long-term partial employment’ (APLD – equal to 70% of gross salary) ends on 30 June 2022. Employers must submit their collective agreements or unilateral documents to be approved and validated no later than 30 June 2022.
This is a brief summary of the labour updates in France, and would ask you to contact your Auxadi team or Primexis for more details.
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Founded in 1979, Auxadi is a family-owned business working for multinational corporations, private equity funds and real estate funds. It’s the leading firm in international accounting, tax compliance and payroll services management connecting Europe and the Americas with the rest of the world, offering services in 50 countries. Its client list includes many of the top 100 PERE companies. Headquartered in Madrid, with offices in US and further 22 international subsidiaries, Auxadi serves 1,500+ SPVs across 50 jurisdictions.
All information contained in this publication is up to date on 2022. This content has been prepared for general guidance on matters of interest only, and does not constitute professional advice. You should not act upon the information contained in this chart without obtaining specific professional advice.No representation or warranty (express or implied) is given as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this content, and, to the extent permitted by law, AUXADI does not accept or assume any liability, responsibility or duty of care for any consequences of you or anyone else acting, or refraining to act, in reliance on the information contained in this chart or for any decision based on it.