Employee Benefits, Global
Spotlight on France – A guide to implementing employee benefits technology
04.03.25
We’re seeing more of our global customers choosing to rollout employee benefits technology in France as they look to take their benefits strategy global.
France sits firmly at the complex end of the simple-to-complex scale. French benefits require a high level of administration, they can be difficult for non-French nationals to understand, and rules around medical and retirement provisions are particularly tricky to navigate. For these reasons it can be prudent to allow extra time for a benefits technology implementation in France.
Here’s our guide to core benefits in France, and what you need to be aware of.
Mandatory benefits
Medical plan – also known as mutuelle
As the state only pays for around 70% of healthcare costs, most employees choose to purchase a top-up health insurance, called a mutuelle, to cover the rest of the cost. The mutuelle finances the personal contribution element of French healthcare, and is not to be confused with private health cover.
It’s compulsory for private companies to provide employees with a company private health insurance policy known as a mutuelle collective – the company must contribute a minimum of 50% of the mutuelle’s cost. However, employers often include the option for employees to add family members at an additional cost.
There is a lot of important information that needs to be captured for providers to successfully enroll employees onto the plan, such as social security numbers and social security certificates (Attestation de droits à l’assurance maladie). Benefits platforms help to reduce errors incurred by manual intervention in this area.
Life insurance cover
Cover is often linked to family status – for example, it is three times their salary for a single employee, five times their salary for a married employee (or in civil partnership), and an additional 0.5 times an employees’ salary for each child, up to three children. Employers typically finance 50% to 60% of the collective insurance contract premium, while employees pay the remaining percentage.
Retirement plan
Around three quarters of multinational and local leading employers currently provide supplementary retirement benefits.
There’s a three-part system in France – state pension, plus supplementary pensions (usually set by collective bargaining agreement), and voluntary private pension. Plan d’Epargne Retraite Obligatoire (PERO) is mandatory, in addition to the state pensions, and Plan d’Epargne Retraite Collectif (PERCO) is a supplemental plan. PERO plans and PERECO plans were launched on 1st October 2019 to accept contributions and transfer PERCO and Article 83 plan funds. No new PERCO and Article 83 plans were permitted to be established from 1st October 2020.
Some employers also opt to pay into a private pension plan, with contributions varying depending on the type of retirement plan. Under PERCO, employers typically match up to three times the employee’s contribution, subject to a maximum contribution of 16% of the social security ceiling. France’s Social Security ceiling, also known as PASS, defines the maximum amount of earnings to be taken into account when calculating contributions. Employee pension contributions typically range from 2-6% – they can manage their contributions and choose how their funds are invested.
Plan d’Epargne d’Enterprise (PEE) savings plan
PEE is a tax efficient savings plan where employees can make voluntary contributions. Profit share, bonuses and overtime can be transferred into the fund, but there are rules, as with pension, around how much can be transferred into the scheme. Withdrawals may also be restricted to a specific time limit, such as five years.
Compte Epargne Temps (CET)
CET allows employees to receive renumeration for their unused holiday and worked public holidays. French law mandates that, in lieu of overtime, employees receive ‘Reduction of working time’ (‘Reduction du temps de travail’ or ‘RTT’) days in addition to annual leave. These extra days can be transferred into a CET account so that the holiday is not lost. Employees can opt to take this as additional salary at any time, or as additional leave entitlement (if agreed by the company), but employees must have been employed for 12 months to qualify.
Other popular benefits
Lunch and commuter allowances
These allowances usually form part of the mandated benefits package. The commuter allowance requires the company to reimburse 50% of the transport cost to the employee – this requires significant administration time, so a benefits technology solution that can automate processes will free up time for local teams.
Childcare allowances
The allowance can be in the form of a fund or discounted kindergarten/nursery place, and are becoming increasingly common, especially in big cities where the cost of childcare is high.
Wellbeing allowances
Growing in popularity over the last couple of years, these allowances are quickly replacing gym memberships. Employees can use this for gym, sports clubs, the cost of a bicycle, wellbeing apps and more – depending on the rules set by the employer.
Key consideration for rolling out global benefits in France
1. Get approvals from work counsels. Work counsels (a group of employee representatives, elected in companies employing at least 11 people) are influential in France and any changes to benefits usually require their approval. Organizations tend to get approval from work councils early in the process of rolling out new benefits or technology to avoid delays. Working with a consultant that speaks the language is an advantage when completing this approval process.
2. Adopt a phased approach. It can help to take a staged approach to rolling out benefits in France. For example, starting with read-only benefits for phase one, and then rolling out transactional benefits in phase two.
3. Put the right benefits technology in place. French benefits are often part employee and part employer funded and a benefits platform like OneHub lets employees instantly understand their costs, without having to do the calculations themselves. A fully tailored Total Reward Statement (TRS) is a fantastic way to show the value of all their benefits and make contributions easy to understand. Single-sign-on enables employers to host all benefits in one place and provides a smoother user experience for employees – so they can quickly and easily adjust third-party plans. A benefits platform also greatly reduces administration for local teams – especially across benefits such as medical, life insurance, and retirement plans. OneHub allows employees to upload documents, such as security certificates which are needed for health insurance, ensuring security, reducing risk, and saving administration time.
To see how to prioritize your benefits goals, rollout your program in stages, and make the launch of your program a success, speak to one of our benefits experts.
Paul Andrews
Paul joined Benifex from Mercer in 2019 with a wealth of international benefits experience, having worked with a large number of high-profile, multinational clients to review their approach to global talent and reward. He leads Benifex’s global benefits delivery team and he’s doing an excellent job of it, if we may say so ourselves. He is skilled in international risk assessment and management, legislative compliance, trend research, cross-border claims, and customer relationship management. AND, he can speak fluent French, mais oui!
04.03.25
