News in social matters as from January 1st 2024

At the beginning of the year, it is necessary to update social data to draft various documents and draw up pay slips.

Below are the main rates, thresholds, ceilings and other data applicable in 2024.

Minimum wage (SMIC)

On January 1^st 2024, the hourly minimum wage is set at €11.65. The increase is thus 1.13% compared to the last amount set at €11.52 in May 2023.

For young employees under the age of 18 and with less than 6 months of professional practice in the branch of activity, the hourly minimum wage is:

• € 9.32 for children under 17 (20% reduction);
• € 10.49 for young people aged 17 to under 18 (10% reduction).

Guaranteed minimum 

It remains fixed at € 4.15 on January 1^st, 2024. The guaranteed minimum is only used as a reference for benefits in kind in hôtels-cafés-restaurants. The meal benefit in kind remains assessed at one time the guaranteed minimum unless a higher assessment is set by collective agreement.

Benefits in kind

Flat-rate assessment of the food benefit in kind

The food benefit in kind is reassessed for employees and similar to whom the employer provides food.

Lump-sum assessment of the housing benefit in kind

It depends on the ratio between the gross monthly remuneration in cash of the employee and the monthly ceiling. It should be noted that this fixed scale is not applicable to managers: reference must be made to the actual value of the benefit in kind.

For employees who must be housed in the premises where they perform their duties (security personnel, security guard, etc.), it is possible to apply a 30% reduction to the value of the benefit in kind.

Evaluation of the electric vehicle benefit in kind

Whatever the method of evaluation used, the expenses taken into account to calculate the benefit in kind (depreciation of the purchase of the vehicle, insurance and maintenance costs, or overall annual rental cost, etc.) must:

• do not take into account electricity costs incurred by the employer for recharging the vehicle;
• and be assessed after application of a 50% reduction, within the limit of € 1 964.90.

When a charging station is made available at the employee’s home and is not returned at the end of the employment contract, the benefit in kind is evaluated as follows:

• in principle, 50% of the actual expenses that the employee should have incurred for its purchase and installation, up to € 1 025 in 2024;
• if the terminal is more than 5 years old, 75% of actual expenses, up to € 1 537.50 in 2024.

Exemption ceilings for flat-rate allowances for professional expenses

Meal fees

When the employee is on a business trip or forced to incur additional food expenses due to special work circumstances, the employer who covers these expenses in the form of lump sum allowances is exempt, under certain conditions, from contributions, within limits set as follows for 2024:

• Employees on the move:
  • Restaurant meal: € 20.70
  • Meals outside the premises: € 10.10
• Catering allowance at the workplace for employees forced to take their meals at the workplace due to special conditions: € 7.30

Flat-rate long-distance travel allowances

When the employee makes long trips, daily amounts are set according to the place of travel as follows:

Professional mobility costs

The employer is authorized to deduct certain compensation from the social security contribution base that it pays to employees who incur costs as part of their professional mobility. It can only cover the costs of temporary accommodation as well as the costs of settling into new accommodation and additional food costs while waiting for permanent accommodation.

In 2024, the limit for exemption from the flat-rate allowance for temporary accommodation costs and/or additional food costs is € 82.50 per day.

The threshold for exemption from flat-rate allowances for installation expenses in new accommodation allocated by the employer to the employee (during professional mobility) is € 1 654 (increased by € 137.90 per dependent child within the limit of 3 children, without being able to exceed € 2 067.50).

Restaurant vouchers 

The maximum amount of the employer’s contribution to the financing of restaurant vouchers exempt from contributions is set at € 7.18 in 2024.

Teleworking costs 

Teleworking costs are reimbursed to the employee exempt from contributions on receipts. But they can also be reimbursed in the form of flat-rate allowances. The ceilings for 2024 are fixed as indicated below:

Flat rate allocations for ICT costs

The maximum reimbursement, free of contributions, of professional expenses linked to the employee’s use of information and communication technology (ICT) tools is set at € 53.50 on January 1^st 2024.

Social security ceiling 

It remains fixed at € 3 864 per month, i.e. € 46 368 per year for a full-time employee present all year round (€ 29 per hour).

Vouchers and gifts granted by the CSE or, in certain cases, by the employer 

They are exempt from contributions within certain limits.

Their cumulative value over the year and per employee must not exceed 5% of the monthly social security ceiling (€ 193) in 2024.

However, vouchers and gifts linked to a few specific events defined by law may still be exempt from contributions beyond this threshold. But the amount of each voucher or gift must not exceed 5% of the monthly social security ceiling.

Exceptionally, employers, in the absence of a CSE, can grant employees vouchers and/or gifts in kind for participation in the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games with exemption from contributions.

Internships: minimum bonus and deductible threshold

Minimum allowance for internships

Internships lasting more than 2 consecutive months or, during the same school or university year, of 2 consecutive or non-consecutive months must give rise to an allowance. When their amount is not fixed by branch agreement or extended professional agreement, the bonus is equal to 15% of the hourly social security ceiling (€ 4.35 per hour in 2024).

Contribution exemption threshold

The cash bonus paid to trainees is not considered as remuneration if it does not exceed € 4.35 per hour in 2024.

Retirement and provident contributions, exemption thresholds for social security contributions in 2024

• Employer contributions financing collective and compulsory supplementary pension schemes (“Art. 83” contracts or compulsory contributions to a compulsory company retirement savings plan called PERE-OB) are exempt from social security contributions up to the highest limit between:
  • 5% of the annual social security ceiling (€ 2 318.40 for 2024);
  • and 5% of gross remuneration within the limit of 5 times the annual social security ceiling (€ 11 592 for 2024).

• Employer contributions financing collective and mandatory supplementary provident schemes are exempt from social security contributions:
  • within the limit of 6% of the annual social security ceiling (€ 2 782.08 for 2024) + 1.5% of gross remuneration subject to social security contributions;
  • in any case, the exemption limit cannot exceed € 5 564.16 for 2024.

Social security contributions (employee and employer) for 2024

Social contributions

We do not indicate here all the contributions applicable to salaries in 2024, but you can contact us so that we can communicate them to you.

It should be noted, however, that the social security financing law for 2024 provided that the eligibility ceilings for reductions in the rate of employer contributions for family allowances (AF) and health insurance (set respectively at 2.5 SMIC and 3.5 SMIC), are now calculated on the hourly rate of the SMIC as of December 31^st 2023, i.e. € 11.52.

In the case of a full-time employee (based on 35 hours) present all year round:

• for the reduction in the rate on the health contribution, the ceiling of 2.5 SMIC corresponds to a gross annual remuneration of € 52 416.
• for the rate reduction on the AF contribution, the ceiling of 3.5 SMIC corresponds to a gross annual remuneration of € 73 382.40.

These values must be adjusted or prorated in the event of entry or exit during the year, part-time work, working overtime, etc.

CSG and CRDS

The CSG and CRDS base is subject to a reduction for professional expenses of 1.75%. This reduction applies only to the portion of remuneration which does not exceed 4 times the social security ceiling, i.e. € 185 472 for 2024.

General reduction of employer contributions 

The formula for calculating the coefficient of the general reduction in employer contributions depends in particular on a parameter “T”, equal in 2024 to the sum, at the level of the minimum wage (SMIC):

• employer contributions for health insurance, old-age insurance and family allowances, the FNAL, the solidarity contribution for autonomy and a fraction of the work accident contribution;
• AGIRC-ARRCO employer pension contributions, which generally represent 6.01 points at SMIC (4.72% AGIRC-ARRCO contribution + 1.29% general equilibrium contribution);
• employer unemployment insurance contributions (4.05 points).

The value of the parameter T on January 1^st 2024 is, for general cases (excluding journalists, medical professions and sales representatives -VRP-) set at:

• with 0.10% FNAL: 0.3194
• with 0.50% FNAL: 0.3234

Payroll tax 

Here is the monthly scale for 2024:

• 4.25% up to € 749
• 8.50% over € 749 and up to €1 495
• 13.60% over €1 495

Withholding tax on non-residents for tax purposes

Unless there is an international tax treaty preventing it, salaries from French sources paid to persons who are not domiciled in France for tax purposes are subject to withholding tax. This system should not be confused with the withholding tax (PAS) applied to the salaries of anyone residing in France.

Here is the monthly schedule:

• 0%: less than € 1 402
• 12%: from € 1 402 to € 4 066
• 20%: over € 4 066

Net social amount (MNS)

The employer must now integrate the net amount of CSG/CRDS of subrogated daily Social Security allowances (IJSS) into the Net Social Amount displayed on the pay slip and declared in DSN.

Furthermore:

• all employee contributions financing collective supplementary social protection guarantees must be deducted to arrive at the MNS displayed on the pay slip and declared in DSN;
• as a result of the previous point, all employer contributions financing collective guarantees of complementary social protection are excluded from the Social Net (none of them must be reintegrated to determine the MNS).

Compensation for termination of the employment contract or corporate mandate

Several categories of compensation for termination of an employment contract are exempt from income tax, social security contributions and CSG CRDS within certain limits. This concerns severance pay, compensations for voluntary departure paid as part of a job protection plan, certain contractual termination pay or even retirement pay as well as compensation for forced termination of employment of certain corporate officers.

The applicable exemption regime and ceilings depend on the type of termination. We can tell you the regime applicable to each particular case upon your request.

We are obviously at your disposal to explain all these figures to you. We can also, if you wish, draw up your pay slips as well as your entire social file. You just need to contact us!