Corporate contributions for posted workers
Are you a foreign company sending posted workers in France?
You are required to register in order to pay your mandatory social security contributions.
This is a particularly sensitive matter—both for the health and protection of your workers and for the company’s legal obligations regarding contributions. French authorities are known to be especially strict on this topic.
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A mandatory registration with the French social security system
- If your posted worker comes from a country that has not signed a bilateral social security agreement with France, then you are required to register your company with the URSSAF Foreign Companies Department in order to obtain a French SIRET number.
- As a company with no establishment in France, this initial registration is essential for paying the mandatory employer contributions. Only then can your posted worker be registered with the French social security system to access healthcare reimbursement.
A few case studies on
mandatory social contributions
You are an Indian company sending posted workers to France for 12 months
There is a bilateral social security agreement between France and India, but it is partial. This means the worker must apply for a Certificate of Coverage through the Indian social security authorities. In addition, the Indian employer must register with URSSAF in France to pay the required contributions. Once in France, the worker can then register with the French social security system.
You are a Chinese employer and you are sending one of your seconded Chinese employees to France to work for one of your customers.
As there is no bilateral social security agreement between China and France, you will have to register your company with the URSSAF Foreign Firms Department, complete the formalities, make the declarations and pay the compulsory contributions, issue pay slips in accordance with French standards for each month spent in France during your seconded employee’s assignment, and your employee will also have to register with the French social security system.
You are posting an American employee to France for 3 months
There is a bilateral social security agreement between France and the United States. You’ll need to contact the U.S. social security authorities to request a Certificate of Coverage for the duration of the assignment.
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Your questions
If the foreign employer is based in a country that has signed a bilateral social security agreement with France covering all aspects of social protection, or if the employer is based in a country covered by the European social security coordination system, the employer will be exempt from paying social security contributions in France and the posted worker can remain covered by the scheme in his or her usual country of employment.
If the foreign employer is based in a country that has not signed a bilateral social security agreement with France, or outside an EU country, then social security contributions will have to be paid in France.
This is a so-called incomplete agreement: France has signed a bilateral social security agreement with India, but unlike most other agreements, it does not cover all branches of social security, such as sickness, maternity/paternity, industrial accidents/occupational diseases, etc. It only covers retirement.
It only covers retirement.
To be fully compliant, employers must therefore: apply for an Indian social security certificate for their seconded employees; register with URSSAF in France to pay contributions; and register their posted workers with the French social security system.
In the event of an inspection by the Labour Inspectorate, you are obliged to submit payslips in Euros that comply with French standards. This is a very tedious process because of the complexity of the French payslip model. In particular, you have to include the following compulsory information: minimum wage (with supplements for overtime), period and working hours (distinguishing between hours at the normal rate and hours with supplements), holidays and public holidays (+ related remuneration elements), name of the collective agreement, etc., all in accordance with French legislation and not that of the country of origin!
To be able to post workers to France, the foreign employer must be legally established in the country of origin, and therefore actually carry out substantial activities there.
The employer must not carry on a regular, stable and continuous activity in France. (Example: the situation of a company whose activity is derisory in the country where the company is registered compared with that carried out in France). The law also stipulates that fraudulent establishment is punishable by 3 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros (225,000 euros for legal entities).
In addition, the fight against illegal employment and social dumping may be subject to tax treatment in the form of regularisation of tax payments, particularly with regard to corporation tax and VAT. This tax treatment of establishment fraud is therefore in addition to the criminal treatment linked to the offence of concealed employment by concealing activity and often by concealing salaried employment.