Employer Mutuelle Health Insurance Obligations in France

It is compulsory in France for an employer to provide an employee with a top-up mutuelle (health insurance) policy. This can affect you if you are moving over to work for an employer or if you are looking to set up as an employer in France.

It doesn’t matter what size the company or business is; as soon as there are one or more employees, it is compulsory.

First, we will explore what you need to set up if you are an employer in France. This will include a base that is set up so that employees who work remotely from your company in the UK can work and pay social charges in France.

Mutuelle Top-Up Insurance & Employee Benefits Scheme

• All companies in France must be affiliated to a Convention Collective Nationale (CCN)
• You must provide a company mutuelle as soon as you have at least one employee
• If you have employees that are Cadre, you must provide an Employee benefits scheme (Prévoyance) in addition to the mutuelle
• The Convention Collective Nationale (CCN) sets out the minimum levels of cover you must provide for your workforce ^{*verified by your Accountant (Comptable)}
• Decision Unilaterale de l’Entreprise (DUE) is the contract that sets out how you are going to apply the conditions to your workforce ^{*drawn up by your Accountant (Comptable)}
• It is possible to have a different DUE for Cadre and non-Cadre
• There are multiple levels available , from the minimum legally required, to higher more comprehensive cover
• The minimum level you must offer your workforce will depend on your CCN
• Your minimum contribution to the cost will be 50%, and the employee will pay the other 50%, but you can choose to contribute a higher percentage
• The breakdown of who pays what percentage of the cost depends on:
  • What is set in your CCN
  • The demographic of your workforce
  • Your choice of level

• Cover can be:
  • Employee only
  • Employee and their children
  • Employee, partner, and children

• You are obliged to offer optional enhanced cover (Option facultative) to the policy on top of the base guarantees (Socle)
• Your employee can choose if they wish to add any of the options
• The extra cost of the option, if taken, is at the expense of the employee
• There is no need for a health questionnaire for employees to complete
• Pre-existing conditions are not considered when setting the cost of the contract and will be covered
• The cost of the mutuelle is a percentage of PMSS (Plafond Mensuel de la Securité Sociale)

Prévoyance/Employee Benefits Scheme

This covers:

• Death in Service
• Short term illness and accident
• Longer-term illness/disability/invalidity
• Widow and Children’s pension

You have two obligations for offering an Employee Benefits Scheme (Prévoyance):

1. For all Cadre employees, your minimum obligation is to contribute 1.5% of their gross salary
2. You must comply with the CCN, which may require higher contributions and might require an Employee Benefits Scheme for non-Cadre staff:

• A medical questionnaire is required if the policy is for less than three employees
• You may be obliged to pay the cost of the Employee Benefits Scheme. This depends on what is in the CCN
• The cost and the guarantees are a percentage of the employee’s gross pay

Many people who move to France and find employment aren’t aware that their employer must be providing a health insurance top-up policy and employee benefits scheme. If your employer also isn’t aware, which is often the case if they too are new to France, we can offer a completely bilingual service.

Agence AXA International can provide help and advice in English to help you and your employer understand what they need to do, plus help you to choose the right level applicable for the demographic of their employees. We can then also communicate directly with the accountant and HR/payroll services in French.

For more information, don’t hesitate to contact our health insurance specialist, Helen, at: [email protected]