|
| The
anatomy of a paycheck! (#2) |
Understand more about France with this example
of a paycheck ! |
- Case : a young professional,
hired one year ago, first job, administrative position, annual
salary $ 45 000.
- Employer : a successful investment
bank
- Working time : 162,5 hours/month
(full time) if
they work more than the mandatory 35 hours, employees (except
for top management) can recuperate up to two or three additional
weeks of vacation
|
- Monthly Salary : $ 3 719
- In fact, he/she will actually cash
: $ 2 724
- But he/she will cost his/her boss :
$ 5 988
This
is a French
Mystery : to understand it,
read below :
|
|
Plus (add to the
above mentioned salary):
- "Supplément familial"
(allocation for one child) : $ 105 (required by law)
- "Acompte 13ème
mois" (1/12 of an annual guaranteed bonus) : $ 391 (required
by law)
- Incentive to use public transport
$ 28 (required by law) (you can cash it in even if you don't use it)
- Corporate life insurance plan
(half is paid by employer) : $ 67 (company policy)
|
Not
included various
benefits which are paid once a year (all the following are subject to most withdrawals
listed below) :
- "Participation"
: part of the net profit of the company which must legally be
assigned to employees and blocked (5 years) in a corporate saving
fund ; in this case (a very profitable company) , approximately
5 to 6 weeks of salary
- "Intéressement"
: an incentive program to motivate all the staff to reach corporate
objectives ; in this case, approximately 1 to 2 weeks of salary
- Individual bonus : does
not apply to this particular case ; for higher ranking professionals,
typically 0 to 40% of annual salary
- Of course, it does not include
all the services offered at reduced price by the Comité
d'Entreprise
|
Minus : everything
required by law except corporate life insurance plan (which is
a policy of the company and applies to everybody) and not
including employee's income
tax, which is paid separately by employee
| Withdrawals from paycheck
and direct employer's contribution |
$ paid by employee |
$ paid by employer |
| Contribution to Social Security
(health) (as you see, most of it is
paid by the employer) |
| Contribution to Social Security
(retirement) (idem) |
| Insurance for work accidents
(idem) |
| Tax for public social programs |
| State family policy programs
(idem) |
| CSG (tax to finance State social
programs) (idem) |
| Unemployment
(idem) |
| Specific unemployment for professionals |
| Retirement
(additional to Social Security program, specific for "cadres") (idem) |
| "Mutuelle" Social
Security (private plan) (idem) |
| Corporate life insurance plan |
| Specific tax for Education
(idem) |
| For public housing (idem) |
| For public training programs (idem) |
| For public transport (worth
it - the public transport is good!) |
|
|
31 |
|
195 |
|
0 |
|
105 |
|
0 |
|
184 |
|
115 |
|
1 |
|
176 |
|
52 |
|
135 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
|
474 |
|
321 |
|
37 |
|
17 |
|
200 |
|
399 |
|
190 |
|
1 |
|
274 |
|
108 |
|
67 |
|
18 |
|
55 |
|
15 |
|
93 |
|
This is the normal number
of lines you'll find on all French paychecks. Sometimes they
are even more ! Compare it to an American one !!
Total
| 1 |
Salary
+ benefits |
$
3 719 |
|
| 2 |
minus : withdrawals by employer |
$
995 |
(does
NOT include employee's income tax, paid separately, one
year later) |
| 3 = 1 -
2 |
Total
cashed by employee |
$ 2 724 |
what
you get |
| 4 |
Taxes
paid by employer (in addition to 1) |
$
2 269 |
|
| 5 =4 +1 |
Total
cost for employer |
$ 5 988 |
what
you cost your boss |
| 6=2+ 4 |
Total
taxes/contributions |
$ 3 265 |
(>54%
of work cost) |
- All the
benefits mentioned above result from the law and generally an
additional (more favorable) agreement between the company and
its unions. They are considered "avantages
acquis", which means it is extremely difficult, if not
impossible, to suppress them.
- See an interesting
simulation (it's in
French but easy to understand)
|
- For higher salaries : see the
figures for
executives in various countries of Europe ; the French government
develops specific provisions so that the level of taxes and contributions
would not impact the attractivity of France for headquarters
of big corporations
|
|
DID YOU KNOW THAT..... ? Although the number of
employees who are members of an union is small (around 10%), unions have a
lot of power because, by law, each company (above 10) must have
at least one "délégué syndical"
and (above 50) a "comité d'entreprise" which
must be consulted on any important issue concerning the company
; labor contracts must be signed with one or more of the "syndicats
représentatifs" , which means, practically, one or
more the the largest national unions : CGT (Confédération
Générale du Travail, close to what is left of the
communist party), CFDT (Confédération Française
Démocratique du Travail, more modern and reform-oriented),
CGC (Confédération Générale des Cadres,
for professionals), CFTC (Confédération Française
des Travailleurs Chrétiens, close to the Catholic church),
SUD (younger, fast developing, more leftist), and a few more.
To related pages : working in
France (#1), the
French Social Security system.,
etc... |
|
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Harriet Welty
Rochefort writes articles and books about France and the French.
Order her books :
- "French Toast, An American in Paris
Celebrates The Maddening Mysteries of the French", St.Martin's Press,
New York, 1999
- "French Fried, The Culinary Capers
of An American in Paris", St.Martin's Press, New York, 2001
More on Harriet's
books
(excerpts, upcoming events, testimonials, etc..)
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