Country file

What it costs an employer to hire in France

An employer in France pays €81,371 on a gross salary of €60,000. That is 35.6% more than the salary.

At €120,000 the employer adds 32.2%, because the contribution ceilings start to bite.

Every rate below comes from a statutory source with the date it was read. The figures are for 2026.

A mid salary of €60,000

Employer-side statutory contributions on a gross salary of €60,000 a year. Each line is capped at the range shown, so the amount is the rate applied to the part of the salary that falls inside that range.
Contribution	Rate	Annual base charged	Amount	Source
Health (maladie), employer share	13.00%	no ceiling	€7,800	source checked 2026-08-21
Old-age pension, capped portion	8.55%	€48,060	€4,109	source checked 2026-08-21
Old-age pension, uncapped portion	2.11%	no ceiling	€1,266	source checked 2026-08-21
Family benefits, standard rate	5.25%	no ceiling	€3,150	source checked 2026-08-21
Work accident and occupational illness, national average	2.08%	no ceiling	€1,248	source checked 2026-08-21
Unemployment insurance, employer share	4.00%	€192,240	€2,400	source checked 2026-08-21
Wage guarantee insurance (AGS)	0.25%	€192,240	€150	source checked 2026-08-21
Vocational training contribution (11 or more employees)	1.00%	no ceiling	€600	source checked 2026-08-21
Apprenticeship tax	0.68%	no ceiling	€408	source checked 2026-08-21
Autonomy solidarity contribution (20 or more employees)	0.30%	no ceiling	€180	source checked 2026-08-21
Housing fund (FNAL, under 50 employees)	0.10%	no ceiling	€60	source checked 2026-08-21
Statutory employer contributions			€21,371

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Everything the law obliges the employer to pay. It excludes anything discretionary, anything an EOR charges, and any insurance premium that is set per employer rather than by statute.
Gross salary	€60,000
Statutory employer contributions	€21,371
Total employer cost	€81,371
Added on top of the salary	35.6%

A senior salary of €120,000

Employer-side statutory contributions on a gross salary of €120,000 a year. Each line is capped at the range shown, so the amount is the rate applied to the part of the salary that falls inside that range.
Contribution	Rate	Annual base charged	Amount	Source
Health (maladie), employer share	13.00%	no ceiling	€15,600	source checked 2026-08-21
Old-age pension, capped portion	8.55%	€48,060	€4,109	source checked 2026-08-21
Old-age pension, uncapped portion	2.11%	no ceiling	€2,532	source checked 2026-08-21
Family benefits, standard rate	5.25%	no ceiling	€6,300	source checked 2026-08-21
Work accident and occupational illness, national average	2.08%	no ceiling	€2,496	source checked 2026-08-21
Unemployment insurance, employer share	4.00%	€192,240	€4,800	source checked 2026-08-21
Wage guarantee insurance (AGS)	0.25%	€192,240	€300	source checked 2026-08-21
Vocational training contribution (11 or more employees)	1.00%	no ceiling	€1,200	source checked 2026-08-21
Apprenticeship tax	0.68%	no ceiling	€816	source checked 2026-08-21
Autonomy solidarity contribution (20 or more employees)	0.30%	no ceiling	€360	source checked 2026-08-21
Housing fund (FNAL, under 50 employees)	0.10%	no ceiling	€120	source checked 2026-08-21
Statutory employer contributions			€38,633

Scroll sideways on a phone.

Everything the law obliges the employer to pay. It excludes anything discretionary, anything an EOR charges, and any insurance premium that is set per employer rather than by statute.
Gross salary	€120,000
Statutory employer contributions	€38,633
Total employer cost	€158,633
Added on top of the salary	32.2%

The formula

total employer cost = gross salary + sum over each statutory contribution of rate x max(0, min(salary, ceiling) - band floor) (zero if the contribution applies only below a wage the salary exceeds) + gross salary x (mandatory extra months / 12) + gross salary x mandatory severance accrual rate

Each ceiling above applies only to its own line, which is why the employer percentage for France is not the same at both salaries. Employer contribution ceilings, country by country lists where every ceiling on this site sits.

Time off, extra pay and leaving

Statutory paid leave	30 days
Public holidays	11
Mandatory extra pay	0 months
Minimum employer notice	4 weeks

Two and a half working days accrue per month worked, which is 30 jours ouvrables, or five weeks. Of the 11 public holidays only 1 May is a statutory paid non-working day nationwide.

No statutory 13th month in the Labour Code. It is common only through collective agreements.

Statutory dismissal indemnity is a quarter of a month's salary per year for the first ten years, then a third of a month per year beyond ten.

What the percentage hides

The annual social security ceiling for 2026 is 48,060 euro, which is 4,005 euro a month.

The work-accident rate shown is a national average. The rate an individual employer pays depends on company size and claims history.

URSSAF blocks automated retrieval, so the rates were cross-checked against LegiSocial, a French payroll reference publisher. Confidence is marked medium rather than high for that reason.

Not confirmed on a statutory source, and therefore not in any figure above: the statutory notice period by seniority tier, not re-verified against the Labour Code text.

Using an employer of record in France

Everything above is what the state takes. An employer of record adds its own fee on top, and that fee is a flat monthly amount rather than a percentage, so it weighs far more on a junior salary than a senior one. The published prices are here, and the calculator will add one to the figures on this page.

Compare with another country

Written by Kaz, independent publisher. No commercial relationship with the providers named unless it is listed on the disclosure page.

Page last updated 2026-08-30. Sources: statutory bodies only, listed per figure. Rates last verified 2026-08-21. This is not legal, tax or payroll advice and we do not file anyone's payroll.

Every formula on this site is written out in full on Method. Ordering is by computed cost, never by what a provider pays us.

Corrections: contact form.