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Decree No. 2025-160 of February 20, 2025, on the ceiling on earned income used as the basis for calculating daily allowance paid by social security sickness leave.
In October 2024, the Minister of Labor announced, during the presentation of the Social Security financing bill for 2025, that the Government was considering lowering the income ceiling used as the basis for calculating daily allowance paid by social security (IJSS) sickness benefits. This modification was finalized with the publication of a decree dated February 20, 2025, and will be applicable as of April 1st, 2025.
These new rules apply to employees who have worked or contributed enough to qualify for IJSS benefits.
As a reminder, IJSS sickness benefits are calculated on the basis of the employee’s previous earned income. The income taken into account corresponds to 1/91.25 of the amount of the last three salaries for the calendar months prior to the interruption of work. The amount of IJSS sickness benefit is then set at 50% of this income.
Article R. 323-4 of the French Social Security Code also specifies that the income taken into account for this calculation is equal to 1.8 times the value of the current monthly minimum wage (SMIC) in force on the last day of the calendar month preceding that of the work interruption.
As of April 1, the ceiling on previous income taken into account for the calculation will be lowered from 1.8 to 1.4 times the SMIC for all work stoppages starting on or after this date.
The maximum reference salary will now be capped at €2,522.52, compared with the current €3,243.24. Here is an illustration of how these rules apply:
| Case study of an IJSS for sickness calculation for work stoppage before and after the reform: Current monthly minimum wage = 1.801,80€ An employee is off work for 5 days. His three salaries prior to his work stoppage are as follows: Month N-1: 3.500 € Month N-2: 3.500 € Month N-3: 3.500 € | |
| Before April 1st, 2025 : The income ceiling taken into account is: 1,8 x 1801,80 = 3.243,24 € The basic daily income = 3.243,24 € x 3 / 91,25 = 106,63 € Amount of IJSS: 50% x 106,63 = 53,31 € 53,31 € x 5 = 266,55 € gross IJSS. | From April 1st, 2025 : The income ceiling taken into account will be: 1,4 x 1801,80 = 2.522,52 € The basic daily income = 2.522,52 € x 3 / 91,25 = 82,93 € Amount of IJSS: 50% x 82, 93 = 41,47 € 41,47 x 5 = 208, 50 € gross IJSS. |
In practice, this lowering of the ceiling will have several consequences:
– Employers subject to a legal obligation to maintain salary during a sickness leave (under articles L.1226-1, D.1226-1 and following of the French Labor Code).) will necessarily see an increase in their share of that benefit : in fact, this benefit is expressed as a percentage of the gross salary, which must be guaranteed to the employee, possibly after deduction of the daily allowance paid by social security For remunerations above 1.4 times the monthly minimum wage, as the amount of the IJSS will now become lower, the share remaining at the employer’s expense, as a differential, increases automatically. The same applies for the salary guarantee provided by an industry-wide collective bargaining agreement.
– Employers covered by a supplementary insurance contract that provides for the payment of supplementary daily allowances, also according to a differential calculation method (% of gross salary – IJSS), will face an increase in the amount of these benefits which should increase the cost of the insurance coverage. To deal with this situation, employers can review their benefits and insurance conditions. They must review the legal rules applicable to revise or terminate their benefits plan, and if necessary, the insurance coverage.
– Employees who do not meet the legal or contractual conditions required to benefit from continued payment of salary, or from the company’s insurance scheme, and who receive remuneration greater than 1.4 times the monthly minimum wage, will suffer a reduction in their level of compensation.
