A mutuelle health insurance provides ‘top up’ cover for health costs not automatically reimbursed by the French state. This type of cover is mandatory for all salaried employees in France.
Most French companies are placed under a Convention Collective Nationale (CCN), which will set out a minimum level of health cover that must be provided to all employees.
Complementary health insurance must be offered under the employer’s chosen mutuelle, in all companies with at least one employee. The company must contribute at least 50% of the cost, with the employee liable for the rest.
In addition to mutuelle cover, employers must offer prévoyance insurance to their cadres, or executive employees.
Prévoyance covers personal risk and must offer a death in service benefit at the very least. Non-cadre employees may also be entitled to prévoyance, if a relevant collective agreement exists.
The range of options for mutuelle and prévoyance cover are many and varied, which can result in confusion for employers trying to choose the right ones.
How to choose mutuelle and prévoyance cover
The company’s CCN may recommend providers, or it could be a simple matter of doing some research and choosing the best deal on offer.
An insurance broker can be sought to assist if the CCN makes no recommendations, or perhaps to guide smaller businesses that do not have time or resources to research the different options available.
In all instances, companies should always ensure they match the benefits of their chosen cover with the relevant legal requirements.
How to implement mutuelle and prévoyance cover
Compulsory insurance cover may be implemented in three ways:
- By collective agreement
- Employee referendum
- Unilateral Employer Decision (DUE)
Where the insurance terms are more favourable than legally decreed, a DUE is often the most popular option: not least because the company does not have to consult its employees.
A DUE takes the form of a written document, in which the employer commits to granting employees an additional benefit that is not referenced either in their individual employment contracts or a collective agreement. The document will also set out how the company will apply the conditions to its workforce.
The employer must submit the draft DUE to the company’s CSE or employee/trade union delegates if they exist, for consultative purposes only. Once the DUE is issued, the employer must agree to the commitments described with immediate effect.
Regardless of how it is implemented, the employer’s decision regarding compulsory health insurance cover is automatically binding on employees, with very few legal exemptions.
Contact us to ask about mandatory health insurance in your French business.
We offer a free initial consultation, during which we will happily answer your questions about employing people in France.
To arrange your appointment with our qualified and bilingual consultants, please get in touch.