In familiarizing you with the conditions of operating a company in France, we do our best to explain situations as simple as possible. However, some are quite complex and difficult to follow – all the more reason you need local experts like us to guide you through the process.
Worker/manager types and the social security regimes they are affiliated with are some of the most complex to explain and costly to manage for small businesses.
Here, we do our best to make it simple.
Non-Salaried Employees “TNS”
A “non-salaried employee “TNS” (Travailleurs Non-Salarié) in France is a self-employed person or a company director who benefits from a different social regime than regular “assimilated” employees.
Non-salaried employees, including some managers, were traditionally attached to the social security system for the self-employed – the RSI (Régime Social des Indépendants). However, the RSI has since been merged into the SSI (Sécurité Sociale des Indépendants), retaining its governing contribution and benefit conventions.
In contrast, other managers/owners are deemed dirigeants assimilés salariés (assimilated employees) and attached to the general social security regime with different social charges and benefits.
There are several differences between the status of assimilated employees and the self-employed TNS. The most significant is the social regime each is affiliated with and the associated charges and coverage.
Determining Factor
The legal form of your LLC or other company structure determines the affiliated social security system of company directors, presidents, managers, managing partners, various categories of employees, the social contributions due to the state, and the benefits accorded.
The company’s legal form qualifies an employee or owner as a non-salaried TNS or an assimilated employee.
Choice of LLC Incorporation Structures
In choosing the form of LLC to create your company in France, there are a few important things to keep in mind:
- The social regime to which your company will be subjected is an essential driver of cost.
- The tax regime to which owners, managers, and the company will be subjected is another.
- Two possible social regimes exist for the entrepreneur – the self-employed person deemed a non-salaried TNS, and the manager considered an assimilated employee. Now part of the same general social security system, the TNS is subject the SSI (Sécurité Sociale des Indépendants), its own regime of contributions and benefits.
- There is no good or bad social regime. An owner has many options to optimize the cost of your social charges or to change their affiliated social regimes if necessary.
Background
Since January 1, 2018, the SSI (Sécurité Sociale des Indépendants) has replaced the RSI (Régime social des indépendants). Since 2020, self-employed workers have been integrated into the general social security system. This has no impact on the overall social charges or benefits of TNS.
Who is a TNS?
- The majority manager of a SARL. (Note: the manager is a majority shareholder when he holds at least 50% + 1 share of the company). The manager’s shares, those of a spouse, minor children, and co-managers (if any), are part of his SSI social calculation.
The managing partner of the EURL they manage.
The individual entrepreneur. Note! Although an individual entrepreneur, the auto-entrepreneur benefits from a preferential micro-social regime that can be highly advantageous. He or she is not a TNS in the classic sense.
TNS Regime – Social Protection
As a TNS, the social regime of independent workers, SSI (Sécurité Sociale des Indépendants), imposes the obligation of a series of insurances.
- For sickness and maternity insurance, affiliation with the social scheme for self-employed persons (SSI).
- For family allowances, the affiliation is with the Organizations for the Collection of Social Security and Family Benefit Contribution – URSSAF (Unions de Recouvrement des Cotisations de Sécurité Sociale et d’Allocations Familiales) for liberal professionals and with the SSI for traders and artisans.
- For retirement, disability, and death, the affiliation is with an old-age insurance fund under the SSI for traders and artisans or with the private-practice professionals’ old-age insurance fund – the CNAVPL (Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Vieillesse des Professions Libérales) for the liberal professions.
The Organizations for the Collection of Social Security and Family Benefit Contributions, l’URSSAF (Unions de Recouvrement des Cotisations de Sécurité Sociale et d’Allocations Familiales) collects and distributes social security contributions and charges.
They finance the reimbursement of medical care, medical leave, maternity, and industrial accident benefits and fund basic pensions and family benefits for those covered by France’s general social security scheme.
As a TNS affiliated with the SSI, a partner, president, manager, or employee is not obliged to subscribe to unemployment insurance. However, they have the option of taking out group insurance.
TNS Social Security Coverage
Up to 80% of hospitalization expenses are covered. High risks participants (long-term care, operations) benefit from a total reimbursement.
For low risks participants (routine care), reimbursement levels depend on many factors, ranging from 100 to 70 or even 15% of the expense. There are daily allowances for hospitalization, illness, or accidents (only for traders and artisans), rest allowances, family allowances, and fixed daily allowances for maternity.
A TNS subject to the SSI does not benefit from accident insurance or basic or complementary compulsory pension.
TNS Social Security Contributions
There is an essential difference between the contributions of self-employed managers and those of managers deemed assimilated employees. This difference is proportional to the amount of the manager’s compensation. Therefore, the higher the pay, the greater the difference.
There is also a difference between the manager, who is an assimilated employee, and a worker who is non-assimilated. As a TNS, the company director or president is affiliated with the SSI, the social regime for independent workers.
But if he is an assimilated employee, he will be attached to the general social security regime. This affiliation has certain consequences and sometimes conflicts with the SSI, requiring the individual to clarify or justify their situation.
