A decree and an order dated 25 February 2016 simplified the presentation rules for the pay advice slip. After an experimentation phase in 2016, these measures came into effect on 1 January 2017 for companies with more than 300 employees. They will become the rule for all companies on 1 January 2018.

The goal of the simplification

The main goals of this reform are twofold:
– to enable every employee to better understand his/her pay advice slip, often deemed too complicated to read, unclear, in terms of both form (too much information) and content (the calculations done to determine how much is due by the employer or the employee are not understood);
– to make it easier for employers to manage the pay function.
The government has published two template pay advice slips: one for executives; one for non-executives.

The new required data items

The simplified slip must now include:
– the heading dedicated to the pay advice slip on the portal www.service-public.fr;
– the possibility of accessing the pay advice slip in electronic form on the “CPA” (personal activity account) portal if the slip is sent electronically (this item is not mandatory, but suggested by the social security division);
– the employer’s SIREN (company identification) number;
– the total amount paid by the employer, i.e., the gross compensation, plus the levies and contributions payable by the employer, minus any exemptions, so that it is easy to identify the total cost of the labour;
– all the exemptions from social security levies and contributions that are applied to the employee’s gross compensation.

Headings grouped together

To enhance clarity, the following headings will now be grouped together:
– the social protection levies by risk category;
– the other contributions coming from the employer in a single line (transport subsidy, Fnal contribution, forfait social, etc.);
– the CSG and CRDS special taxes, though the deductible CSG will continue to be presented on a separate line;
– the exemptions from social security levies and contributions.

The headings that are being kept

The following items remain mandatory:
– the name and address of the employer, the APE code its business comes under;
– the address of the establishment to which the employee belongs where the employer has more than one site;
– the employee’s last name, first name, address and social security number, and the items pertaining to his/her job: years of service, position, qualification, etc.
– the applicable collective bargaining agreement.

Note that the reference of the body to which the employer pays the levies and its membership number have become voluntary, as has the name of the pension funds.

The favourable bottom line of the simplified pay advice slip

According to a report dated 20 February 2017 delivered to the government, the bottom line of the experiment performed in 2016 in ten companies is favourable, with 85% of employees concerned saying they were happy with the simplification. What they miss mainly is the names of the pension funds and the lack of breakdown of the optional or lump-sum levies of the supplementary insurance. Employers believe that consideration must be taken of the time required to produce the various stages leading to the introduction of this reform.

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