How to Generate Payslips Compliant With French Labor Law

France has some of the most detailed payslip requirements in Europe. The Code du travail (Labor Code) mandates that every employer issue a bulletin de paie each pay period, and the document must follow the bulletin de paie simplifiée format introduced in 2018. Get it wrong and you face fines up to 450 euros per non-compliant payslip.

Here is how to generate a French payslip that meets every legal requirement, step by step.

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What French Law Requires on a Payslip

Article R3243-1 of the Code du travail defines the mandatory fields. In the simplified format, contributions are grouped into five categories instead of listing every line individually.

Section	Required Information
Employer	Company name, SIRET number, APE/NAF code, convention collective applicable
Employee	Full name, job title (emploi), classification, position on the convention collective grid
Pay period	Month, payment date, hours worked (contract vs. actual)
Gross salary	Base salary, overtime, bonuses, premiums, avantages en nature
Social contributions	Grouped into: Santé, Accidents du travail, Retraite, Famille, Chômage, plus CSG/CRDS
Net imposable	Gross minus deductible contributions (used for income tax declaration)
Net à payer avant impôt	What the employee receives before withholding tax (prélèvement à la source)
Prélèvement à la source	Income tax withheld at source, rate applied
Net à payer	Final amount transferred to the employee

The distinction between net imposable and net à payer trips up many employers. Net imposable includes the non-deductible portion of CSG/CRDS, so it is always higher than the net amount paid.

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Social Contribution Breakdown

French social charges are significant. Here is a typical breakdown for a non-executive (non-cadre) employee earning a gross salary.

Contribution	Employee Rate	Employer Rate
Health insurance (Assurance maladie)	0% (since 2018)	13.00%
CSG (deductible)	6.80%	—
CSG (non-deductible) + CRDS	2.90%	—
Old-age pension (Assurance vieillesse)	6.90%	8.55%
Complementary retirement (Agirc-Arrco)	3.15%	4.72%
Unemployment (Chômage)	0% (since 2018)	4.05%
Family allowances	—	3.45%
Work accident	—	Variable
Total (approx.)	~22%	~40–45%

Employee contributions total roughly 22% of gross salary, while employer contributions add another 40 to 45 percent on top.

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Step 1: Enter Company and Employee Information

Start by filling in the employer section: company name, SIRET, collective bargaining agreement (convention collective), and APE code. Then add the employee's details, including their classification level on the convention collective grid.

In CleverSlip, select the France template. These fields are pre-structured so nothing gets missed.

Step 2: Define the Pay Period and Hours

Specify the month, the contractual hours (typically 151.67 hours for a 35-hour week), and any overtime. French overtime rates are 25% for the first eight hours and 50% beyond that.

Step 3: Enter Gross Salary and Earnings

Add the base salary, then any variable components: bonuses (primes), commissions, or benefits in kind (avantages en nature such as a company car or meal vouchers).

Handling Meal Vouchers (Titres-restaurant)

The employer contribution to meal vouchers is exempt from social charges up to a limit (7.18 euros per voucher in 2026). The employee portion is deducted from net pay but does not reduce gross salary.

Step 4: Calculate Social Contributions

CleverSlip automatically applies the correct rates for each contribution group. The simplified payslip format displays them in five clusters: Santé, Retraite, Famille/Chômage, CSG/CRDS, and other contributions.

The template calculates both the employee and employer portions. Employer charges appear on the payslip for transparency but do not reduce the employee's net pay.

Step 5: Compute Net Imposable and Net à Payer

After deducting employee social contributions from gross salary, you get the net à payer avant impôt sur le revenu. To calculate the net imposable, add back the non-deductible CSG (2.40%) and CRDS (0.50%) — this is the figure reported to the tax authorities.

Step 6: Apply Prélèvement à la Source

Since January 2019, employers must withhold income tax directly from salary. The tax rate is provided by the Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFiP) via the DSN system. Enter the rate, and CleverSlip calculates the final net à payer.

Step 7: Download and Distribute

Download the payslip as a PDF. French law allows electronic distribution provided the employee has not objected. You must retain payslips for a minimum of five years, and employees can request copies at any time.

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Missing the convention collective reference. This is mandatory and determines minimum salary scales.
• Confusing net imposable with net à payer. They are two different numbers with two different purposes.
• Forgetting prélèvement à la source. The payslip must show the rate, the amount withheld, and the net amount after tax.

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CleverSlip's France template handles the simplified payslip format, all five contribution groupings, and the net imposable calculation automatically. Select the template, enter your figures, and generate a compliant bulletin de paie in minutes.