Information for this page was compiled during December 2023 and January 2024. As Member States are currently transposing the EU minimum wage directive, national legislation can be subject to change. Eurofound intends to update these profiles in early 2025. Users are invited to contact Eurofound if they are aware of changes.
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The Labour Code (Code du travail) is the main legal basis for the statutory minimum wage (SMIC). Beside establishing the SMIC (art. L3231-2), it also provides the rules for its periodic adjustment and its scope of modalities of application (arts. L3231-4 and following).
The other main sources regulating the SMIC are the governmental decrees and orders adjusting the level of the statutory minimum wage. These regulations can be issued as a governmental ‘Decree’ (Décret) or as an ‘Order’ (Arrêté) depending on the situation prompting the adjustment of the rates (see section ‘Process of setting the minimum wage’ for further details).
Note: the statutory minimum wage (salaire minimum interprofessionnel de croissance, SMIC) must not be confused with the so-called ‘guaranteed minimum wage’ (‘minimum garanti’, art. L3231-12 of the Labour Code), which is not a reference salary but rather an element used to evaluate benefits in kind, social allowances, and professional expenses. It does not represent a minimum wage for the purpose of salaries.
Among the main actors involved in the determination of the statutory minimum wage in France is the government, who sets, on a yearly basis, the level of minimum wage by governmental decree.
Another actor, with a consultative role, is the National Commission for collective bargaining, employment and vocational training (Commission nationale de la négociation collective, de l'emploi et de la formation professionnelle, CNNCEFP). The CNNCEFP is a tripartite commission composed by employers’ organisations and trade unions that are considered as representative social partners on interprofessional and national level, the minister responsible for labour or their representatives, experts in the field, and several other representatives of government and social partners.
Established and regulated by the Labour Code (art. art. L. 2271-1 – 2272-2), it has many functions. For example, in the context of setting the SMIC, it has the competence to give a reasoned opinion to the minister responsible for labour following the annual report drawn up by the group of experts on the minimum wage (SMIC) appointed for this purpose. They are also tasked to follow the evolution of effective wages and minimum remuneration determined by conventions and collective agreements as well as the evolution of remuneration in public companies (Labour code, Art. 2271-1, points 5 and 6.)
The group of experts on the SMIC has been operative since 2009 – with the first reports published in June and December 2009, and then once a year. It was established by Decree No. 2009-552 on the legal basis provided by Law 2008-1258 and is composed of five persons chosen on the basis of their competence and experience in the economic and social field and appointed by order of the Prime Minister, on the proposal of the ministers responsible for labour, employment and the economy, with a mandate for a period of four years. More specifically, Law 2008-1258 (art. 24), provides that the group of experts on the SMIC decides each year on the evolution of the minimum growth wage, and that the report it draws up on this occasion is addressed to the CNNCEFP and to the Ministry of Labour. The reports are made public on the Ministry of Economy website.
The social partners exercise their role in the setting of the SMIC through their participation in the CNNCEFP. However, this consultation process is very formal and, in fact, social partners have a very limited influence. It has already happened, as in 2019, that the government had announced the level of the annual raise of the SMIC, before consulting the CNNCEFP (Eurofound (2020), Minimum wages in 2020: Annual review, p. 31) . In addition, the group of experts on the SMIC invite representative of each employers or trade unions considered as representative at national level, for a hearing, when it prepares its annual report. Their statements are annexed to the report.
The rules shaping the process of statutory minimum wage setting in France are laid down in the Labour Code. The procedure is highly and deeply disciplined by the law.
The Labour Code identifies two main purposes of the SMIC (art. L3231-2):
Both aims are ensured through the provision of basic rules guiding the uprating: First, the guarantee of the purchasing power of employees is ensured by the indexation of the minimum wage based on the evolution of the national consumer price index established as a reference (art. L3231-4). Second, the participation of low-paid employees in the economic development of the nation provided is ensured by re-evaluating the minimum growth wage, annually with effect from 1 January (art. L3231-6). In this case, the SMIC adjustment is carried out by Decree (Décret)..
To summarize the ordinary procedure for the annual statutory minimum adjustment, the prerogative of identifying the new SMIC relies on the government, which is bound by the law to take into consideration the opinion of the CNNCEFP and the opinion of the group of experts on the SMIC. More specifically, in accordance with Law 2008-1258 (art. 24), the group of experts gives each year a non-binding advice to the government on the proposed adjustment of the minimum wage level, addressing the report drawn up on this occasion to the CNNCEFP and to the government. The government submits to the CNNCEFP, prior to the annual setting of the minimum wage, an analysis of the State’s economic accounts and a report on general economic conditions. If this report deviates from that established by the group of experts on the SMIC, the government must justify these differences in writing to the CNNCEFP The government has therefore (as long as it provides justifications) the last call on the final SMIC adjustment. Formally,the Minister of Labour chairs the CNNCEFP meeting and announces the intention of the government about the future increase of the minimum wage, with the aim to consult the social partners. But in practice, the decision of the government is already taken. After the meeting, the government adopt a decree in the framework of the Council of Ministers. The decree is published the following days and takes effect on 1 January.
In addition to the regular annual updates, there is another automatic indexation adjustment procedure in place: When the national consumer price index reaches a level corresponding to an increase of at least 2% compared to the index observed when the immediately preceding SMIC was established, the SMIC is raised in the same proportion from the first day of the month following the publication of the index leading to this increase (art. L3231-5). In this case, the SMIC adjustment is implemented by Order (Arrêté). This is what happened, for instance, to the above-mentioned last Order of 26 April 2022.
Moreover, nothing prevents the possibility – which is, on the contrary, expressly envisaged by the Labour Code (art. L3231-10) – that during the year the SMIC may be raised to a higher level than that resulting from the application of the above-mentioned provisions. For instance, the CNNCEFP, with its opinions, can recommend – or not – an additional increase (so-called ‘coup de pouce’) above the compulsory raise in accordance with the above-mentioned legislation, providing the reasons of a higher increase based on its research and findings. The government can decide a ‘coup de pouce’ at any time. It doesnot necessarily have to be connected to the compulsory annual adjustment of 1 January, nor to the compulsory automatic indexation based adjustment..
From 2000, the only relevant change affecting minimum wage setting procedures was the establishment of the group of experts on the SMIC in 2009. Apart from this, no notable changes in the modalities of wage-setting has occurred.
According to the Labour code, successive annual increases in the minimum growth wage must aim to eliminate any lasting distortion between its progression and trends in general economic conditions and incomes. (art. L3231-9).
Among the mandatory criteria referred to by the Labour Code in setting the statutory minimum wage, indexation of the minimum wage for growth on the evolution of the national consumer price index (art. L3231-4) may be considered the main criteria, as mentioned in the previous section. The indexation refers to the national index of consumer prices (ICP) (without considering tobacco), calculated by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) for households that belong to the lowest disposable income quintile. In addition, a second criteria is taken into account: half of the increase in the purchasing power of the average hourly wages of workers and employees recorded by the quarterly survey of the Ministry of Labor, (SHBOE). The Labour code provides that ‘under no circumstances may the annual increase in the purchasing power of the minimum wage growth be less than half the increase in the purchasing power of average hourly wages recorded by the Ministry of Labour's quarterly survey (art. L3231-8).
Each of the criteria cannot enter negatively into the formula. The parameters are therefore limited to 0 in the event of a negative value being observed. And, as mentioned above, the Government may finally decide to add a boost (“coup de pouce”).
The SMIC applies to any adult employee, whatever the form of their remuneration (time, performance, task, piece, commission or tip).
It applies to three categories of employees:
Categories of employees not covered by the SMIC are the following:
Some reductions from the applicability of the full adult SMIC rate are identifiable also within the three above-mentioned categories:
Finally, it should be noted that for the French island of Mayotte the applicable rate has been set to just over 75% of the rate applicable to mainland France.
In contrast, for all other territories (Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique, Reunion, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon) the rate of mainland France applies.
Information regarding subminima can be found on the government website.
The SMIC is defined as hourly rate. The minimum monthly remuneration is equal to the product of the amount of the SMIC by the number of hours corresponding to the legal weekly duration (35 hours) for the month in question. It cannot exceed, after deduction of compulsory contributions withheld by the employer, the net remuneration which would have been received for effective work of the same duration paid at the rate of the minimum growth wage (Labour Code, art. L3232-3). An employee paid on SMIC level receive 12 payments per year.
It is reduced proportionally, if, during the month in question, the employee worked fewer hours than that which corresponds to the legal weekly duration in the event of suspension of the employment contract and if the employment contract began or ended during the month in question (Labour Code, art. L3232-4). When, following a reduction in working hours below the legal weekly duration for reasons different than those mentioned, an employee has received over the course of a month, as salary and partial activity compensation, a total sum less than the minimum remuneration, he is allocated an additional allowance equal to the difference between the minimum remuneration and the sum he actually received (Labour Code, art. L3232-5).
The SMIC applies to any adult employee, whatever the form of their remuneration (time, performance, task, piece, commission or tip).
A list of the elements included in, and excluded from, the calculation of the SMIC is available from a dedicated page of the government website (see link below):
| Included elements | Excluded elements |
| Base salary | Reimbursements of expenses actually borne by the employee |
| Compensation for reduced hours | Flat-rate bonuses intended to compensate for the costs incurred by employees as a result of their work (basket premiums, tool premiums, dirt premiums, compensation small or large displacement…) |
| Various increases having the de facto character of a salary supplement (bonuses, compensation, reimbursements of expenses not corresponding to an actual expense, etc.) | Surcharges for overtime |
| Tips | Increases for Sunday work, holidays and at night |
| Individual or collective performance bonuses (overall performance of a team), production or productivity bonuses constituting a predictable element of remuneration | Seniority bonuses |
| End of year bonuses for the month they are paid | Attendance bonuses |
| Vacation bonuses for the month they are paid | Bonuses linked to geographical location (insularity, dams, construction sites) |
| Vacation bonuses for the month they are paid | Bonuses linked to specific working conditions (danger, cold, unsanitary conditions, etc.) |
| Collective bonuses linked to the company's overall production, productivity or results | |
| Transport bonuses | |
| Financial participation, profit-sharing |
Reporting on the impact of the SMIC on French economy is a competence of the group of experts on the SMIC.
The complete list of national reports since the first – June 2009 – from the last (related to the year 2022) is freely available.
Among other country-specific resources on minimum wages, the research published by the Directorate for the Animation of Research, Studies and Statistics (Direction de l'animation de la recherche, des études et des Statistiques), commonly known with the acronym Dares, is the most relevant. It is a statistical and research-oriented directorate under the Ministry of Labour, and regularly publishes reports, commentaries and analyses on labour maket, working conditions, social dialogue, employment policies, wages and working time.