A very specific bonus, intended for low-income workers, will undergo a notable change to validate its allocation and calculate its amount. A novelty which should negatively impact millions of beneficiaries…
If you are an employee or civil servant and your income is considered modest – in 2019, INSEE counted 9.2 million French people living below the poverty threshold set at 1,102 euros per month – the activity bonus is available to you. necessarily familiar. In France, at the end of 2019, nearly 4.6 million households affected it. This financial assistance is paid by the Family Allowance Fund (CAF) and is primarily used to supplement the professional income of people in need. Until now, it was calculated based on the employee’s income and the “net payable” line mentioned at the bottom of the pay slip. But from February 1, 2024, this will no longer be the case. Indeed, a notable change will take place in the calculation of aid with the aim of “simplify procedures for beneficiaries”, underlines the website of the Official Social Security Bulletin (boss.gouv.fr). And this risks penalizing many beneficiaries, but also certain people who planned to request it soon.
In the future, a new reference will be taken into account to calculate the amount of aid and check whether the person is eligible for it. This is the “social net amount” or “MNS”, which has appeared for several months on most pay slips, just above the “net payable before tax” line. This is now the figure corresponding to the net social amount that must be indicated on the declaration of quarterly income resources to the CAF. A figure that includes “all gross sums corresponding to remuneration and income” of the employee, specifies the site.
In other words, your salary, your bonuses, your overtime, your benefits in kind, and your severance pay, if you have any, will be taken into account. “For example, benefits in kind for food, meal vouchers or even pension contributions (death, disability) and supplementary retirement for their employer and employee share are included in the MNS”, reports The Parisian after consulting an internal CAF memo. Clearly, this should reduce the amount of the activity bonus for certain beneficiaries.
The CFDT union carried out a simulation using the case of a reception agent, paid 1,600 euros per month. The activity bonus of this employee will pass “from 144 to 79 euros” per month, notes the union organization. Internally, a government advisor recognizes it, there will be “losers” and some winners…