How the government is bringing Macron bonuses up to date

The government announced Monday, November 9, the increase in the minimum wage, but it also wants to encourage employers to pay bonuses. This is, in a way, the great return of Macron bonuses, since the government is removing the CSG, the generalized social contribution, on “value sharing” bonuses. Until then, only small businesses with fewer than 50 employees could pay premiums exempt from CSG.

The government is extending this exemption to all companies. So it's very interesting. Also read: Increase in the minimum wage: “We are providing a bad response to a real problem,” reacts Medef President Patrick Martin. But these bonuses risk replacing salary increases.

This is also why they are not always well regarded by the unions. Employers will prefer to distribute Macron bonuses on which there is no CSG rather than increases which remain subject to contribution. But these bonuses put a damper on things.

Last year, nearly four million employees in the private sector were affected. Less CSG means a gain in purchasing power of 80 euros on average, according to the government. Send the hot potato back to businesses?

The government also wants to encourage overtime, without tax or contributions, up to 10,000 euros annually, compared to 7,500 previously. Without forgetting the fuel bonus, which is a disguised Macron bonus and whose tax exemption ceiling has also been increased from 300 to 1,000 euros annually. The government is increasing these tax-free and desocialized measures, but this poses two limits.

The first is that these eliminated contributions mean less tax revenue in the coffers. The second is that it sends hot potatoes to businesses. However, given the economic situation, not everyone has the means to offer overtime or pay bonuses to their teams.

This could undermine the obligatory annual negotiations (NAO) on salaries which are currently beginning in many companies and cause disappointment or social tension. But this time, the conflict will take place in businesses and not in the streets.

Machine-translated from French