Reduction of the ceiling of the “IJSS sickness”: what changes on April 1st, 2025
Reduction of the ceiling of the “IJSS sickness”: what changes on April 1st, 2025
Decree No. 2025-160 of 20 February 2025 on the ceiling on earned income used as a basis for calculating daily allowances due under health insurance, adopted pursuant to the Social Security Financing Act for 2025, lowers the ceiling used to calculate “IJSS” sickness (social security daily allowance) for sick leave starting on or after April 1st 2025.
Indeed, as of this date, the reference salary taken into account for the calculation of daily social security benefits will be capped at 1.4 times the legal minimum wage (i.e. €2,522.57 per month for a full-time worker working 35 hours/s) instead of 1.8 times (i.e. €3,243.31) the amount of the current legal monthly minimum wage.
What are the impacts for the employer and the employee?
The lowering of the ceiling for the calculation of the amount of the IJSS to 1.4 times the legal minimum wage will have an impact on employees whose earnings exceed this ceiling, and consequently on their employers.
The amount of IJSS in the event of illness will be lower, with the maximum daily allowance falling from €53.31 to €41.47 gross.
This will de facto increase the cost of the company for maintaining the employee's salary.
Specifically:
- For employees receiving additional legal or compensation from the collective bargaining agreement (CBA)
Lowering the ceiling, and therefore the maximum amount of IJSS, will have no impact on employees receiving additional pay.
This is not the case for the employer. Indeed, the lowering of the ceiling will result in an increase in the supplement that the employer will have to pay, since the employer must maintain 90% of the salary for at least 30 days for employees with at least one year's seniority (Article L 1226-1 and D 1226-1 of the French Labor Code), or even the entire salary if provided for in the collective agreement or internal provisions.
- For employees who do not meet the legal or CBA conditions for continued salary
Insureds whose salary exceeds the ceiling of 1.4 times the legal minimum wage, and who do not meet the legal or CBA conditions to benefit from the employer's supplement, will be less well compensated by social security than at present.
It is also to be feared that this reduction will increase the rate of contributions, which will be covered at a higher rate.
Summary of changes
| Until March 31st, 2025 | Effective April 1st, 2025 | |
| Value of the cap on the reference salary taken into account for the calculation of the IJSS | Cap at 1.8 times the legal minimum wage | Cap at 1.4 times the legal minimum wage |
| Current amount of the ceiling (based on the monthly legal minimum wage currently in force, i.e. €1,801.80) | €3,243.24 | €2,522.52 |
| Maximum amount of the daily allowance (equal to 1/730th of the annual amount of the applicable ceiling) | €53.31 ((3,243.24 x 12) / 730) |
€41.47 (2,522.52 x 12) / 730) |
| Who are the beneficiaries impacted by this change? | Employees who receive remuneration above the ceiling of 1.4 times the legal minimum wage | |
| When will this change take effect? | For sick leave that will take effect on or after April 1st, 2025 | |
| What are the consequences of the lowering of the ceiling for the employees concerned? | - Reduction in the amount of the IJSS (financial impact for employees who do not benefit from the employer's salary continuation) - Increased cost of salary maintenance for the employer, who must cover a larger portion of the salary |
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Our teams can advise you on how to manage these new measures. Do not hesitate to come back to us if you wish to be accompanied.