No salary increase provided for under the Purchasing Power Act. The text, adopted by deputies and senators at the beginning of August after long weeks of parliamentary debate, includes a range of measures aimed at combating inflation and its harmful effects. It is the latter, today, which causes the relentless rise in the prices of consumer goods. It is also what is gradually eating away at the return on investment products for savers in France (and elsewhere!). It is against it, finally, that the government intends to wage its fight. But to enhance the financial comfort of everyone, he is considering other measures than the revaluation of remuneration.
Among the avenues mentioned – and now adopted, de facto – is in particular the purchase of RTT days (reduction of working time), a measure which is also accompanied by the increase in the tax exemption ceiling for overtime. The idea, simply summarize the Capital teams, is indeed to appropriate Nicolas Sarkozy’s slogan: “work more to earn more”.
The reduction of work, indicates the French administration on the official site of the public service, is “a device which provides for the allocation of days or half-days of rest to an employee whose working time exceeds 35 hours per week”. “The benefit of the RTT days is fixed by a convention or an agreement (company agreement, most often)”, further specifies the platform.
The text of the law will now allow employees who benefit from RTT days to benefit from a salary increase in the event of “buying back” RTT days, which concretely amounts to working rather than taking advantage of their rest.
The exact amount of the salary increase, underlines the monthly reference in economy, is not capped. This therefore means that it can theoretically climb very high. On the other hand, it is clear that it is not possible to go as low as some slightly stingy employers might wish…
In the absence of an agreement within the company or at the branch level, any wage increase for overtime – which corresponds to the purchase of RTT – must amount to at least 25%. Otherwise, it cannot fall below 10%.
Another advantage, insists Capital: the purchase – or conversion, it depends – of reduced working hours benefits from a fairly favorable tax regime. It is indeed that of overtime, which means that such an operation is exempt from social security contributions as well as income tax, within the limit of 7,500 euros per year.
Very concretely, there is only the CGS and the CRDS to pay in terms of taxes, for the employee(s) concerned. And that it is not possible to acquire pension rights for these days…
