Looks like my wife and myself will be offered a job just outside Aix en Provence, me full time on minimum wage and she part time. It is still all in discussion but the last email my wife got was that the employers were working out what the SMIC would be based on free accommodation. I believe this is incorrect and they cannot deduct pro rata rent? Is the SMIC constant dependent upon hours then the employer also pays the social charges on top of that and nothing can be deducted? As free accomodation and also utilities seem to be taxable (if necessary due to emploment it can be less 30% ?) having wages reduced due to free accommodation would mean we are stung twice. Also, if my wife is working part time at what imcome level does she qualify for healthcare/PUMA? We are both UK nationals and I have rights to an Irish passport though having difficulty getting all the paperwork from my mother!
It may be true that they can’t deduct prorata rent, on the other hand they could have you as a tenant at a normal market rate, or even say you can sort out your own housing and rent wherever it is to someone else, or leave it empty.
It might be an idea to talk to someone who actually knows about tax/employment law.
Thanks Veronique, that is my next port of call. Hopefully someone on here has been through this and has first hand experience. Rents in this area of France are helllish so more than minimum wage would be needed if that was the route they took.
I can only answer your point regarding social charges. I worked very part time last summer, 1 day per week, for SMIC which was 9€76 per hour. The social charges were approximately 22.4% which means the hourly rate I actually received was 8€20. These charges seems extraordinarily high to me.
So, it’s a bit of a con to say SMIC is 9€76 if you pay social charges on everything. SMIC is actually 8€20. Unless, of course there are people who don’t pay social charges or pay at different rates. Maybe someone on here could enlighten us??
EDIT - The sums are all wrong. The net should be 7€57 not 8€20.
The official net for SMIC is 7,83.
Social charges pay for health care, unemployment benefit, pensions etc. Don’t knock them.
Looks like my calculator has gone rogue on me!!
I actually received 7€57 per hour when I did the calculation again. Lower than the amount you say Timothy. Have I been overcharged I wonder?
I’m aware of what they pay for. They are just incredibly high compared to the UK which is what I’ve known in the past.
I suppose you get what you pay for 
Yes of course. The social security system here is very generous so I’m not surprised that social charges have to be so high to pay for it (as well as the other things you mentioned). I’m not knocking that either it’s just a fact. I also benefit from this generosity as I receive ARE when I am not working at the rate of 70% of my earnings. This is also extraordinarily high compared to the UK.
This is the net for 2018 so the net for 2017 would have been lower. I doubt you’ve been overcharged.
To back up what others have said, my employee “takes home” 1116€ per month on a full-time CDI. Well that was 2017, I haven’t sorted out this month’s payment yet whuch will be slightly more.
As you’ve already said, Aix is horrendously expensive - I was a student there and years ago paid the best part of 500€ a month for a studio (split between two of us) and that was au noir. If your employeur can find you half decent accommodation and subsidise it then it’ll probably be soooo much easier and cheaper than finding something yourselves but only you can decide that based on the figures and the accommodation.
I’m not up to speed on the precise details but it’s my understanding that you can’t offer “free accommodation for services or otherwise” although I’m well aware that it happens (especially amongst expats!)
Bonne chance what ever you decide !
Look at it this way. They are well aware of what social charges have to be paid when they set the rate for SMIC, it’s taken into account. If social charges were lower, SMIC would be lower too.
I thought that by law, staff benefits such as free accommodation) had to be accounted for one way or another. It’s not allowed to give staff remuneration “in kind” so as to bypass tax and social charges. I once worked at a campsite, on SMIC, and they even made a deduction from my wages for the flipping tent that I lived in. But I don’t know chapter and verse on this, you’d need to look into it.
If she’s working she qualifies. The question isnot whether or not she qualifies, it’s whether or not additional cotisations will be due at the end of the year, over and above what she’s paid on her earnings. If you don’t have any other household income then no additional cotisations will be due in any case. If you do have other household income eg rental income or savings interest, and her micro earnings are below a certain percentage of SMIC, then additional cotisations will be payable.
Thanks for all the replies. We are now waiting to hear what the potential employer offers.