As I am sure you are no doubt aware the French Decree no. 2017-307 of 9th March 2017, in respect of the social security registration for French nationals and French resident seafarers working on vessels flying a non-French flag, comes into force on 1st July 2017. At this present time, there is still a distinct lack of information available about the effect of the new decree and how indeed it will be applied, and as such, it has set the yachting industry alight with speculation.
In summary, the Decree requires the seafarer’s employer to mandatorily register any seafarer, who resides in a regular manner in France and who is employed on board a vessel flying a non-French flag, under the ENIM (the French seafarer social security body), in order to pay social security contributions.
The French residency test includes:
- The seafarer spends 183 days in France;
- The seafarer owns property in France;
- The seafarer habitually resides in France.
We are working closely with leading marine lawyers on the matters and we have been advised that the rate payable will depend on the individual circumstances of the seafarer, including their income. Full details of the yacht and the seafarer’s rank should be provided to ENIM, and ENIM will then deem what they view as an “appropriate salary” and the social security contributions will be calculated, rather than contributions being calculated on actual salary.
Whilst there currently remains no real clarity as to how non-French employers can physically undertake registration in France, in order to comply with their legal obligations, as mentioned, we are working closely with lawyers on the matter and further updates will follow as and when the situation become clearer.
