 French
domestic Help
Legal
Aspects
Domestic help is fairly available in France, but wages are high. Much
domestic work is done for cash payment because employment taxes are
high and many domestics are illegal aliens. As a rule cash payment employment
is risky and should not be encouraged. Babysitters and other occasional
workers are exempt from declaration to Sécurité Sociale.
For other employees (a full time maid, a cleaner, an au pair, a nurse),
follow these steps :
- Check that your prospective employee is in possession of working
papers. If in doubt, ring the Inspection du Travail (Labour inspectorate)
of your département.
- Obtain the form "Déclaration d'Emploi d'un Travailleur"
from your local Sécurité Sociale office.
- Register as an employer at your local Sécurité Sociale
office or at the URSSAF if you live in Paris.
Au pairs are generally not French nationals and as such must have valid
carte de séjour (residence permit). If you use an agency you
will not have to handle all the paperwork yourself.
Halte-garderies (nurseries) welcome your children for a few hours a
day, regularly or occasionally and they have a lot of play activities.
Information is available at your local Mairie (townhall).
Chèque Emploi Services : This special type of cheque book is
very handy to pay all type of house staff, even part-time. You obtain
it from your bank. You do not have to declare anything as everything
is done for you. Also, if you pay your taxes in France, you get some
tax reduction when you use this mean of payment.
Finding
a cleaner or a babysitter
A search may begin with one's personal contacts, including the concierge
of your building who may herself do ironing or part-time cleaning. Other
sources include your local mairie (Accueil familial), agencies, newspaper
advertisements, bulletin boards at local shops, parish churches, libraries
and youth centers.
For childcare and babysitting, you are strongly urged to ask for several
references which should be impeccable.
There are also some Companies which can help you for these issues.
|
