I nearly fainted when I received a letter in the mail from the Règime Social des Indépendants (RSI) stating that I qualify for paid maternity benefits.
I am about to set up an auto-entrepreneur (sole proprietorship) business for my writing since I am now a permanent resident of France. My husband immediately called the RSI to confirm, and then called again 5 minutes later to verify again.
Maternity leave is provided to women business owners to prevent the risk of having a premature baby by overworking ourselves while pregnant. It is a way to encourage pregnant women to rest and relax while preparing for their little bundles of joy to enter the world, and then not jump back into work too quickly after giving birth. Considering that women business owners in the USA get absolutely nothing from the government when pregnant, I considered this an extremely generous and surprising maternity package.
There are two parts of the maternity benefits. The first is the daily allowance for business interruption (l’indemnité journalière forfaitaire d’interruption d’activité) and the second is the lump sum for resting (l’allocation forfaitaire de repos maternel).
Allowance for Business Interruption:
2,130.48 euros for 44 days
2,856.78 euros for 59 days
3,583.08 euros for 74 days
Lump Sum for Resting: 2,946 euros
(The amounts change depending on if having multiple births, complications, adopting one child or adopting multiple children).
Women must stop working for at least 44 days, with 14 of those days being before their expected due date. The time period can be extended by one or two periods of 15 consecutive days. In the case of complications or multiple births, additional compensation is provided. Half of the lump sum for resting is given when the woman is 7 months pregnant, then the rest is provided after birth.
So if I take 74 days off, I would get a grand total of 6,529.08 euros (about $9,300 USD) . I already feel my blood pressure decreasing and anxiety leaving my body. Before I was so focused on working extra hard before she is born so that I have saved enough to take time off. Now I can just relax, work normally and not be stressed about being out of work for two months. The French government accomplished its mission. My little girl will have one zen mamma waiting for her in the delivery room.
What about Paternal Leave for Our Auto-Entrepreneur Pappas?
They get 532.62 euros for taking 11 days off for single births, or 871.56 euros for taking 18 days of in the case of multiple births. He must provide a sworn statement that he took off those days and some paperwork proving that he is now a pappa. We already planned on him taking time off of work, so it was a welcoming surprised that now he will get some compensation for it.
Want to find out more? Check out RSI’s website for more information (all in French).
Image Credit: Schwangerschaft on flickr.com
Jennifer says
Both me and my husband are “travailleurs indépendants” and the RSI/RAM have been excellent at paying my medical bills and allocating maternity benefits – so much better than anticipated. If only they were so organised for everything else!
French Mamma says
I agree with you completely! I was very surprised to receive certain benefits, even more that everything was so simple.
Lisa says
Im happy to hear that Jennifer…
My world was CPAM before i started my own business, and i find it confusing that with RSI i needed to select a kind of ‘sub’ agency from a list to be my RSI representative who cover my expenses etc..
Im 33 weeks pregnant so was late registering, but hope i receive my allocation maternité! I did start work back in Nov 11!
Lisa says
Hi French Mama and co..
This topic is very high on my list at the moment seeing that I am now 33 weeks pregnant and due towards end March with our first baby 🙂
I applied for Auto Ent towards end of last year and finally received my siret number and seem to be fully signed up online, now im just waiting for the RSI or my ‘Organism Conventionne’ to contact me so i can declare my pregnancy with them. Im told the letter will arrive next week.
With only 7 weeks to go (ish) i hope im not between the CPAM and RSI when i go into hospital as not sure who will be responsible to pay my fees, also that I will still benefit from the ‘Allocations Maternité’ as i started my business November 2011, but the paperwork may not have gone through to declare my pregnancy fully before i give birth.. eek.
Any light shed on this subject would be very useful. Surely as Im working and officially Auto Ent I should receive a benefit of some sorts for stopping working?
French Mamma says
I was with RSI under my husband for the beginning of my pregnancy. I registered as an auto-entrepreneur July 27 and had my baby October 6. I remained under RSI and got my full maternity benefits as an auto-entrepreneur. Instead of getting some of the money before the baby was born and the rest after, I got it all together after she was born.
RSI mailed me a new booklet after Juliana was born and we had to bring it back to the hospital to have the sage-femme fill it out. I received the money between 4 to 8 weeks after she was born (I forgot exactly how long it was).
From my understanding, you should be with RSI and getting your maternity benefits with them since you registered as an auto-entrepreneur before your daughter was born. If you are paying your taxes to RSI right now, then you should not have a problem.
lisa says
Hi thanks for the feedback:)
Yes the whole process has taken longer than i thought as had to go through Chambre de Metiers Artisanale… as its Photography. Then of course it was Xmas etc…
I am paying my taxes as of now but officially pay online in April as I pay trimesterly and i began in November. ..
Finding the whole thing wierdly quite satisfying as im solving obstacles in French on the phone daily!… until i get a day when hormones hit me, then i want it all to be in English.
Cant predict when baby will arrive so need to just go with the flow and see what happens.
Dianne CS says
Hi all,
This is very interesting as we all have the same status but get different information. Isn’t that always the way… I live in Bordeaux and although RSI is my “regime social” I had to deal with RAM who handles all my reimbursement (from doctor’s appointments to maternity leave). I gave birth on Toussaint and we had started early enough to get the paper work rolling (as in 3rd month preggers). It took a while to get things sorted because my work situation isn’t clear cut. You know how French bureucracy can’t think outside the box? Well, it took some wrangling to find someone who wasn’t talking out of their ass. I have a lot of small jobs so I am a vacataire AND an auto-entrepreneur. For three years I have been registered with CPAM (or the one most people with a CDI are on for their assurance maladie, not sure if it’s CPAM or not…) It turns out that was “wrong” and I should have been with RSI since I earn more money through my auto-entr jobs than as a vacataire. NOTE: earn more money, not work more hours. Hmph, so that’s why my doctor’s appointments were never getting reimbursed properly… So, needless to say, that took a couple of months to sort out.
Once we realized we had to deal with RAM to handle all the reimbursements and maternity leave stuff, we went straight to their office. (By the way, we were told to go to RAM because it was what I absent-mindedly selected when first setting up my auto-entr status on the web.) I’m not one for drama, but, I left our first visit to the RAM offices in tears. Name calling aside, the (bleep) secretary told me I wasn’t entitled to the “prime” because I was an “independent. ” After some confusing looks and comments from our part, she called someone to confirm, and whoops, her bad, she just pulled lies out of her ass to torment us. Several trips later, talking to the right person in the office, and numerous doctor’s signatures on at least 10 B5 sheets of paper later, the paperwork was finished and I could deliver with that nightmare out of my hair. I’m a sceptical person so I didn’t believe that I would get the maternity leave until I saw the money in my bank account.
In the end, everything turned out fine (even with an appendectomy after baby’s one month birthday) – as it usually does here. I don’t know how, but it does, I just don’t understand why it has to be so hard!
I just wanted to add 3 things and I am not sure if this is what has happened with the other ladies but (1.) I was told by RAM that I had to have worked 2 years as an auto-entr to be eligible for benefits. I am not sure which benefits seeing as many of the ladies in the comments were able to get benefits without that stipulation. (2.) Don’t forget that you are entitled to the “prime” from CAPF as well. (3.) You should look into your mutuelle also because some plans also give a “prime” when you add your child to your insurance. I wasn’t eligible because we weren’t on the insurance for the 10 month minimum.
Good luck to you all who are going through this minefield now. My heart goes out to you cos I’ve been there!
Marion says
Hi – French (native) auto-entrepreneur here.
To clarify some points, RSI is not a reimbursement organism, it just handles the independent workers social security nationally. Juste like CPAM is divided in many CPAM places : you’re only attached to one place, and you cannot be reimbursed if you send your papers to another.
RAM is the principal reimbursement organism, but clearly not the most efficient.
To answer your questions :
1. Most people working on CDI are attached to a CPAM center, yes, called “régime général”, but some are attached to specific centers, such as people working in agricultural businesses (even if they are not in fields but in offices !)
2. When you want to become an AE, you fill a form and an official declaration on the web. That’s when you must decide if your AE activity will be your main activity or just an extra activity. That must be thought in terms of income. The activity that makes you earn most money must be your principal. You can always change principal/extra over the months if it evolves. That’s why you were still attached to CPAM.
3. Yes, you should always ask the CAF in your city if you’re entitled to the birth bonus (prime de naissance), but it depends on your income and your partner’s income. Not everyone gets it. You’re also entitled to the PAJE, basic benefit for kids 0 to 3 years (about 180 euros per month).
4. Mutuelles often propose bonuses to but often forget to remind you of it. Surprising.
5. As soon as you are registered as auto entrepreneur with RSI as main social security, you are entitled to maternity benefits. The 2 year thing is bullshit.
Anne says
Hi all,
I’m a PhD student, researching the work-life balance of self-employed across Europe. Your information on maternity leave is very usefull! What about care leaves and the availability of public child care for self-employed in France?
French Mamma says
Hi Anne, I personally do not know the answer to your question yet. We have chosen to not put our baby in child care since me and my husband both work at home. We know someone that has a babysitter come to their home for free two mornings a week through CAF. I do not know all the details yet and if this service is based on income level and if it is available for auto-entrepreneurs.
Jacqueline says
I am so happy to have stumbled upon this post. I am 21 weeks pregnant and living in France with my French husband (I arrived from the US at the end of February 2012). I am in the process of setting up as an auto-entrepreneur (AE). I was told by my French teacher who is an AE to try to get assistance setting up as an AE through the Pole Emploi BEFORE registering as an AE as they may provide guidance and financial assistance involved in setting up the AE (apparently, once you have registered as an AE online, the Pole Emploi won’t assist you). It is actually the EMCI (Evaluation, Management, Conseil & Innovation) that assists with setting up the business activity. Once I register as an AE, will I qualify for maternity leave and benefits? Is there a cutt-off date? As previously stated, I am 21 weeks pregnant so I wanted to be sure I registered in time to receive benefits. Am I able to receive benefits even if I haven’t earned any income since I am just in the process of setting up as an AE? I plan to teach English and Spanish and do translation work. Once I am registered, it may take a few months to do some promoting and start getting clients.
Thank you so much for any input. I greatly appreciate it. Navigating the system in a different culture and language is definitely challenging and the guidance of others that have been through it is priceless!
Merci!! Jacqueline