The social security finance bill (PLFSS), which BFM Business was able to consult, proposes to rationalize exemptions for apprenticeship contracts, via two main measures.
The time for “whatever it takes” in the apprenticeship contract has come. The Social Security finance bill (PLFSS), which our editorial team was able to consult, proposes in its article 10 two measures in order to make savings on apprenticeship deemed too costly. First by “lowering by decree the threshold for exemption from social contributions from 79% to 50% of the minimum wage”. Since 2019, the remuneration of apprentices has been subject to contribution above 79% of the SMIC.
Today, only 5% of the apprentice payroll exceeds the threshold of 0.79 SMIC according to a report of the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) and the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS) published in March 2024. While a quarter of the total mass exceeds the threshold of 0.50 SMIC. According to this report, lowering the exemption ceiling to 50% of the minimum wage would generate savings estimated at 278 million euros.
Subjection to the CSG and the CRDS
Furthermore, the PLFSS proposes “to subject the remuneration of apprentices beyond 50% of the SMIC to the generalized social contribution (CSG) and the contribution to the repayment of the social debt (CRDS), which are today completely exempted from contribution According to the Igas and IGF report, the total amount of CSG exempted on apprentices’ remuneration is estimated at 1.2 billion euros, and the CRDS exemption represents 64.6 million. euros.
“The CSG-CRDS exemption of apprentice salaries is an exception among employment income”, specifies the report, “for comparison, professionalization contracts are not exempt”.
A loss of net income of 19 euros per month on average
These measures have a direct impact on the apprentice’s income. For the IGF and Igas, “the lowering of the exemption ceiling to 0.5 SMIC results in a loss of net income for apprentices, on average of 19 euros per month”, this figure varying depending on the the year of contract and age.
The PLFSS proposals come at a time when the financing of apprenticeship is causing controversy, particularly since the explosion in the number of beneficiaries. In 2023, the number of apprentices will reach more than a million. Between 2018 and 2023, the number of apprenticeship entrants increased by 2.7, going from 321,000 to 852,000 apprentices according to the IGF and Igas report.
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This growth is due to the 2018 reform which liberalized the training framework by notably relaxing the age limits for apprenticeships (from 26 to 29 years old), and by increasing its financial value.
Apprenticeship would present “windfall effects”
This success of the system costs the State dearly, and the figures differ. The Igas and Igf report puts apprenticeship support measures at 14 billion euros in 2022. But for the economist Bruno Cocquet, in a note published in June 2023 titled “Learning: an assessment Roaring Twenties”, the budgetary cost would be around 16 billion euros in 2021 and 20 billion euros in 2022.
The PFLSS justifies these measures on several points. First, as training expenses have “doubled between 2018 and 2022”, this system has become “particularly attractive fiscally”. Furthermore, the social regime applicable to apprenticeship “presents windfall effects”, particularly for higher education students. Finally, for the government, the total absence of CSG-CRDS social security contributions is not justified insofar as certain remuneration is relatively high, and these levies are in principle “universal” since they relate to all remuneration.
