The salary paid into workers’ bank accounts will be lower in January. The three-line error on pay slips.
With their brains still foggy from the end-of-year celebrations and vacations, millions of employees will soon become disillusioned. While they will receive their January pay slips in a few days, an unpleasant surprise awaits them. Among the more than thirty lines listed on this document, the most important, the “Net to pay”, will display a disappointing amount.
The amount indicated in large, bold letters at the bottom of the pay slip will be lower than usual. Consequently, the transfer that will arrive in the employees’ bank account will be lower than usual. A very bad way to start the new year.
Worse, this new remuneration, revised downwards, will be the one that employees will receive throughout the year 2025. Clearly, if they do not benefit from an increase this year, their salary will be lower than before. in 2024. In question, deductions from their salaries have increased since January 1, 2025. These changes, recorded on the pay slip, are discreet, but have serious consequences on the amount of net salary received. A detailed analysis reveals three major developments that deserve particular attention.
-The first modification concerns compulsory complementary health insurance, more commonly called mutual insurance. This line is mentioned in the “Employee share/contribution” column of the pay slip. For employees in the private sector, this health insurance, the cost of which is shared between the employer and the employee, will see an average increase of 6% in 2025. If the company continues to cover at least 50% of the contribution , the wage share increases mechanically. This increase will result in a greater deduction from the gross salary, thus impacting the final amount paid into the worker’s bank account.
The second development concerns the withholding rate of income tax. Every month, salaries are deducted and the amount deducted is paid directly to the tax administration. Employees who have changed their withholding tax rate during 2024 must be particularly vigilant. In fact, these personalized adjustments were only valid until December 31, 2024. Since January 1, 2025, the tax system automatically applies a new rate calculated by the tax authorities. This rate, which may differ from that applied in December, directly influences the amount of net salary.
Finally, the third change, also particularly notable, concerns the reimbursement of public transportation costs. New regulations came into force on January 1, 2025, substantially modifying employer coverage. While companies could until now reimburse up to 75% of the cost of transport tickets, this ceiling has now been lowered to 50%. To concretely illustrate this development, let’s take the example of the Navigo pass in Île-de-France, the monthly price of which is 88.80 euros. The maximum reimbursement by the employer increases from 66.60 euros to 44.40 euros, a difference of 22.20 euros per month.
