mendipview Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 My cleaner speaks no English and my French is 'getting there' so it makes for interesting exchanges. She wants me to pay her by service cheque. I dond't have a problem with this but not exactly sure what it is and wht it means to me - am I still paying her by the hour or am I involving myself in any other payments. She seems to think that it is very complicated and has given me the address of a benefits office in St Etienne. I pay the gardener by cheque and that is quite simple. As far as I know he takes care of any taxes he is due to pay himself. Any clues? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 I think what she means is the 'cheque d'emploi' system, which is a special cheque book that you use to pay for part time work which ensures that social charges are paid, i.e. you are not employing people on the black market. It has been discussed several times before on the forum - the search facility isn't working very well at present but a look back through the 'earning a living in France' section should come up with a reference or two. Edit - I managed to get these links via the forum search.http://forums.livingfrance.com/shwmessage.aspx?forumid=276&messageid=178687http://forums.livingfrance.com/shwmessage.aspx?forumid=276&messageid=147409http://forums.livingfrance.com/shwmessage.aspx?forumid=276&messageid=82619http://forums.livingfrance.com/shwmessage.aspx?forumid=276&messageid=82116http://forums.livingfrance.com/shwmessage.aspx?forumid=276&messageid=82141The employee is responsible for declaring and paying tax whether paid by cheque d'emploi or any other means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendipview Posted July 5, 2005 Author Share Posted July 5, 2005 Thanks, I'll look back through them. I pay the gardener by ordinary cheque but he was at great lengths to explain that he does everything above board as wants to be covered if he has an accident etc so couldn;t quite work out why she was so different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 I managed to find some of the previous discussions (see edited post above). It sounds as if your gardener is properly registered and insured, as such businesses are required to be in France. The cheque d'emploi system allows people (and employers) to work legally if the amount of work that is done does not justify setting up a full-scale business. If the cleaner is doing this full time then she should of course be registered, like the gardener. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJSLIV Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 It is more likely that a gardener will be registered, than will a cleaner, unless the gardener is the retired chap next door, or the cleaner work for Mops and Buckets SA. So if you receive an invoice then its fine to pay by cheque.But if you are employing casual help, the lady in the village to do a bit of cleaning, for example, then you as the employer are responsible for her social charges , pension contributions, insurance etc. The cheque emploi service takes care of the all the formalities and paperwork for you. Briefly you get a special cheque book from your bank, and pay by using one of the cheques. So if you had agreed to pay me 10 euros per hour, and I have worked 10 hours you give me a cheque for 100 euros. I pay this into my bank and am credited with 100 euros. When the cheque arrives at your bank , the sytem automatically calculates the overheads to cover the charges and deducts my 100 euros, plus an additional amount typically 40 to 60 euros, and passes this to all the different agencies responsible for collecting social charges. So you end up paying say 150 euros in total. And everyone is happy!The cheques have, to date, been restricted to help about the house, and could not be used for business purposes, eg office or hotel cleaning. Neither can they be used for building works etc. The governement is currently examing ways of extending the system to a wider audience.Oh one final note, if you pay tax in France you are able to deduct some of the costs from your tax bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendipview Posted July 5, 2005 Author Share Posted July 5, 2005 This is what I am worried about. We have had a great deal of difficulty in finding a cleaner and even greater problems in trying to explain the her that 30 euros per load of washing (actual price charged and paid! )is a bit too much! She irons the towels etc! We only go down as and when but if we're paying another 50% on top of her already astronomic rates we may have to reconsider...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.