Gross and net salary in France: how to convert, and what the job ad doesn't say

Three terms for the same payslip

Gross pay (brut) is your salary before employee social security contributions (pension, unemployment, health). It is the unit used in French job ads, employment contracts and collective agreements: when a recruiter quotes an amount, it is gross unless stated otherwise.

Net pay before tax is what is left once contributions have been deducted. It is the figure the site calls “estimated net” on its job pages.

Net pay after tax is what lands in your bank account: income tax withheld at source depends on your situation (household, other income, the rate you chose), so two people on the same gross salary can take home different amounts. The site never shows it, because it does not depend on the job offer.

Why job ads quote gross annual pay

Gross annual pay is the only figure you can compare from one employer to the next: it depends neither on the number of months paid, nor on health insurance, nor on your tax. An offer “over thirteen months” and an offer “over twelve months” can be compared once both are converted to a yearly figure. That is also why the site converts every job-ad salary into gross annual, full-time pay before any calculation (see the methodology).

From gross to net: calculated examples

The amounts below are calculated by the site's engine using the rules of the régime général, France's general social security scheme (full time, company health cover of €40 a month of which €20 is deducted, before tax), rounded to the nearest ten euros. They are ballpark figures: your payslip may differ from them by a few tens of euros.

Calculation: modele-social publicodes engine, general scheme rules. Amounts per month, for twelve months paid.

Do your own calculation with the gross-to-net converter: your exact amount, per hour, per month or per year, cadre or not, over twelve or thirteen months. For a round figure, the gross to net table leads to a detailed page for each salary.

What net pay doesn't include

• Income tax, withheld at source at a rate that depends on your household.
• Health insurance (mutuelle): part of it is deducted from your pay, and your employer pays the rest.
• Meal vouchers (titres-restaurant), public transport reimbursement, employee savings schemes: forms of pay that don't appear in the gross figure of the offer but count in your budget.
• Benefits in kind (car, housing, phone): they are added to your taxable gross pay but are not money in your account. How they are valued and what they take off your net pay: our guide to benefits in kind.

Monthly, annual, thirteen months

To go from monthly to annual, multiply by the number of months actually paid: usually twelve, thirteen or more when a bonus set by the collective agreement is paid every year (the “thirteenth month”). A salary quoted “per month over thirteen months” is therefore worth more than the same amount over twelve months, and the annual figure is the one to use when comparing. Conversely, a gross annual salary quoted “bonuses included” gives a lower monthly figure than dividing by twelve would suggest.

Negotiate in gross annual terms

Set your three figures (floor, target, stretch) in gross annual terms, and state them that way: it is the language recruiters speak, and it avoids mix-ups between net and gross, twelve and thirteen months. To calibrate them, look at the range offered in job ads for your occupation, then prepare your answer with the salary expectations generator. To check the matching net figure, every job page shows the estimated net monthly pay next to the median.