Redundancy pay in France: work out the legal minimum

How it is calculated

No payroll engine here: statutory redundancy pay follows a rule written in the law, which the site's code applies to the letter (service-public.gouv.fr, rule in force since 27 September 2017). The reference salary is the more favourable gross average between the last 12 months and the last 3 months. Length of service counts in whole years, with the complete months of the current year pro rata; it runs until the end of the notice period.

The amount is 25% of a month's reference salary per year up to 10 years, then 33.3% of a month per year beyond. The tool shows both bands separately so that you can check each line. Below 8 months of service nothing is owed; nor in the event of serious or gross misconduct.

What the result includes

So that two people get the same figure from the same gross pay, the site always calculates from the same baseline situation. Each line can be changed in the calculator's options where it matters.

• General social security scheme (régime général), rates as of 26 October 2026 (rules from modele-social, the engine behind URSSAF's simulator).
• Permanent full-time contract (CDI), 35 hours a week, i.e. 151.67 h a month, paid over 12 months.
• Non-cadre by default (cadre status is one button away), collective agreement set to the general rules (“droit commun”).
• Company health cover (mutuelle) of €40 a month, of which €20 is deducted from pay, URSSAF's default setting; zero is possible in the options.
• Outside Alsace-Moselle (option available), without meal vouchers or benefits in kind.
• Before income tax: tax withheld at source depends on your household and comes on top (see the “net after tax” tool).
• Minimum wage (SMIC) since 1 June 2026: €12.31 gross per hour (service-public.gouv.fr).
• Statutory pay only, gross: the minimum every employer owes, whatever the collective agreement.
• Reference salary: the more favourable of the two averages; pro rata for complete months; 8-month condition.

Limits

A correct calculation for a typical situation is not your payslip. Here is what the tool does not know, so that you read the result as a reliable order of magnitude, not a promise.

• Collective agreement: sector minimums, seniority bonuses, compulsory thirteenth month and specific provident schemes are not taken into account (general rules only).
• Bonuses, variable pay, overtime, benefits in kind: left out, except in the tools that ask for them.
• Health cover and provident scheme: your actual contribution may be different; change it in the options.
• Alsace-Moselle: the option adds the local scheme's health contribution, without its other specifics.
• Public sector not covered: civil servants' pay scales and contributions follow other rules.
• Simplified tax: no tax reductions or credits, no exceptional income; the engine's “tax” module is flagged as experimental by URSSAF.
• Collective agreement: many provide higher pay (by length of service, by age, capped or not); it then applies instead. Look up “indemnité de licenciement” in your agreement.
• Special cases: work-related unfitness (double pay), economic dismissal with a professional security contract, part-time employees who used to work full time (pro rata by period), not handled.
• Tax and contributions: exemption ceilings are not calculated; the amount shown is gross.

Statutory pay by length of service

For two reference salaries, the statutory minimum pay by length of service, gross, calculated by the site's code: 25% of a month per year up to 10 years, 33.3% beyond.

The two bands, year by year

The rule reads better in months of salary: each year of service up to 10 years is worth a quarter of a month, each following year a third of a month. After 10 years, you therefore get €5,000 for a reference salary of €2,000, the equivalent of 2.5 months of pay; after 20 years, the equivalent of 5.83 months. An incomplete year counts pro rata for complete months: each extra month adds a twelfth of the current band.

The reference salary counts everything subject to contributions: base pay, overtime, regular bonuses, benefits in kind. An annual or one-off bonus paid in the last three months counts for only a quarter in the three-month average; months of sick leave or short-time working are rebuilt at the usual salary, so that the absence does not lower the payout.

What comes on top of the payout

Redundancy pay is only one line of the final settlement. Added to it are pay for the days worked, pay in lieu of notice if the employer waives it, the pay for untaken holiday, and sometimes a pro-rata bonus, a time-savings account balance or a non-compete clause payment. The final settlement guide reviews each line, and the dismissal guide covers the procedure and deadlines.

A rupture conventionnelle gives the same floor, with no length-of-service condition: the rupture conventionnelle tool repeats the calculation and explains how to negotiate above it. To know what your next salary should be, the CV analysis estimates your market value.