How to pay chèque emploi service universel employees

I have a regular cleaner, who comes three hours per week, and whom I pay via the chèque emploi service universel (Cesu) system. She has informed me that she can't come until the confinement ends. How should I pay her for the next few weeks?

Employers are encouraged to pay all the hours planned for March, even if they have not all been worked and if they are in agreement they pay and declare payment in the normal way.

If employers do not wish to pay for the hours planned but not worked they pay and declare for the actual hours worked as normal.

They must then fill in a special form, un formulaire d’indemnisation spécifique – which will be put on the website cesu.urssaf.fr on March 30 – where they will fill in the number of hours that should have been worked but were not.

The Cesu will in return tell employers how much they must pay the employee, which will be 80% of the net amount which would have been due.

The employee will not have to pay social contributions on the amount received but must declare it for income tax purposes.

The Cesu will reimburse employers for the amount they have paid, but they will not be eligible for tax credits on this sum.

Employers can then choose to pay an additional amount to the employee, so they will get the net payment they usually receive. Employers will receive an explanatory email and information will be updated on the cesu.urssaf.fr website.

This aims to put this type of employee into a similar situation to salaried workers who have been laid off temporarily due to Covid-19 and receive chômage technique worth around 84% of their net salary.

Under the present restrictions, many people paid by the Cesu cannot continue working unless they are looking after children or giving essential help to vulnerable members of the population.

The Cesu provides a simple structure to employ people in your home for services such as housework, ironing, helping children with homework, gardening...

Employers declare how much they have paid and the Cesu calculates how much the employer must then pay out in social charges for their employee and deducts it automatically from the employer’s bank account.

The employer benefits from a tax credit equal to half of the money paid out, including salary and charges. Cesu employees benefit by having their wages declared and receive the same social cover as other employees.

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