The India Employee Benefits Stack for French companies

What changes when you come from France

What you call it in France, and what it is called in India

In France the mutuelle tops up the Sécurité sociale, which already pays most of the bill. In India there is nothing to top up. A salaried employee earning more than ₹21,000 a month has no statutory health cover at all, and below that line sits ESI, a government scheme. The employer's Group Health Insurance (GHI) is not a complementary layer: it is the first layer, and often the only one. That single difference explains most of the benefits questions a Paris HR team asks in its first year in India.

This edition maps each French benefit to its Indian counterpart, in roughly the order a French payslip lists them, then covers what French companies get wrong, how the two systems compare and how to cover seconded staff (salariés détachés). Plum administers benefits for 500+ MNC entities in India, and the market figures here come from its benchmarks of 4,500+ plans and 18,000+ claims.

What French companies get wrong when they set up in India

None of these is a knowledge gap. Each is a reflex from home, applied to a country that works differently.

1. 01

   What they assume: Health cover is a top-up; the state pays most of the bill.

   What India doesAbove ₹21,000 a month India has no state layer. Group Health Insurance is voluntary in law but it is the employee's primary cover, so the sum insured is the whole safety net. India's median is ₹5,00,000; global startups in India carry ₹10,00,000.

2. 02

   What they assume: Group health is mandatory, so local HR will already have it.

   What India doesNothing obliges an Indian employer to buy GHI. It has to be placed, with a minimum group size of 7 at most insurers. Candidates hired at ₹8 LPA and above expect it, so a missing policy shows up first in offer negotiations.

3. 03

   What they assume: Family cover means spouse and children, as in the mutuelle.

   What India doesIn India, parents are the largest claims category by relationship, about 40% of claims in Plum's data. Decide whether parents are covered, and who pays that share of the premium, before the policy is placed.

4. 04

   What they assume: Prévoyance is compulsory at home, so life cover is statutory here.

   What India doesOnly EDLI is statutory, with life cover of up to ₹7 lakh through EPFO. Group Term Life and Group Personal Accident are voluntary add-ons; GTL at 3 to 5 times CTC is common for white-collar staff.

5. 05

   What they assume: Our French pay structure, with primes and allowances, will work in India.

   What India doesSince 21 November 2025, if allowances excluded from 'wages' exceed 50% of total remuneration, the excess is added back for EPF, gratuity and other statutory calculations. A structure with a low base and many allowances understates both.

6. 06

   What they assume: The retirement indemnity is paid at retirement, so it can wait.

   What India doesGratuity is statutory at establishments with 10+ employees: 15 days' last drawn salary per year after five years (one year for fixed-term staff), capped at ₹20 lakh. It is owed on resignation or termination too, so provision it from the first payroll.

7. 07

   What they assume: Seconded staff (détachés) stay fully covered by French social security.

   What India doesThe India–France agreement keeps détachés in French pension schemes for up to 60 months if they hold a certificate of coverage. It does not cover health. Without the certificate they join EPF from day one on full salary, with no ₹15,000 ceiling.

8. 08

   What they assume: Five weeks' paid leave is the legal floor everywhere.

   What India doesIndian leave is set by state Shops and Establishments Acts or the Factories Act: earned leave is typically 12 to 18 days a year, plus casual and sick leave. Matching French leave is a policy choice, not a legal duty.

France vs India, benefit by benefit

Benefit	France	India
Statutory health cover	Universal Sécurité sociale, plus a mandatory company mutuelle since 2016.	ESI for employees earning up to ₹21,000 a month. Nothing above that line.
Employer health cost	13% of gross pay to health insurance (assurance maladie), plus at least 50% of the mutuelle premium.	3.25% of wages into ESI below the line. Above it, a voluntary GHI premium plus 18% GST.
Role of private cover	Complementary: the mutuelle pays what the Sécurité sociale does not reimburse.	Primary: GHI is the base layer for salaried staff, up to its sum insured.
Life and disability	Prévoyance; for cadres, employer-funded at 1.50% of pay up to the Social Security ceiling.	EDLI life cover up to ₹7 lakh. GTL (often 3 to 5 times CTC) and GPA are voluntary.
Pension	Sécurité sociale pension plus the mandatory Agirc-Arrco complementary scheme.	EPF and EPS at 12% employer plus 12% employee on basic plus DA.
Retirement lump sum	Retirement indemnity under the Labour Code or a collective agreement.	Gratuity, statutory after five years: 15 days' last drawn salary per year, capped at ₹20 lakh.
Maternity	Maternity leave paid largely through Sécurité sociale daily allowances.	Employer pays 26 weeks of full pay (12 from the third child). No statutory paternity leave under central law.
Paid leave	Five weeks (30 jours ouvrables) a year by law.	Earned leave typically 12 to 18 days a year, plus casual and sick leave, set by state law.
Working time	35-hour legal week; RTT days offset longer hours under an agreement.	No RTT concept. Hours and leave follow state Shops and Establishments Acts or the Factories Act.
Annual bonus	13th month where a collective agreement, contract or practice provides it.	Statutory bonus of 8.33% to 20% for employees earning up to ₹21,000 a month; otherwise contractual.
Work injury	AT/MP insurance, employer-funded, rate set by the company's risk.	Employees' Compensation Act for employees not in ESI, insured by the employer; GPA as an add-on.
Unemployment insurance	Employer pays 4% of gross pay.	No unemployment contribution. Exit costs sit in notice pay and gratuity.

What MNCs and GCCs offer their teams in India

From The Standard of Employee Benefits 2026–27, Plum's report on 15,312 benefit plans, 5,20,100 claims and 74,543 checkups from Plum's FY26 book.

• 1.6×MNC and GCC benefits spend per employee in India, against a funded Indian startup (nearly 3× a local Indian business).
• 43%of MNCs and GCCs in India are Holistic Leaders: deep insurance plus real breadth of healthcare beside it.
• ₹7,50,000median MNC/GCC sum insured, covering parents or in-laws, with ₹1,00,000 maternity cover and no copays or sub-limits.
• ~2%of payroll buys India's top-quartile plan, against roughly 15% in the US, 10–25% across Europe and 8–15% across APAC.

India's top-quartile plan against Germany, France and the Netherlands

India's top-quartile plan is the only one of the seven that includes parents, and treatments cost 60–90% less than in the US, Europe or Australia. Source: The Standard of Employee Benefits 2026–27, "Health benefits in India offer the best coverage for the investment".

What headquarters is used to

France's statutory system pays most of the bill, so at home the employer's job is the mutuelle on top. Headquarters brings that expectation to India, where the statutory layer stops at ₹21,000 a month.

• 95%of the French population has supplementary private health insurance
• ≥50%of the mutuelle premium is paid by the employer, the legal minimum
• 80%of hospital costs are covered by the statutory system
• 85%of French healthcare spending in 2024 was public, mainly through social insurance

Source: Benefits Beyond Borders 2025, Plum's report on benefits in the economies investing in India (France chapter, citing the Commonwealth Fund, the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and BMJ Public Health).

Staff seconded from France

Seconded staff (salariés détachés) usually keep a French expatriate or international health plan, but an India-admitted GHI is still worth adding: it gives cashless admission at network hospitals without an advance deposit. The India–France agreement keeps détachés in French pension schemes for up to 60 months with a certificate of coverage, which exempts them from EPF. It does not coordinate health cover. French nationals hired locally are International Workers and join EPF from day one on full salary.

Where French companies set up in India

Hospital networks, claim costs and state leave rules differ by city. These are the places French companies concentrate.

• Chennai

  Tamil Nadu

  Saint-Gobain, Michelin, Renault and Valeo run plants and engineering centres here. Plant workforces mean ESI for staff earning up to ₹21,000 a month and the Employees' Compensation Act above it.

• Bengaluru

  Karnataka

  Airbus, Safran, Thales and Capgemini engineering and technology centres. Most hires are white-collar, at ₹8 LPA and above, where candidates expect GHI in the offer.

• Pune

  Maharashtra

  Capgemini and Dassault Systèmes technology teams alongside the city's engineering and automotive belt, so one entity can need both plant and office benefit tiers.

• Mumbai

  Maharashtra

  India headquarters of BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Sanofi and L'Oréal. Office leave follows Maharashtra's Shops and Establishments rules.

• Delhi NCR

  Haryana and Uttar Pradesh

  Schneider Electric's and Pernod Ricard's India headquarters in Gurugram, and Thales teams in Noida. Two states' Shops and Establishments rules apply across the region.

French companies with operations in India include Capgemini, Schneider Electric, Saint-Gobain, Michelin, Renault, Airbus, Safran, Thales, Alstom, L'Oréal, Sanofi, Société Générale, BNP Paribas, Valeo.

Everything else applies to every foreign employer

Statutory benefits, group insurance, tax, leave and CTC work the same whichever country you come from. Each part is covered in full in the India guide.

1. Part 1 – Employee BenefitsWhat employee benefits are legally mandatory in India?These are not optional.
2. Part 2 – Group Health InsuranceGroup health insurance for MNCs in IndiaNone of these are legally required.
3. Part 3 – Business Insurance (Non-EB)What business insurance does a new India entity need?This stack is separate from EB and is often the one India-entry teams leave until last.
4. Part 4 – Beyond InsuranceThe benefits your team will actually noticeInsurance is the foundation, not the programme.
5. Part 5 – Setup StageIn what order should a new India entity buy insurance?The most expensive insurance mistake isn't buying the wrong policy.
6. Part 6 – Sector NotesWhat your sector adds to the universal stackThe policies in Parts 1–3 apply to every MNC.
7. Part 7 – City GuideHow do employee benefit benchmarks differ across Indian cities?The same ₹5L GHI plan means different things in different cities.
8. Part 8 – ChecklistThe pre-operations checklistBefore your India entity goes live, each item below should have a policy number, a renewal date, and a named contact.
9. Part 9 – Tax GuideIs group health insurance taxable for employees in India?India runs two parallel income tax regimes simultaneously, and the tax treatment of almost every benefit differs between them.
10. Part 10 – Leave & PoliciesLeave entitlements and what global MNCs typically add on topIndia's statutory leave framework is state-governed and more fragmented than most MNCs expect.
11. Part 11 – Allowances & CTCHow should an MNC structure India CTC under the new labour codes?India's cost-to-company (CTC) structure is more complex than most countries your payroll team has operated in.

Questions French HR teams ask about India

More from Plum for French companies in India

• How MNCs structure health insurance for Indian subsidiariesGlobal programmes, local policies and who signs what.
• Do you need to match headquarters' benefits in India?Where to mirror the parent plan, and where India needs its own design.
• Insurance for expatriate employees in IndiaCovering seconded staff alongside the local plan.
• Group insurance vs ESI: a guide for employersWho must be in ESI, and where group health insurance takes over.
• How to calculate gratuity in IndiaFormulas, worked examples and a free calculator.
• The Standard of Employee Benefits 2026–27Benchmarks from 4,500+ Indian employee health plans.