Recently, ENIM, France’s social security system announced that it will attempt to develop a service offering that takes into account the characteristics of the maritime professional environment.
This objective comes within the framework of three legislative and coherent conventional regulatory mechanisms:
- The transfer of the seafarers’ social security contributions to Acoss registered in the COGs of Enim and in the process of being registered in the future of Acoss;
- The implementation in 2020 of the Nominative Social Declaration (DSN) for employers in the maritime world;
- The introduction of the Armament Permit on January 1, 2018, which led to the long-term withdrawal of maritime affairs services in the collection of social data.
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Ince & Co contacted the French authorities in order to obtain further simplification of the rules applying to the affiliation of seafarers with ENIM or to a private insurance scheme, and presents the following:
Clarification on the meaning of “residency on French territory”:
Two alternative criteria can be taken into account:
- The presence of the applicant’s household in France;
- Presence on French territory or in a French overseas department for an aggregated period of at least 6 months (over a period of 12 months).
If a seafarer does not have a household in France, the 6 month period is now used as a criterion to determine whether such seafarer is resident in France by virtue of their presence on board a vessel as part of their employment.
A seafarer must be registered with ENIM or a private insurance scheme at the beginning of their employment if they will stay in in French territorial or internal waters for a period of 6 months or longer.
The 6 month period does not need to be continuous.
Special rules for vessels undergoing periods of refit/repair/other works during which the yacht is immobilised or in a shipyard
There is special treatment for seafarers employed on board a yacht located in a shipyard or during periods during which the yacht is immobilised due to refit/repair or other works.
Seafarers onboard or employed to work on a foreign-flagged yacht are not required to affiliate with ENIM for the period in which the yacht is undergoing such works.
Concept of “cover equivalent to article L.111-1 of the French Social Security Code”
Private insurance needs to cover all the branches of Article L.111-1 of the French Social Security Code. However, ENIM will not monitor the actual level of coverage for each of those branches by private insurance.
Where a seafarer is covered by private insurance
It is acceptable for the costs of private insurance to be for the account of seafarers, subject to any obligations regarding the payment of certain costs mandatory on yacht-owners/employers.
