Yachting & Social protection

After several months of tension between French Government and the yachting industry as a consequence of the Decree of March 9^th, 2017 which provided that all crewmembers employed on foreign-flagged vessels must be registered with French social security schemes (ENIM) if they reside in France, French legislator has clarified the situation of the employees concerned.

This legislative development has direct consequences in Monaco for foreign Shipowners and Monegasque Yacht Managers in charge of managing foreign pleasure yacht where French resident crewmembers are employed on board.

From now, all foreign employers using services of French resident crew member on a foreign yacht which are not covered by foreign social security schemes in application of European Union regulation or international treaties agreed with France, are required to register them with French social security schemes or to state that they are covered by a social insurance (private or public) at least equivalent to the protection offered by Article 111-1 of French Social Security Code.

As such, to avoid registering French resident crew member to ENIM, the foreign employer would have to subscribe to a proper social insurance, private or public, covering these French social security areas.

Beyond this topic of social protection for French resident crewmembers, managing a crew under a foreign yacht flag is subject to international regulations which should be considered upon hiring in order to contain the high risk related to the application of French employment law.

Our team, specialized in employment law, is at your disposal to help you managing these issues, secure the employment relation and prevent judicial risk.