Self-employed social security understanding everything

Find out about the social security coverage of a self-employed person 

• Affiliation organization: The Social Security for the Self-Employed (SSI) manages its social protection.
• Health insurance: Reimbursements identical to those for employees.
• Daily allowances. The possibility of receiving them in the event of illness or accident.
• Maternity and paternity leave: Duration and conditions for allowances.
• Retirement  Affiliation to the general scheme or to Cipav d, depending on activity, with turnover thresholds to be reached.
• CAF benefits: The Possibility of benefiting from family benefits.

A clear understanding of these aspects is essential to starting as a self-employed entrepreneur.

What is your affiliated organization?

Since January 1, 2018, the Social Security Scheme for the Self-Employed (RSI) has been replaced by the Social Security for the Self-Employed (SSI). 

In 2020, the SSI definitively became a branch of the general system.

This organization’s mission is to specifically manage the social protection of self-employed workers (TNS), including self-employed workers.

This integration did not result in any changes in social security coverage for self-employed workers. Their coverage and compensation remain the same.

The objective of this reform? To guarantee that self-employed workers have efficient management of their social security. In addition, this reform improved administrative management by replacing the RSI, which made the procedures more transparent and more efficient.

If you are a micro-entrepreneur, your contact is therefore the Primary Health Insurance Fund for your place of residence, as for employees. 

Reimbursement of medical expenses 

Self-employed workers, including self-employed entrepreneurs, benefit from the same coverage as employees for their health costs.

There is therefore no difference in reimbursement rates for your consultations, medications, care, or even hospitalizations.

However, a micro-entrepreneur wishing to subscribe to supplementary health insurance must cover all costs related to their mutual insurance.

Daily compensation in the event of illness or accident 

Whether you are a trader, craftsman, regulated, or unregulated professional, you can benefit from daily compensation in the event of illness or accident.

However, you must meet several conditions to be entitled to daily compensation:

• Be registered with a compulsory social security scheme for at least one year  (12 continuous months of affiliation) on the first day of the cessation. If you were subject to another scheme during a previous professional activity, the period of affiliation can be counted if there was no interruption between your two activities. 
• Be working at the time of work stoppage or benefit from continued entitlement, on the date of a medical certificate of incapacity for work. 
• Be up to date with the payment of your social security contributions.
• Have an annual income greater than €4,383.20 after deduction.

The daily allowance is equal to  1/730th of your average annual income . This is calculated on the average of your income over the 3 calendar years preceding the date of your work stoppage.

Above €47,000,forr an annual income, you receive the maximum daily sickness benefits. In 2025, the maximum amount of daily sickness benefits for self-employed workers is:

• €64.52 per day if you are affiliated with the general pension scheme
• €190.55 per day if you carry out a liberal activity affiliated with Cipav

Have you just started your business and haven’t yet reached this minimum annual income? If you had entitlements from your previous job, it is now possible to receive daily allowances for this purpose. For more details, contact your CPAM (Health Insurance Fund)!

Furthermore, do not confuse annual income with turnover! In fact, to determine your entitlement to daily allowances, a flat-rate tax deduction will be applied to your turnover: 

• 71% for commercial activities
• 50% for craft and commercial services
• 34% for liberal activities 

The result obtained will correspond to your self-employed income. 

Finally, a waiting period is applied between the effective start of your work stoppage and the payment of daily allowances. This is 3 days for a stoppage of more than 7 days or in the event of hospitalization.

Maternity leave

The maximum duration of maternity leave for self-employed women is generally 6 weeks before the expected date of delivery and 10 weeks after it, i.e., 112 days in total, as for employees.

Women who run a self-employed business can benefit from maternity benefits under two conditions :

• Be up to date with their compulsory health and maternity insurance contributions
• Provide proof of six months of affiliation for a non-salaried activity (or other activity or unemployment, as long as there has been no interruption between these affiliations) 

However, the length of your maternity leave varies depending on:

• the number of children you are expecting;
• the number of children you have already had

You can choose to take maternity leave that is shorter than the maximum legal duration presented to you, but to receive your daily allowances, you must cease your professional activity for at least 8 weeks, including 6 after the birth.

There are two types of allowance, which can also be combined under certain conditions:

• The flat-rate maternity leave allowance
• The flat-rate daily allowance for interruption of activity

Their amount depends on the income of the last three calendar years preceding the date of payment of the benefits. The current year is therefore not taken into account. 

Please note, if your average annual income is less than  € 4,383.0, the amount of your benefits will be reduced to 10 % of the allowance, or €392.5