From gross to cash-out, the coefficient no one gives you

Constructed figure, assumptions listed

The offer went out at 48,000 euros gross. The candidate signed. Three months later, your CFO asks you why the line budgeted at 52,000 is running at 68,000 over the full year.

Nobody lied to you. You reasoned on the only figure the candidate knew, the one on their payslip.

The coefficient is a number, not a range

You were probably told to count on 20 to 40 % more. That was true until 31 December 2025, because two reduced rates existed: the health contribution could drop from 13 to 7 %, and family allowances from 5.25 to 3.45 %, for employers eligible for the general reduction.

Both reduced rates were removed on 1 January 2026, except in special cases such as priority zones and overseas territories. The range has closed.

Here is the full stack, for an executive, in a company with fewer than 50 employees.

Total: 42.8 % of gross, that is a coefficient of 1.428.

Two lines are deliberately missing. The workplace accident contribution, whose rate is notified to you individually based on your activity. And the employer’s share of supplementary health cover, which is priced in euros per month, not as a percentage. Both add to what follows.

What it comes to, level by level

Look at the third column. The coefficient barely moves between 40,000 and 80,000 euros gross, because tranche 2 rates, which apply above the social security ceiling set at 48,060 euros in 2026, are slightly lower than tranche 1 rates on the supplementary pension.

That is good news for you. A single figure is enough to budget: multiply by 1.43, add your workplace accident rate, add supplementary health cover in euros.

What you will be told, and what to answer

“The real cost is more like 1.25.” That was true with the reduced rates, gone since 1 January 2026. Ask which year the figure covers. A 2025 coefficient underestimates the spend by seven points, that is 3,400 euros on this position.

“We can optimise with exemptions.” At 48,000 euros gross, that is 4,000 euros a month, the degressive general reduction no longer applies: it phases out around 1.6 times the minimum wage. The exemptions that remain are geographic or sectoral. If you are neither in a priority zone nor overseas, there is nothing to optimise on this line.

“Let’s take a contractor, it will be cheaper.” That depends on volume, and the table gives the tipping point. At the reference daily rate, hiring at 48,000 euros is equivalent to 119 days billed. Below that volume, the engagement wins. Above it, hiring wins, provided the need lasts at least three years.

“The candidate is asking for 55,000, that’s the market median.” That is correct for the IT and information systems function according to the 2025 executive compensation barometer. What the candidate does not know is that this median represents 78,546 euros of spend, that is 137 days of external services. The question is not whether the median is fair, it is whether the need exceeds 137 days a year.

To check for yourself, in twenty minutes

Your workplace accident rate. It appears on your fund’s annual notification. Add it to the coefficient and stop forgetting it.

Your headcount for threshold purposes. From 50 employees, the housing contribution rises from 0.10 to 0.50 % on the full salary. Four tenths of a point is 192 euros a year on this position, and as much on each of the following ones.

The real monthly cost of an open position. 68,545 euros divided by twelve is 5,712 euros a month. That is the figure to compare against the cost of a covering engagement during a vacancy.

Your last signed offer. Take the gross, apply 1.43, compare to what you budgeted. The gap is your margin of error on your next hires.

The sentence to remember

A gross salary is not a cost. It is 70 % of a cost, and the rest does not get negotiated.

Open in a spreadsheet · The coefficient and the tipping point, as a spreadsheet (1,425 bytes)