France offers riot-hit employers 12-month levy delay, full short-time pay

Employers whose shops or premises were damaged in the degradations of 17 and 18 October 2026, or shut by prefectoral order, can place staff on activité partielleService Public with the State meeting the whole cost for businesses with fewer than 250 employeesService Public. The Ministry of Labour and Solidarity announced the emergency package on 20 October to preserve jobs and speed the restart of business. Employees receive an allowance of 60% of gross payService Public, and 100% at the SMICService Public, with zero remaining cost to employers with fewer than 250 staffService Public.

Damaged businesses claim under the sinistre motive: direct material damage making it totally or partially impossible to continue operating.Service Public Businesses whose interruption follows a prefectoral order claim on that administrative ground.Service Public Shops that closed voluntarily, with no order or constraining situation, cannot claim — unless their closed premises still suffered damage in the 17–18 October violence, in which case the sinistre motive applies.Service Public Requests are filed online within 30 days of placing staff on short-time workService Public. Businesses holding perte d'exploitation insurance stay eligible for the State aid until the insurer paysService Public; any later insurer payment covering wage-linked interruption must be used to reimburse the State allocations for those hoursService Public.

Urssaf adds cash-flow relief on employer social contributions.Service Public A délai de paiement gives up to 12 months to pay employer contributions for the next due dateUrssaf, with penalties and surcharges remitted automaticallyUrssaf, and an existing payment schedule can be adapted. A report de paiement defers the employer contributions and contributions due in November 2026, December 2026 and January 2027Urssaf — still owed, but payable later with no penaltyUrssaf — and a new schedule is proposed at the end of January 2027Urssaf. Both routes require the DSN to have been filed and transmitted, even if unpaid, and employee contributions to have been paid.Urssaf Employee contributions, CSG, CRDS and withholding tax cannot be deferred.Urssaf Requests go through the secure messaging of the online account under Déclarer une situation exceptionnelle.

Self-employed workers, auto-entrepreneurs, medical practitioners and artists-authors can defer the November 2026 to January 2027 échéances through a payment deadline of up to 12 months with no penaltiesUrssaf, and can ask for lower provisional contributions if weaker activity is expected. Artisans, commerçants and liberal professionals under the CPSTI or Cipav whose premises suffered major damage in the 17–18 October demonstrations can also seek an exceptional CPSTI grantUrssaf of up to €6,000 scaled to the lossUrssaf, producing the complaint receipt, the insurance declaration, photographs and personal bank detailsUrssaf through the Aide Financière Exceptionnelle form on secu-independants.fr sent via secure messaging.

Legal basis: the 20 October 2026 Ministry of Labour and Solidarity emergency measures for the 17–18 October 2026 degradations, operated through the activité partielle scheme, the Urssaf payment-deadline and deferral procedure, and the CPSTI aide financière exceptionnelle.