Relocating to the Paris Region by The British School of Paris

Relocating to the Paris region

History

Location

Appointment to The British School of Paris

BSP Relocation Procedures

Administrative help

Financial information

Schooling

Doctors

Learning French

Transport to and from School

Banks

Insurance

House & Car Insurance

Benefits/Life Insurance

Complementary Health insurance

History Founded in 1954 as the English School of Paris, the school was owned and managed by its founding Headmistress, Mrs. Mary J Cosyn OBE, until she retired in 1980. With encouragement from the British Embassy, it was then acquired by the non-profit making Association for English Education in Paris. This Association is controlled by a Board of Governors, whose members are drawn from the British business and professional community in Paris together with members of the academic world in Britain and Europe. The British Ambassador is its Honorary Patron. The school’s Senior Management Team currently comprises the Headmaster and Deputy Headmaster who oversee both schools, the Head of Senior School with the Head of Pastoral Care, the Head of Junior School with two Deputy Heads, the Director of Financial and Administrative Affairs and the Human Resources Manager. The School is an overseas member of the Head Masters' Conference (HMC), the Incorporated Association of Preparatory Schools (IAPS) and the Council of British International Schools (COBIS).

Location

The Junior and Senior Schools are situated beside a beautiful stretch of the Seine in Croissy-surSeine and cater for pupils from Nursery to Year 13. The buildings, with the exception of two nineteenth century houses, have been built since 1990, with the Junior School now housed in brand new purpose built accommodation which opened in September 2010. At the Senior School the Science and Technology block provides excellent facilities for Science, ICT, Systems & Control and Graphic Products. On the first floor there are four large, well equipped science laboratories. There are four other class room blocks, a refectory, a Resource Centre, a large sports hall and an all-weather sports pitch.

Senior School

Humanities Department

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Music, Maths and Physics Departments, plus Staff Room and Reprographic services

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The Junior School is located a short walk along the river from the Senior School in grounds of 1.2 hectares with 7,300 square metres of accommodation. The 35 classrooms and specialist teaching areas can accommodate up to 550 pupils between the ages of 3-11.

Our schools are situated approximately 16km from central Paris about a 40 minute drive by car via the motorway. By public transport we are a 25 minute train ride from the Arc de Triomphe via RER line A, then a short bus ride. Senior School 38, quai de l’Écluse 78290 Croissy-sur-Seine  01 34 80 45 90

Junior School 2, rue Hans List 78290 Croissy-sur-Seine  01 30 15 88 30 4

Appointment to The British School of Paris Once you have been appointed by the School, a letter of confirmation will be sent to you by the Head confirming your appointment and point on the relevant salary scale, subject to a satisfactory Enhanced DBS check (and any other relevant police checks). You will have a French employment contract. At the start of their contract, you will be offered a settling in allowance of €2,000 gross. This allowance is subject to French social security deductions and income tax in the normal way. The school will pay for reasonable outward removal expenses so long as our procedure is followed. Appointments to permanent executive posts are made subject to the satisfactory completion of a four-month probation period. This probation period can be extended once, by mutual consent, for up to a further three months.

The British School of Paris Relocation Procedures BSP subcontracts the relocation of new staff. In most cases visits are arranged to find accommodation before you move over. If necessary, and depending on circumstances, the School may select for you initial temporary accommodation, in which you may stay for 15 days maximum at the School’s expense whilst the relocation company helps you to find suitable longer term accommodation.

Finding your flat The relocation agency will send you a questionnaire to complete or will arrange a phone/ skype meeting to discuss your needs and explain the alternatives prior to taking you to visit flats or houses. Please note that in France flats and houses are generally rented unfurnished and it is not uncommon for kitchens to be equipped only with a sink. Once you have found your accommodation, the agency will assist you regarding: • the signing of the contract: The lease is usually a four page, pre-printed contract with blank spaces to be filled in with the following particulars: 

Names and addresses of the Parties

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Summary description of the rented property

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Duration of the contract: for an unfurnished property, a minimum period of 3 years must be offered by the landlord. (The tenant can terminate the tenancy at any time with 3 months’ notice, sent by registered letter) Date of start of lease Payments due:  Monthly rent

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 Charges (‘provision pour charges’), for apartments only (1/12 of the estimated yearly communal expenses for electricity, cleaning the communal areas, water, lift maintenance, caretaker’s wages, rubbish collection tax, and in some cases central heating).  Monthly total: total obtained by adding up the previous amounts  Payment terms: the sum is payable in advance and in full, normally on the 1st of each month  Rent increases: the rent is automatically adjusted every year on the basis of the average yearly increase of the ‘construction index’.  Deposit: 1 month’s rent. This deposit will be returned to the tenant no later than 2 months after the end of the lease and vacation of the premises, providing the landlord does not claim part or all of it for the repair of damage to the premises or contents which may have been caused by the tenant. The landlord must prove that any damage was indeed caused by the tenant hence the importance of the ‘état des lieux’ (inventory). • The inspection of the premises (‘état des lieux’), the inventory: Prior to moving in a complete inventory of the contents and the condition of the premises is established between the landlord or his agent and the tenant. The ‘état des lieux’ is signed by both parties and each keeps a copy. Sometimes this document is drawn up by a bailiff. It is used to compare the state of the premises and its contents when you later move out –any deterioration gives rise to an invoice. All these services provided by the agency will be paid for directly by the School. If you wish to get a general idea of the cost of renting a flat/house and types of properties available, you can look at the current adverts on www.alouer.fr or www.seloger.fr, using the department numbers 75 (central Paris), 78 (the School’s area, extending right out towards Normandy) and 92. “Location” means rental (rather than purchase) and the number of rooms means main rooms (excluding bathroom and kitchen). In the rental price stated “cc” means monthly service charges for the building are included in the price indicated. This may include heating and/or hot water if the building has a central heating system.

Administrative help Registration with French social security (and state pension scheme): The School declares your employment in France and will request a social security number on your behalf. You will have to wait until you have 3 French payslips to submit to prove your entitlement. Please obtain and bring with you a long birth certificate (mentioning your parents’ names) and note that you are likely to need to pay for an official translation into French. Our HR Manager can direct you to a sworn translator service. Your French social security number will be a combination of 13 digits that identify your gender, date of birth, country of origin. Once you receive it please let HR and payroll know as it must feature on your pay slips. Social security services will eventually send you a ‘carte vitale’ which is the size of a credit card and has an electronic chip, which contains all relevant information. The aim of the card is to facilitate the reimbursement of medical expenses as the relevant paperwork is held on the card in electronic form.

The school registers you with the top-up health insurance (“mutuelle”) with GMC. Once you receive an “attestation de droits” from social security, do send a copy to GMC so they can set up electronic transfer of information with your social security centre. If you have children and wish to apply for family allowance in France, our HR Manager can direct you to the relevant forms on the Caisse d’Allocations Familiales website.

Financial information Social security charges represent around 24% of the gross salary indicated on the BSP scale and there is an employee contribution to the health care scheme (minimum cost 35€ a month for basic cover, 70€ for a family cover).

Social security charges Without going into the detail of all the contributions; the main areas are health, unemployment and pension payments: • Social security: these compulsory deductions are your contributions towards the French health scheme and the compulsory state pension. • ASSEDIC: this organisation collects contributions for unemployment benefits. • AGRR: this is a compulsory pension scheme. • CGRCR: this is a pension scheme which is not compulsory; teachers who are on a permanent contract and who have more than half a timetable would normally qualify. • Mutuelle: this is a compulsory contribution to a private health scheme that covers all or part of the difference between the cost of medical fees and social security reimbursements. The School pays 50% of the cost of the scheme. There is an optional scheme on top that provides better cover for hospitalisation, dental and optical care which the employee pays

Income Tax In France income tax is now deducted from the salary by the employer. A declaration is made by the employee each May for earnings in France during the previous calendar year.

Holiday Pay Teaching staff who join the school at the beginning of the academic year and work throughout the school year receive full pay during all school holidays. Teaching staff who join after the beginning of the academic year receive full pay during any intervening Christmas, Easter and half term holidays but their summer holiday pay will be worked out on a pro-rata basis, according to the proportion of the school year they have worked. A pro-rata summer holiday entitlement also applies to staff who take parental leave (congé parental) or any other kind of unpaid leave during the school year. Holiday pay can also be affected by long-term sickness absence.

Schooling Your children may be accepted by the BSP subject to our normal application procedures. Full-time members of staff relocating specially from abroad currently benefit from a specific school fees policy. For full details please ask to see our Policy on Staff Fee and/or speak to our Registrar, Mrs Valerie Joynes.

Doctors Doctors in France are either ‘conventionné’ (applying the Sécurité Sociale system’s schedule of fees) or ‘non conventionné’ (charging higher rates). You must choose a GP to be your “médecin traitant” and any consultations with specialist doctors should be on his/her referral if you are to claim the full level of social security reimbursement. There are no restrictions based on residence criteria for example. If required the school will help to locate an English speaking doctor. Two hospitals in Paris offer medical services in English:

American Hospital*

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63, Boulevard Victor Hugo 92200 Neuilly sur Seine  01.46.41.25.25 * NB non-conventionné (expensive !)

British Hospital 3, rue Barbès 92300 Levallois Perret  01.46.39.22.22

When you go to the doctor you may be given a prescription together with a sheet called ‘feuille de soins’ on which the doctor’s fee is indicated. The chemist will ask you for this form and add the cost of the medication. You MUST then send this form to your social security centre to be partially reimbursed. The mutuelle will usually reimburse the difference. The ‘carte vitale’ which will eventually be issued by the ‘Sécurité Sociale’ can be used instead of the paperwork. The doctor may also give you a sick note (‘arrêt de travail’) should ill-health require that you stay at home. You must within 48 hours fill out this form and post it off.

Learning French The School is committed to providing a wide range of In Service Training. Where applicable, French lessons for new members of staff recruited from abroad (and who benefit from a relocation package) can be funded to a maximum of 1,500€ over two years, on the understanding that the lessons take place in the person’s own personal time. You will need to see our HR Manager for the funding request procedure before fixing up such lessons.

Transport to and from School By law employers in the Paris region are required to reimburse 50% of the cost incurred of using public transport to travel to work from home. To claim reimbursement please give a copy of your ‘carte Navigo’ (annual or monthly season ticket) to the accounts office.

Banks You can set up a bank account in any bank providing you have proof of a residential address in France. However the Crédit Mutuel in Rueil Malmaison, the bank used by the School, offers our staff the possibility of opening an account on or before arrival and as soon as their appointment is confirmed. This can be rather useful when you are looking for accommodation.

Insurance House & Car Insurance As well as financial services, the Crédit Mutuel can provide insurance for your house and/or car. Procedures are simplified as a favour to the School. You can of course choose your own company should you wish to do so. Experience has shown that some French insurance companies are reluctant to insure a car brought into France with foreign number plates.

Benefits/Life Insurance The school pays in to an insurance scheme which provides a certain level of cover for sick pay, but also compensation for disability or death in service. Full details will be provided (in French) when you start work and the HR department will be able to answer questions whenever they occur.

Complementary Health Insurance (further details) The school pays half of the cost of the obligatory cover for the employee (and their family, if relevant). The employee’s share of the cover is deducted from the monthly pay slip. You will be given the relevant paperwork when you start work. The relevant costs to the employee are: Cover (obligatory) (1/1/2016) Contrat (obligatoire) Monthly costs to employee Single employee 35,46 € Couple or family 70,92 € * see GMC brochure for full details of cover offered

Once you are registered with French social security, you would be wise to obtain the European Health Insurance Card for your travels (whether private or business related) in other parts of Europe (including returning to the UK) to show that you are covered under the French system. This is very 9

easy to obtain on the very informative French social security website www.ameli.fr (by creating a personal log-on). French social security has an English advice helpline 0811 36 36 46 (or 0033811 36 36 46 from abroad).

For information in English on living in the Paris region the following websites may be of use: http://france.angloinfo.com/ http://ukinfrance.fco.gov.uk/en/ http://www.intransit-international.com/home_living_paris_france.html http://expats-paris.com/