An employment area to be revitalized (BER) is an area of French territory characterized by a demographic decline and an unemployment rate higher than the national rate.

There are 2 employment areas to revitalize:

• employment area Meuse Valley in the Grand-Est region
• Lavelanet employment area in Occitanie region.

To find out if your company is located in an BER, you can consult the list of municipalities belonging to an BER:

List of municipalities in the 2 BER employment zones

Prime Minister

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The company located in a BER can also benefit fromtax exemptions : exemptions from income tax, company property tax (CFE) and property tax on built properties (TFPB).

The exemption shall apply to a company which carries out certain activities in a specific area and on specific dates. To benefit from the exemption, the company must be up to date with its social obligations.

The exemption applies to remuneration paid to employees, irrespective of the nature and duration of their employment contract.

The activity of the employee must be real, regular and indispensable for the proper execution of the employment contract.

Are excluded from the scheme :

• business managers with a combined corporate office and an employment contract, for their remuneration relating to their corporate office
• employees for whom the employer benefits from a measure which cannot be combined with the BER exemption.

When the employee is recruited on the occasion of extension of establishment, the benefit of the exemption requires compliance with the following two conditions:

• Employees must be recruited, under DTA: titleContent or FIXED-TERM: titleContent at least 12 months within 12 months of the effective date of the extension of the establishment.
• The employer must not have made a dismissal for economic reasons in the 12 months preceding that effective date.

The following employer contributions are covered by the exemption:

• Social insurance contributions: sickness, maternity, invalidity, death, old-age insurance
• Family allowances
• Contribution to the Final: titleContent
• Mobility transport payment

The exemption does not concern the following contributions:

• Accidents at work
• Occupational diseases
• Solidarity Contribution for Autonomy (CSA)
• CSG-CRDS
• Supplementary pension
• Unemployment

For companies who have established themselves in a BER between 1^er January 2014 and December 31, 2027, the exemption shall apply for 5 years.

The exemption applies up to a maximum of 1.4 Smic per hour paid, i.e. €17.23 per paid hour.

The benefit of the exemption is subject to the de minimis rule. It allows aid to be granted on condition that it does not exceed a ceiling of €300,000 by employer for a period of 3 years.

Compliance with this ceiling shall be assessed at the time when each new de minimis aid is granted. For each new de minimis aid granted, account must be taken of the total amount of aid de minimis granted in the previous 3 years.

In order to benefit from the exemption, the company must submit a declaration on labor movements to the Dreets: titleContent and at the Urssaf no later than 30 april.

Annual Statement of Labor Movements (DMMO) in a Revitalizing Employment Pool (BER)

This declaration on the movement of labor shall be transmitted for each following period:

• The calendar year of establishment, establishment or extension of the establishment and the following calendar year
• The 2 calendar years following the period covered by the 1^re declaration 
• The 2 calendar years following the period covered by the 2^e declaration

In case of extension of establishment, the employer must send to Urssaf a specific declaration before the end of the 12th^e month following the effective date of the extension of the establishment.

Declaration for employees recruited during an extension of establishment in a BER