OETH: understanding the French disability employment obligation in five minutes

Every spring, tens of thousands of companies in France discover a line on their social declaration they struggle to understand: the contribution under the disability employment obligation. Here is what it covers — and, above all, what you can do with it.

Who is concerned?

Every company with at least 20 employees is subject to the disability employment obligation (OETH). Since the 2020 reform, the obligation is assessed at company level, no longer site by site, and the declaration is made through the monthly payroll declaration (DSN).

In 2024, 111,300 companies were subject to it, covering more than 12 million employees (source: DARES).

What does the 6% mean?

The company must employ beneficiaries of the employment obligation up to 6% of its workforce. Beneficiaries include people holding the official recognition of disabled worker status (RQTH), victims of workplace accidents or occupational diseases with a permanent incapacity of at least 10%, people receiving an invalidity pension, and other categories defined by the Labour Code.

The expected number of beneficiaries is 6% of the workforce, rounded down. A company with 120 employees must therefore count 7 beneficiaries (120 × 6% = 7.2).

How is the obligation met?

The first lever is direct employment: permanent and fixed-term contracts, temporary work, apprenticeships, internships under certain conditions. But the obligation is composite: several mechanisms reduce the contribution due.

• Inclusive subcontracting: contracts with adapted companies (EA), sheltered workshops (ESAT) and self-employed workers with a disability (TIH) give rise to a deduction, calculated on the labour cost of the service and capped.
• Deductible expenses: certain expenses incurred to promote the employment of disabled people (accessibility, job retention, support or awareness services delivered by a specialised organisation, partnerships under conditions) are deductible up to 10% of the contribution.
• Jobs requiring specific aptitude conditions (Ecap): certain occupations reduce the amount of the contribution.

What if the target is not met?

The company pays an annual contribution proportional to the number of missing beneficiaries. The unit amount depends on company size: 400, 500 or 600 times the hourly minimum wage per missing beneficiary. When no action has been taken for more than three years, the coefficient rises to 1,500 times the hourly minimum wage.

The contribution is collected by Urssaf with social contributions and transferred to Agefiph, which funds the professional integration of disabled people. In 2024, companies paid €556 million, up 11% in one year (Agefiph).

What it means for an SME

For a company with 20 to 250 employees and no disability officer, the declaration is often prepared by the payroll provider and the contribution looks like a tax. Yet every euro paid can be transformed: a supported hire reduces the number of missing beneficiaries, a purchase from an adapted company is deductible, an awareness action may be too.

Where to start?

1. Retrieve your latest declaration (DOETH) from your payroll provider and identify the number of missing beneficiaries.
2. Size the issue with our simulator.
3. List the levers you can activate quickly: a vacancy, a service to outsource, manager training.
4. Build a twelve-month plan, and track it.

This article presents the general rules; special cases exist (approved agreements, temporary work agencies, groups). Reference texts are listed below.