If you find yourself wanting to hire a gardener to spruce up your outdoor plants, the “universal service employment voucher” is a good way to simplify the process. Indeed, small gardening and DIY jobs are part of the activities concerned by the Cesu. The latter are defined by article D7231-1 of the Labor Code. “The Cesu concerns all individuals at different times in their lives, to improve daily life, to take care of a few hours of cleaning or to accompany an elderly or disabled person. It is also the guarantee for the employee to have access to rights to health insurance, unemployment, retirement etc.”, specifies Urssaf. It may therefore cover some personal service activities, but not all.
According to the Ministry of the Economy, the Cesu concerns home services such as “house maintenance, small gardening and DIY work, school support, assistance for the elderly or fragile with the exception of care relating to medical acts”, as well as “all activities carried out outside the home as an extension of a service activity at the employer’s home” – for example driving a vehicle for a person reduced mobility. These 26 activities are defined more precisely on the ministry’s website. Some have special features, such as home childcare (excluding babysitting): these must be declared to Pajemploi.
On the other hand, the activities that are not covered by the Cesu are those that concern larger-scale works. To take the example of the garden, ordinary work such as mowing, trimming or cleaning up waste can be affected by the Cesu. This is not the case for larger jobs such as pruning or earthmoving. Similarly, the assembly of furniture may be covered but not the cost of moving.
