Ski lifts: two major changes to anticipate in terms of contingency planning

While ski resorts have closed their winter season, another topic has recently opened up in ski areas.

An overhaul of the employee benefits scheme in the ski lift sector

Following a call for tenders launched at the end of last year, the social partners have upgraded their ski liftprovident scheme, both in terms of risk carrier (insurer), cover and contributions. These changes, the most significant of which concerns the risk of incapacity for work, accompany the latest regulatory developments in this area, with the lowering of the ceiling on Social Security daily allowances (IJSS).

These two key measures, which interact and intersect, will therefore have a major impact on the risk of lost time in the ski lift business, and these significant changes need to be anticipated in order to be applied in an optimized and sustainable way.

The ski lift provident scheme: improved cover

In a move to update the scheme and employee coverage, the social partners have agreed to several improvements:

• Better coverage in the event of death, particularly death in the workplace. The introduction of minimum levels for child-rearing pensions.
• A spouse's income rewritten to be adaptable to the family situation.
• A +5% increase in pension in the event of 2nd category disability.

Incapacity for work: a reduced deductible and a significant financial impact

For companies that have subscribed directly to the conventional plan or to a customized plan aligned with the minimum, it is the disability risk for non-managerial employees that has undergone the most significant change.

At present, the minimum provident scheme for these employees comes into play after a deductible of 120 days, i.e. 4 months' continuous absence from work. Prior to this, the employee is covered by the employer's salary continuation scheme, if he or she has the necessary seniority.

From January 1, 2026, this deductible will be reduced to 90 days (instead of 120 days). This means that the plan will come into effect one month earlier, mechanically generating an increase in the volume of benefits paid.

The impact of this change is, of course, financial, since the number of work stoppages, the volume of benefits and the number of days covered will all increase on January 1. This impact has already been taken into account in the conventional offer, which shows a +28% increase in contributions!

Companies with a customized plan with a current deductible of 120 days will have to adapt their contract to incorporate the new deductible, taking into account the associated cost.

This impact on conventional provident fund risk goes hand in hand with another recent development in work stoppage risk.

The impact of the lower IJSS ceiling.

This measure, which has already been commented on, has been in force since April 1, 2025.

The reference salary for Social Security daily benefits (IJSS) is now capped at 1.4 SMIC, compared with 1.8 SMIC previously. The impact of this reduction is a reduction in IJSS when the employee's salary exceeds 1.4 SMIC.

However, employees who benefit from the salary maintenance and provident scheme will not be affected by this reduction, since the delta will be covered either :

• By the employer as part of the salary continuation plan, which is “deducted from IJSS” benefits.
• By the provident scheme, which also intervenes “after deduction of IJSS”.

Through a communicating effect, the drop in IJSS automatically leads to an increase in the cost for the employer and the ski lift provident scheme.

Thus, the combination of a reduced deductible and a lower IJSS ceiling results in a substantial increase in the proportion covered by the provident scheme.

Support for companies in the sector

These are therefore two significant measures affecting the risk of work stoppage for companies in the ski lift sector.

Companies will need support to bring their plans into line, and to carry out an in-depth analysis of the changes involved. A personalized study will enable you to calibrate the adjustments required according to your actual claims experience, and facilitate the implementation schedule. As a benchmark player in this field, Gerep is at your disposal to help you optimize your ski lift provident scheme.

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