The French URSSAF is a network of private organizations created in 1960 whose main task is to collect employee and employer social security contributions that finance the Régime general of France's social security system, including state health insurance. They also manage two other salary deductions for the French Ministry of Public Action and Accounts:
URSSAF employees are not, as commonly assumed, civil servants, and thus they are covered by the same employment agreements as other social security employees. Each organization is a private entity responsible for a particular public service and is headed by a Director. Each of them is controlled by an Administrative Council made up in equal parts of managers and workers. The decisions made by the Administrative Council are monitored by the State, represented by DRASS. URSSAF organizations are spread across France to form a network totaling more than one hundred members, with at least one organization per department. The organizations are deemed to be infallible, and without any reference to court and in disregard of any banking conventions, they can take money out of a person's bank account if they believe they are owed it. There are no appeals procedures. URSSAF is supervised primarily by the Ministry for Social Security and secondarily by the Ministry for the Budget, Public Accounts and Civil Service. Since May 18, 2007, management of the URSSAF network has been supervised by Xavier Bertrand, the Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Solidarity, while Eric Woerth, minister for the Budget, Public Accounts and Civil Service, is the acting supervisor for the collection of contributions and other taxes. The objectives of ACOSS have been recorded in three successive COGs, the first covering the period 1998-2001, the second 2002-2005, and the current version covering 2006-2009. ACOSS has had to work within the framework of this third COG to lay off 600 employees out of a workforce of 14,500 between now and 2009. In DOMs, URSSAF organizations do not exist as such, so social security contributions are collected by the CGSS. ACOSS is the national fund for the entire group of organizations, including the CNAM-TS for health insurance, the CNAF for family benefits and the CNAV for retirement. ACOSS manages the social security budget.
