Employment and labor laws vary from country to country. This guide is intended to provide the most up to date information available. We will update this guide as needed when changes are made to the laws.
Employment Contracts
Employers are legally required to provide formal written contracts for all employees that include salary/wage, termination terms, job title, etc. The contracts must be written in French and use the Euro currency (EUR).
Working Hours
Standard working hours within French Law are 35 hours a week at all companies, and the working day may not exceed 10 hours.
Overtime
All work above the standard 35 hours a week is to be paid as overtime and is regulated by collective agreements and contracts, generally calculated as follows:
- Additional 25.00% an hour for each of the first eight hours of overtime (from the 36th to the 43rd hour, inclusive)
- Additional 50.00% for each hour after that
Public Holidays
Holidays falling on a weekend are lost.
For the year 2024:
- Jan 1: Monday – New Year’s Day
- Mar 29: Friday – Good Friday (Alsace and Moselle only)
- Apr 1: Monday – Easter Monday
- May 1: Wednesday – Labour Day
- May 8: Wednesday – Victory Day
- May 9: Thursday – Ascension Day
- May 19: Sunday – Whit Sunday
- May 20: Monday – Whit Monday
- Jul 14: Sunday – Bastille Day
- Aug 15: Thursday – Assumption Day
- Nov 1: Friday – All Saints’ Day
- Nov 11: Monday – Armistice Day
- Dec 25: Wednesday – Christmas Day
- Dec 26: Thursday – St Stephen’s Day (Alsace and Moselle only)
Annual Leave (vacation)
The regulations regarding paid leave in France are set in the Labor code as a minimum of five weeks’ paid holiday per year, following completion of one months’ probation, in addition to public holidays. However, it is common practice for additional leave days to be included in the collective bargaining agreements.
The holiday calendar year runs from June 1st to May 31st.
Workers that are classified as “Cadre” will be entitled to additional RTT days- Réduction du temps de travailare, RTT days are acquired monthly and under most of the employment agreements should be used before the end of the civil year 1st January- 31st December.
Sick Days
Sickness reimbursements are made by the Social Security office to all employees from the fourth day of absence due to sickness. Additional compensation from the employer is common and is detailed within the collective/company agreements.
With at least three months’ service, all monthly paid employees are entitled to continued payment in proportion to their regular salary for up to 90 days.
All employees must provide a medical certificate within 48 hours of the sickness to the employer (un avis d’arrêt de travai) so that the employer can subsequently provide a salary certificate to the Social Ssecurity, which in turn enables the employee to receive Social Security benefits for up to 3 years.
Maternity and Paternity
Maternity Leave
Expectant mothers are entitled to up to 16 weeks maternity leave – six weeks before birth and ten weeks after birth. Maternity leave can be extended to 26 weeks when expecting a third child, extending further to 34 weeks for multiple births (twins) and 46 weeks when expecting triplets or more. The maternity leave can be extended even further should the expectant mother be unwell, with an additional two weeks before the birth and four weeks after.
Maternity pay is made by the Social Security to entitled employees. To be entitled, the employee must have been affiliated with the Social Security for a minimum of 10 months before the due date, have taken at least eight weeks maternity leave, and have worked at least 150 hours in the 90 days preceding the leave.
The amount paid each day is based on the average salary received three months before the leave and paid every two weeks.
Paternity Leave
In France, paternity leave (congé paternité) spans 25 calendar days. It commences after the initial 3 working days following birth, which are designated as birth leave and are paid by the employer. Subsequent to this birth leave period, fathers are required to take 4 calendar days of leave. The remaining 21 calendar days can be divided, but they must be used within 6 months of the birth. Workers have the flexibility to use these 21 days either consecutively or in two separate periods, each lasting a minimum of 5 days.
In the event of multiple births, an additional 7 days of leave are provided. All leave following the birth leave is covered by social security. To qualify for this leave, fathers must have been enrolled with social security for at least 10 months. Notification of the intended leave to the employer should be provided, either in writing or orally, one month prior to taking it.
Social security coverage is calculated based on the average daily salary over the last three months, with a cap of €88.84 per day (for the year 2023).
Paternal Leave
Parental leave (congé parental d’éducation) is available to all employees with at least one year of service at the time of the child’s birth, upon employer’s approval. This leave is unpaid and entitles employees to up to one year of parental leave or a change to part-time working hours (if possible, within the business infrastructure), together with a monthly allowance (Allocation parentale d’enfant) for employees with more than one child and more than two years’ service.
In addition, should a child become ill, the employee can request a form of parental leave of between 3 and 5 days, dependent upon the number of children the parent has and the child’s age. Should the child suffer from a severe illness, accident, or disability, the parent can request special specific family care leave of up to 310 days to provide continued parental care.
Other Leave
In France, in the event of the death of an immediate family member, an employee is entitled to three days’ leave.
Employees are entitled to 6 weeks of unpaid leave before adopting a child if they must travel to adopt a child.
Employee Severance and Terminations
Termination Process
There are several different ways that an employment contract can be ended. In addition to redundancy or resignation, in France, there is an option to negotiate departure through mutual agreement (Rupture Conventionelle). All these ways require specific procedures that the employer must follow.
Regardless of the type of job contract, when it comes to ending employment, the employer has to provide a certificate stating the position held (certificat de travail), a document for the Pôle emploi, allowing the person to claim unemployment benefits, and a document stating everything the employer needs to pay the employee (solde de tout compte).
Termination via Mutual Agreement
It is very common to dismiss workers using a Mutual Termination Agreement (MTA), which can reduce the risks of legal claims. A shorter notice period and different exit payment terms to that set in law can also be agreed in this process and indemnity amounts should take into account notice and severance.
The starting point for termination payment is normally 3 salaries however it is common for workers to settle at 6-9 salaries.
The Mutual Termination Agreement process takes roughly 45 days. Once the worker has signed the agreement they have 15 days to change their mind. Once all terms have been settled, the Mutual Termination Agreement must be submitted to the French Labour department.
Notice Period
Notice periods within France are as follows:
- During the first six months of service, the notice period is that set by an applicable collective agreement or employment contract.
- 1 months’ notice is required for employees leaving within the first six months and two years of service
- 2 months’ notice is required for employees leaving after completing two years’ service employment
- 3 months’ notice is required for executives
Severance Pay
Severance pay in France depends on several factors, including the terms in the employment contract/collective bargaining agreement, the position/role of the employee, the reason for termination, and the goodwill between the company and the employee, all of which can affect the amount due substantially. It is common practice for the payment to be based on a monthly figure calculated based on the highest figure from the monthly average across the past year, general average monthly earning figure, or a third of the payment of the past three months.
Probation Period
Probation periods in France generally differ based on the criteria of employee and their seniority; blue-collar employees must work two months’ probation, technicians and supervisors three months, and management four months.
During the probation period, the employment contract may be freely terminated by the employee or by the employer, without the need to state reasons, and without compensation (unless otherwise provided for in the agreement). The procedural rules for dismissal do not apply.
However, the employer and, in some cases, the employee must give notice. In Articles L. 1221-19 to L. 1221-24 of the Labor Code, the employee must be given at least 24 hours for less than 8 days of presence, 48 hours between 8 days and 1 month of presence, 2 weeks after 1 month’s presence and 1 month after 3 months’ presence.
Payroll Cycle
The payroll cycle in France is generally a monthly cycle, with wages paid by the last working day of each month.
The National Minimum Wage in France is 1,747.20 EUR.
13th Salary
The 13th Salary in France is customary and generally paid at the end of the year.
Contributions
Employer Payroll Contributions
Note: Employers must pay 50% of the cost of season tickets for the entire journey between the worker usual place of residence and the place of work using public transport services. This applies to part time employees as well.
*The above rates serve as a broad guideline. Actual rates charged will differ depending on the applicable CBA.
VISA
In France, there are two main types of visas, a short stay (visa de court séjour) which is required for visits of 90 days or less where the employer applies to the French Ministry of Labour, the DIRECCTE (Direction regionale des enterprises, de la concurrence et de la consummation, du travail et de l’emploi), or a convention d’accueil and the authorisation then goes to the French embassy.
If the employee is from the EU/EEA or Switzerland, they do not need a work permit.
A long stay work visa (visa de long séjour) is also a residence permit. The work contract is sent to the local division of the French Ministry of Labour for approval. Once approved, it is sent to the Office Francais de l’Immigration et de l’Integration (OFII) for secondary approval. Once this is approved, the contract confirmation is sent directly to the French embassy in the employee’s home country. After 18 months in a long-stay residence permit, applications can be made to bring family members to France.
In addition, applications for a four-year renewable visa can be made for a passeport talent which is aimed at executives, independent professionals, or employee-level people who have the potential to make a significant contribution to the French economy, especially in intellectual, scientific, cultural, sporting, or humanitarian fields.
Britons who have been full-time residents in France since before December 31st, 2020, must be in possession of a carte de séjour residency card by January 1st, 2022. From this date, the card can be requested legally in a range of situations.
VAT
The standard rate of VAT in France is 20.00%.