Employment Contract Details
Contracts must be written in French to be legally valid. Bilingual wording is permitted if requested by the employee. Contracts must always be in writing and specify the type of employment agreed, trial period, restrictive covenants, bonuses and notice.
Probation Period
Probation varies according to the position of the employee. It averages between 2 to 4 months.
Minimum Wage Requirements
Minimum Wage is EUR 1,539.4 per month. Collective agreements may provide for higher minimum wages. For instance, for EOR minimum wage is EOR 2,800 per month.
Maximum working hours and overtime
Legal working hours are maximum 35 hours per week.
Bonus and Expense Payments
Bonuses may be paid. They can either be discretionary or contractual. Discretionary bonuses are at employer’s discretion and are treated as salary. Contractual bonuses are part of salary and can only be modified with employee’s consent. Terms and conditions are determined by the parties and must be included in the employment agreement to be enforced.
Parental Leave
Parents are entitled to take parental leave if they have at least one year’s continuous service. The leave may start after the end of the maternity leave or the adoptive parent’s adoption leave. One of the parents may take the full allocation of parental leave, or the two parents may share it.
- Maternity leave: it can start 8 weeks before birth and extends up to 10 weeks after childbirth. Employees undergoing multiple births are entitled to maximum 24 weeks before childbirth and 22 weeks after childbirth. Collective agreements grant additional maternity leave. During maternity leave, employees receive an indemnity from the social security authorities if conditions are met. Though the employer is not required to pay salary during maternity leave according to statutory provisions, some collective agreements may bind the employer to do so.
- Paternity leave: the entitlement is to 11 consecutive calendar days of leave, or 18 days in the case of a multiple birth. The leave must generally start in the 4 months after the child’s birth. An employee who wants to take paternity leave must give the employer at least one month’s notice.
Sick Leave
After the first 3 days of a period of sickness absence, employees are entitled to receive daily sickness benefits from the sickness and insurance fund if they meet eligibility requirements (in terms of employment or contribution history). Benefits are generally set at 50% of the employee’s basic pay, up to a cap. Eligible employees are generally entitled to no more than 360 days of benefits in any 3 year period.