Currency: Euro (EUR)

Capital: Paris

Official language: French

Payroll Cycle: Monthly

Paid Time Off

In France, employees are entitled to 25 days of paid holiday a year. Collective agreements often provide an additional holiday bonus related to seniority.

Public Holidays

• New Year’s Day
• Good Friday
• Easter Monday
• Labour Day
• Ascension Day
• Victory Day
• Whit-Monday
• French National Holiday
• Assumption Day
• All Saint’s Day
• Armistice Day 1918
• Christmas
• St. Stephen’s Day

Individual Income Tax

The individual income tax depends on many variables, such as marital status, level of income, etc. The average ranges up to 45%

Employer Tax

Approximately, 43% - 50% of employee salary

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.

France does not allow at-will termination of employment for employers; contracts may be terminated by mutual agreement or unilaterally for due cause (serious cause, unfit for the role, extinction of the role). Employees can appeal to a court if they considered the dismissal unjustified.France has a specific EOR regulation that allows termination of the contract at will for employers, in respect of a minimum notice period of 6 weeks and the payment of the severance. It is common practice for the employee and the customer to agree on the notice period for contract termination before engaging the EOR contract.

Severance pay is due to employees who have passed their probation period with at least 1 year’s seniority. Severance pay is calculated as 1/4 of a monthly salary for each year of seniority, plus 2/15 of a monthly salary for seniority of 10 years and over. Additionally, any not taken holidays must be paid out upon termination.

Notice Period

In France, the notice period is based on the length of the labor relationship:

• Up to 2 years of employment - 1 month’s notice
• 2+ years of employment - 2 months’ notice