Employment Contracts in France: What You Need to Know
Wondering what the difference is in France between a permanent work contract and a temporary or seasonal one? Before you sign, learn more here.
8 min read
Planning to move to France and looking for work? Whether you’re trying out life in France temporarily or looking for something permanent, this article will help you navigate the different types of work contracts you might encounter. Read on to get an overview of the main types of French employment contracts and how they work.The French labor code defines permanent employment as “a contract with no time limit, fulfilled on a full-time or part-time basis between employer and employee.” In France, permanent contracts (known as “contrat à durée indéterminée,” or CDI) are the most common way for people to be employed. They offer professional stability and various benefits such as paid vacations, as well as make it easier to apply for bank credit or loans.Either the employer or the employee can terminate a permanent contract. This can happen due to a layoff, resignation, or retirement, or both sides can simply agree to end the contract. This is referred to as a "mutually agreed termination of contract." In France, as well as the standard or common-law permanent contract, there are also five other contract types that fall under this category. Let’s look at those more closely.Temporary contracts, known as CDII, generally follow the same rules as a standard permanent contract. The only difference is that they apply to temporary work. The contract is signed between the temporary worker and temp agency on behalf of a third-party company. We’ll cover temporary or seasonal work in more detail later on.Launched at the end of 2020 by Adecco, a leading recruitment company, the Learner contract (“CDI apprenant”) improves on the temp version in three ways: For people who are struggling to find work or stay employed, so-called “contracts for employability purposes” (“contrat de travail à temps partagé aux fins d’employabilité” in French) are intended to bridge the gap. This type of contract was created in 2018, at the suggestion of companies that specialize in finding roles for people who need non-traditional employment structures. The main goal: strengthening professional inclusion. This contract allows employees to hold successive full-time positions with different employers, or to hold multiple part-time contracts with more than one employer. First implemented as a pilot project until December 31, 2021, the initiative has now been extended until the end of 2023.Often seen in the construction and shipbuilding industries, work site contracts are used when a company hires workers for a specific project. At the end of the project, the employer has the right to end the contract. The employee is then entitled to claim a severance package and unemployment benefits. In France, there is also a certain type of open-ended contract aimed at people aged 57 and over who are struggling to find or maintain employment. As with the contracts for employability purposes, the main goal is professional inclusion.Fixed-term contracts (“contrat à durée déterminée,” also known as CDD) are used for a set period of employment. They’re intended for specific temporary situations or tasks, which must be clearly laid out in the contract. Companies can use fixed-term contracts to temporarily fill an open role or increase their business activity without committing to hiring a permanent employee. There are important restrictions, too: Using a fixed-term contract to fill a permanent position that’s part of a company’s usual ongoing activity is strictly not allowed. In cases like those, the employee should be offered a permanent contract.There are several sub-types of fixed-term contract:
Permanent contracts: CDI
Temporary contracts
Learner contracts
- Training: From the first day of the contract, temp workers on Learner contracts are enrolled into co-operative training programs. This makes it possible for them to obtain a professional certificate like a diploma or professional title while also gaining work experience.
- Commute: The travel rules are friendlier in Learner contracts, with a maximum distance of 20 to 50 kilometers between home and the place of work, instead of the CDII standard of 50 kilometers.
- Pay: Employees are guaranteed a minimum monthly salary, which is set according to the workplace’s policies. In the case of a classic CDI contract, the salary amount must be at least equal to the minimum wage.
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Work site contracts
Inclusive work contracts for seniors
Fixed-term contracts
- Fixed-term contracts for a specific purpose, largely used for recruiting engineers or executives for project-based assignments.
- "Professional player" fixed-term contracts, specifically for professional video game players employed by a company with ministerial approval, mainly for their paid participation in video game competitions.
- "Senior" fixed-term contracts, set up to help people aged 56 and over return to work. The person must have been registered as a job seeker for more than three months or have a personalized redeployment agreement (“convention de reclassement personnalisé,” or CRP) to qualify for this type of contract.
- Integration contracts, for unemployed people experiencing social and professional barriers — for example, young people under the age of 26, disabled workers, or beneficiaries of Active Solidarity Income (“revenu de solidarité active,