French Job Contracts

All French employment contracts must stipulate the following:

• Job description
• Employee's job title
• Salary
• Convention Collective relative to the employment (an agreement between employers' associations and trades unions regarding work conditions and agreements)
• Notice period in case of resignation (unless otherwise stipulated in the Convention Collective)
• Place of work
• Duration of the contract

Job contracts often include:

• Clause de mobilité: A mobility clause which states that the employee agrees to accept any future job transfer. Not agreeing to do so at the time of transfer can be cause for dismissal
• Clause de non-concurrence: This clause, a non-compete agreement, states that an employee cannot work for a competitor or a company in the same sector for a limited time-period following dismissal or resignation

Types of Job Contract

Contracts of employment fall into two main categories:

• Contrat à Durée Indéterminée (CDI): contracts with an unlimited term
• Contrat à Durée Déterminée (CDD): fixed-term contracts

Contrat à Durée Indéterminée (CDI)

This is a permanent job contract with no end-date. Employment usually begins with a two- to three-month trial period, which can be renewed.

A written job contract is not compulsory (a verbal agreement can be sufficient) although the employer must inform the employee in writing of the primary responsibilities of the job. 

Either party may choose to end the contract. The notice period must be adhered to. 

Contrat Nouvelle Embauche (CNE)

The CNE, a variant of the CDI, has a simplified dismissal period valid for the first two years. This contract is available to companies that employ under 20 people. Employers have to give advance notice for dismissal, with the notice period dependant on how long the employee has been working. Employers do not have to give a formal justification for dismissing someone, but an abusive dismissal can be sanctioned by the work tribunal.

The employer must inform the employee of its wish to break the job contract by registered post and must pay the equivalent of eight percent of the value of the remaining contract and holiday entitlements.

On losing a job, an employee is entitled to unemployment benefits provided that they have worked at least four months of their CNE and six months out of the last twenty-two.

Note - February 2008: This contact is under review: A Projet du Loi will be decided in April. If the contract is abandoned, any employee holding one at that point will automatically be transferred to a contract CDI.

Contrats Jeunes en Entreprise (Employed Youths Contract)

Also known as the Soutien à l'Emploi des Jeunes en Entreprise (SEJE), this contract is only available to employees aged between 16 and 25 and allows the employer to receive benefits from the State.

To qualify for this contract, the employee must:

• Have few or no qualifications
• Live in a Zone Urbaine Sensible (an area recognised by the State as economically or socially depressed)
• Have had a Contrat d'Insertion dans la Vie Sociale (CIVIS), a contract specifically for youths, designed to help integration into working life

Contrat Initiative-Emploi Rénové (Renewed Employment Contract)

This contract is intended to encourage the employment of those having difficulty finding work for social and professional reasons.

Annually, the regional Préfecture will determine categories of people eligible for this contract. Employers are entitled to partial reimbursement of training and employment costs.

Contrat à Durée Déterminée (CDD)

This is a fixed-term contract for a specific duration of employment. There is no minimum time-period however the length of a CDD cannot exceed 18 months, after which employment must cease or the contract transferred to a CDI. The employee's rights and obligations are identical to those of a person with a CDI.

A CDD can only be used in the following situations:

• Seasonal work
• To replace an employee who is absent for illness, maternity, holiday, training or parental leave
• In the case of state-funded contracts
• To accommodate temporary increased staffing needs 

Note: If a company has terminated a CDD contract for financial reasons (licenciement économique), it may not employ a person in the same position in the six months following the redundancy.

• A CDD cannot be given for jobs considered dangerous. For a list: Click here (in French)

Contrat de Travail Temporaire (Temporary Job Contract)

The contract conditions are almost the same as for a CDD except that there are three parties involved, the employer, the employee and the employment agency. Companies can only use temporary employees for short-term activities. The employee is hired and paid for each placement by the agency.

In most cases the length of the job contract cannot exceed 18 months.

Contrat de Travail CDD Senior

This is a fixed term contract for people aged 57 and over who have been looking for a job for more than three months. The employee has an 18 month contract renewable for a further 18 months.

Contrat d'Avenir (Contract for the Future)

This contract is intended for those who have received the Revenu Minimum d'Insertion (RMI), the Allocation de Parent Isolé (single parent allowance), the Allocation de Adulte Handicapé (disability allowance) or the Allocation de Solidarité Spécifique (solidarity allowance) for at least six months. The employee has a two-year part-time CDD, renewable for 12 months, but may still benefit from the allowances that they were entitled to before. During this time the person can also participate in job re-training.

The employee can break the contract for one of the following reasons:

• Recruitment for a CDI
• Recruitment for a CDD for a length of at least six months
• To follow a training course that will lead to a professional qualification

Contrat de Travail à Temps Partiel (Part time Job Contract)

This contract can exist as a CDI or a CDD and can apply to any employee who works less than 35 hours a week. The annual total cannot exceed 1,607 hours. In the private sector, a minimum of 60 hours a month is required to benefit from social security benefits.

A part-time job contract must always be in writing and should mention the following:

• Employee's job title
• Salary
• Monthly or weekly amount of hours
• The maximum overtime allowed
• Weekly or monthly division of work time
• When and how weekly or monthly hours can be modified

The employer must give seven days notice to change the times that the employee is expected to work. The employee can refuse any modification unless it is stipulated in the job contract, and can refuse any changes that are incompatible with family obligations, other working hours, in case of training or studies or due to other professional activities.

If the employee works more than two hours overtime for twelve consecutive weeks or for twelve out of fifteen weeks the job contract must be changed to allow for the extra hours. Seven days notice are required and the employee must agree to any changes.

Ending a Contract

Regardless of the type of job contract, the employer has to give the following documents to the employee at the end of the contract:

• Certificate stating position held (certificat de travail)
• A document for the Assédic (attestation Assédic), allowing the person to claim unemployment benefits

Further Information

• The French government website, Service-Public has comprehensive information: Click here (in French)
• Ministère de Travail, Cohésion Sociale et Logement (Ministry of employment)
• Employment website ANPE (in French)
• EU Factsheets Working in France
• French unemployment organisation ASSEDIC
• AngloINFO INFOrmation Page Employing Casual Labour in France