Hiring in France: costs, rules and the best EOR providers

Yes, a lawful model can be used, but “EOR” is not a blanket exemption from French labour-supply law. Portage salarial is one regulated route for suitably qualified, autonomous professionals providing eligible services; it is not a universal wrapper for ordinary supervised employment.

Its client assignment is limited to 36 months. The provider must explain which lawful model fits the actual duties and management before you sign.

Consider a French SAS when France is a lasting operation that needs direct employment and local commercial control. Compare EOR fees with incorporation, accounts, payroll, employment administration and internal management over the same period.

A subsidiary still has French employer obligations, and staff transfers need planning. The legal suitability of the current EOR arrangement can make the move necessary before a simple fee crossover suggests it.

The normal statutory full-time working week is 35 hours; it is not an absolute ban on longer work. The EOR must apply the relevant agreement on hours, overtime and any RTT rest days.

RTT is not a universal fixed annual allowance. A valid forfait-jours arrangement uses a different annual-days system and its own rest-day calculation. Match the contract to the actual working pattern before setting the employee’s schedule.

No, France does not impose a universal thirteenth-month salary. It becomes payable when required by the applicable collective agreement, employment contract, binding employer commitment or established workplace practice.

The EOR must identify which basis applies and show whether the agreed annual gross salary already includes it. A provider calling it “standard” is not enough to establish either a legal obligation or an extra charge.

The applicable convention collective normally follows the employer’s principal activity and the agreement’s scope, not simply the employee’s job title or your company’s industry.

A software role is therefore not automatically covered by Syntec. Require the EOR to identify its employing entity, legal model, collective agreement and IDCC number, then check the classification used for pay and working time. Special agency or portage rules need their own assessment.

Forfait jours measures eligible employees’ work in days over the year instead of weekly hours. It requires an enabling collective agreement and an individual written agreement, and the employee must have the necessary autonomy.

The ordinary agreed annual ceiling is 218 days. The EOR must monitor workload, rest and work–life balance; calling someone a manager does not remove those safeguards or automatically make them eligible.

For an ordinary permanent contract, rupture conventionnelle is a voluntary agreement between the employee and the actual employer, followed by administrative approval.

It cannot be imposed because you cancel the EOR service. Allow the 15-calendar-day withdrawal period and the subsequent 15-working-day approval period, and budget the required termination payment. Protected employees use a separate authorisation process. Agree the employment end date only after the statutory process is satisfied.

The EOR must generally offer private-sector employees collective supplementary health cover and fund at least 50% of the premium, subject to permitted exemptions.

Meal vouchers are different: there is no universal duty to provide them, although an agreement or employment commitment can require a benefit. Ask for the actual health plan, employer share and meal-benefit terms rather than treating every provider’s benefits package as legally identical.