Employer of Record (EOR) in France
An Employer of Record is your top choice when you need a local employment framework but are not ready to form a subsidiary. NNRoad’s local team supports contract preparation, onboarding administration, payroll, benefits, statutory filings, HR documentation and changes throughout employment. You continue to direct the employee’s work, objectives, deliverables and performance.
EOR, payroll, contracting or a French entity?
The employing structure matters because its principal activity determines the convention collective and the employment terms it must support. Choose the route from the real working relationship and your business plans.
When an EOR fits
Use EOR when the person will be an employee, your company has no French employing entity and you want to hire before committing to incorporation.
If you already have a French employer and need payroll execution, use managed payroll services in France instead.
Contracting might be more suitable if there is an independent project. If the person will work under your managers and ongoing direction, assess classification through the France on-demand talent service.
Why “PEO France” is not the same decision
PEO is a broad international search term, not a complete description of the French arrangement. If a provider uses “PEO,” ask who employs the worker, which legal structure is used and who carries each employment obligation.
This page uses EOR for an employee hired without your own French entity; it does not treat PEO and EOR as automatic synonyms.
EOR vs filiale locale (local subsidiary)
A filiale locale gives you your own employer platform and can fit sustained hiring, local invoicing, regulated activity or permanent in-country operations.
EOR can support a first hire, a small team or a bridge while an entity is prepared. Include the expected headcount and operating plan in the route decision so a temporary solution does not become an unexamined long-term structure.
The very First step: Identify the convention collective
Identify the agreement and classification because their higher minimum can prevail over the statutory wage floor. Under official guidance on French collective agreements, the employer’s principal activity determines the applicable convention collective, and an extended agreement binds employers in the covered sector. The worker’s job title alone does not let the parties select a preferred agreement.
Match activity, agreement and classification
Start with the employing entity’s activity, then place the role in the agreement’s classification system. The result can change minimum pay, the permitted période d’essai (trial period), benefits, leave and exit terms, etc. As a professional EOR provider, NNRoad would not present Syntec as a universal France EOR agreement, because the agreement is determined case by case.
This is also why an EOR quote cannot be derived from gross salary alone. Two roles with the same title and salary can produce different employment terms when the employing activity, classification, location or working arrangement differs.
Check the SMIC and higher minimum
From 1 June 2026, the gross Salaire minimum interprofessionnel de croissance (SMIC, statutory minimum wage) is €12.31 per hour and €1,867.02 per month for 151.67 hours.
If the convention collective and classification set a higher minimum, the higher figure controls. Check both floors on the intended start date and whenever compensation changes.
Put the employment contract in French
Draft the French contrat de travail
Under article L1221-3 of the Code du travail, a written contrat de travail (employment contract) must be drafted in French. A foreign employee can request a translation into their own language; if the texts conflict, only the employee-language version can be invoked against that employee. Use one controlled drafting process so role, pay, schedule, benefits and governing terms stay aligned across versions.
Set the période d’essai by category and agreement
For a contrat à durée indéterminée (CDI, indefinite-term contract), the statutory initial caps are two months for workers and employees, three months for supervisors and technicians, and four months for executives. Keep in mind that the Code du travail trial-period provisions allow one renewal only where an extended branch agreement permits it, with total caps of four, six and eight months respectively.
hours, leave and location
- France’s full-time legal baseline is 35 hours a week, 151.67 hours a month or 1,607 hours a year. The official working-time guidance also gives a general ceiling of 48 hours in one week and 44 hours on average over 12 consecutive weeks. State the intended schedule and time-recording approach; copying a 40-hour global schedule can create overtime and tracking consequences.
- Paid leave accrues at 2.5 working days per month, reaching 30 working days or five weeks for a complete year under the private-sector paid-leave rules. During non-occupational sickness, accrual continues at up to two working days per month, capped at 24 for the reference year. Budget coverage and keep absence data current because leave balances affect both workforce planning and final settlement.
- Work location is a legal input. Moselle, Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin have Alsace-Moselle rules for Sundays and holidays, including local treatment of 26 December and, in qualifying communes, Good Friday. Provide the department and any expected travel pattern before the schedule and holiday calendar are finalized.
Estimate salary, mutuelle and pension
| Cost input | What to define | Why it changes the estimate |
|---|---|---|
| 01 Cash compensation | Base salary, variable pay, commissions, allowances and guaranteed bonuses | Each item can affect payroll, benefits, collective-agreement minimums and final pay. |
| 02 Employer charges and pension | Salary level, employee classification and applicable contribution ceilings | Agirc-Arrco supplementary pension contributions are banded. The 2026 monthly Social Security ceiling is €4,005. |
| 03 Mutuelle and other benefits Supplementary health coverage | Coverage, permitted exemptions and collective-agreement enhancements | Employers must fund at least 50% of collective supplementary health coverage. |
| 04 Working time and leave | Schedule, overtime approach, leave and absence assumptions | These inputs affect staffing coverage, payroll calculations and accrued leave balances. |
| 05 Exit exposure | Contract type, seniority, notice and expected process | Collective-agreement terms can exceed statutory notice and indemnity minimums. |
| 06 EOR service fees | Setup, recurring administration and case-specific services | Obtain a scoped proposal rather than inferring service fees from statutory employment costs. |
Use the complete employment package and planned lifecycle when estimating cost—not a single universal gross-to-cost percentage.
Build a France employment budget
On Dismissal and Headcount
Notice, indemnity and procedure
Statutory dismissal indemnity generally starts after eight uninterrupted months. The minimum is one-quarter of a month’s reference salary per year through ten years, then one-third per year after that, unless a more favorable term applies. The official dismissal-indemnity guidance also explains the reference-salary and seniority rules.
Check headcount and Alsace-Moselle
Scale changes the operating case. A Comité social et économique (CSE, employee representative body) must be established once the employer has at least 11 employees for 12 consecutive months under article L2311-2 of the Code du travail. Combine forecast headcount with the work-location rules above when deciding whether EOR remains suitable or an entity plan should advance.
Complete day-one checks, then manage the employment lifecycle
Prepare start-date evidence
Manage payroll inputs and changes
After the start, report variable pay, expenses, leave, absence and approved changes before the payroll cutoff. France uses the monthly Déclaration sociale nominative (DSN, social declaration) and prélèvement à la source (PAS, income-tax withholding). Detailed mechanics belong on the payroll page.
Tell the local team before changing salary, duties, hours, location or employment status. For an exit, provide the reason and supporting facts before communicating a date to the employee.
Prepare your France EOR case
- Role duties, so the agreement and classification can be assessed.
- Salary, variable pay and benefits, so both wage floors and cost can be checked.
- Weekly schedule and time-recording expectations against the 35-hour baseline.
- Working pattern, including any Alsace-Moselle location.
- Candidate nationality and if they need work permits.
- Intended contract duration and start date.
- Forecast headcount over 12 months, including whether the CSE threshold is approaching.