About DAIRIA Law

Afraid of French employment law?
We’re here to put your mind at rest.

Putting your mind at rest does not mean telling you there is nothing to worry about. It means explaining exactly what French law requires, what it does not, and where the real limits are — and then handling each step with you.

Who we are

DAIRIA Law is the English-language practice of DAIRIA Avocats, a French law firm based at 65 rue Hénon in Lyon and dedicated to employment law on the employer side. It was founded and is managed by Sofiane Coly, Avocat au Barreau de Lyon.

We work for human resources directors, general counsel and managing directors of international groups that employ people in France — whether through a French subsidiary, a branch, or staff hired directly by a foreign entity. Our clients usually know employment law well in their own country. What they lack is a clear view of how the French system works in practice, and someone who can explain it in their language.

French employment law has a reputation abroad: that employees cannot be dismissed, that the works council can block any decision, that the 35-hour week forbids longer days, that a labour court claim has no ceiling. Some of it is true, much of it is not, and almost all of it comes from not knowing the procedure. Our role is to close that gap.

How we work: from the fear to the procedure

Every matter we handle follows the same four steps. They are the practical meaning of our promise.

  1. Step 1

    We start from what worries you

    Headquarters rarely asks “what does article L.1232-2 require?”. It asks “can we let this person go?”, “will the works council block us?”, “what is this going to cost?”. We take the question as you put it, in English, and we name the fear behind it.

  2. Step 2

    We replace it with the exact procedure

    Each answer sets out the steps French law actually requires, in the order they happen, with the article of the Labour Code or the collective agreement that imposes them. Your legal and HR teams can check every point against the source.

  3. Step 3

    We tell you where the limits are

    A procedure followed correctly reduces risk; it does not remove it. We say plainly what depends on the facts, on the evidence, on your collective agreement or on a judge’s assessment, so that your decision is taken knowing what is certain and what is not.

  4. Step 4

    We stay with you through each step

    Letters, meetings, works council consultations, negotiations, and, when it comes to that, the labour court: we prepare each step with you and remain your point of contact in France until the matter is closed.

What we will not tell you

Reassurance that is not accurate is worth nothing the day a claim is filed. French lawyers are also bound by strict professional rules on how they present their services. So you will not hear from us:

  • that a case is “risk-free” or that you will win it: no lawyer can promise the outcome of a dispute;
  • figures, deadlines or amounts without the official source they come from;
  • that a step is optional when the law makes it mandatory, or mandatory when it is only good practice;
  • anything about other firms: we describe how we work, not how others do.

What you will get instead is the procedure, its source, its limits, and an honest view of the options open to you, including the ones that involve doing nothing for now.

The questions we are asked most

Hiring in France: which contract, which collective agreement, what the full employer cost will be, and what has to be in French. Letting someone go: dismissal for personal reasons, mutual termination, protected employees, and the documents that make the difference later. The works council (CSE): when it must be informed or consulted, what information it is entitled to, and what its opinion does and does not change. Working time: the 35-hour reference, overtime, and the conditions of a days-based arrangement for managers. Disputes: labour court proceedings, social security inspections and workplace accident claims, from the first letter to the hearing.

For each of these, the common fears and what actually happens are summarised on our home page, and our employer guides go into the detail, with their sources.

Tell us what worries you.
We’ll show you the procedure.

A first conversation is the moment to put the question as your headquarters asks it. We will tell you what the law requires, what it does not, and how we would handle it with you.

Schedule a Consultation