Hiring in France
The foreign employer’s guide: which contract, which formalities before day one, what probation the law allows, and what actually sets the minimum salary. Sourced from the French Labour Code.
You can hire without a French entity
The most common misconception first: a foreign company does not need a French subsidiary to employ someone in France. French social security operates a dedicated registration channel for foreign employers without an establishment, through which you declare hires and pay contributions while applying French employment law to the relationship.
Whether you should create an entity is a different question — commercial activity, permanent establishment risk and scale drive it. But a first hire, a remote employee or a small French team can be employed directly. (If your staff only comes to France temporarily, that is a posting, not a hire — see our Posted Workers guide.)
The contract: CDI by default, CDD by exception
Article L.1221-2 of the Labour Code states that the permanent contract (CDI) is “the normal and general form of the employment relationship”. Fixed-term contracts (CDD) exist only for listed situations, in writing, with an end or a precise purpose — using one outside those cases exposes the employer to requalification into a CDI.
For a foreign employer, the written contract is where everything gets locked in: the applicable collective agreement, the classification of the role, the remuneration structure, the working-time regime and the probation clause. Getting those wrong at signature is far more expensive than getting them right — most French employment disputes trace back to one of these clauses.
Before day one: the DPAE
The déclaration préalable à l’embauche (DPAE) is the formality that makes the hire lawful: under article L.1221-10, the hire cannot take place until the employer has filed this nominative declaration with the social protection bodies, for each workplace where staff are employed.
This is the first document any labour inspection or URSSAF audit will ask for. An employee working without a DPAE puts the employer in undeclared-work territory — the most severe enforcement regime in French employment law, with criminal exposure and loss of social contribution reliefs.
Around the DPAE cluster the other onboarding steps: affiliation to the mandatory complementary schemes (health coverage with a compulsory employer share, prévoyance where the agreement requires it), the occupational-medicine information and prevention visit, and registration in the staff records.
Probation: capped by law, shaped by the agreement
A CDI may include a probation period only if the contract says so, and article L.1221-19 caps its initial duration by category: two months for blue-collar and white-collar employees, with higher caps as you move up to supervisors and technicians, then executives.
Renewal is possible once at most, and only under strict conditions — it must be provided for by the applicable branch agreement and accepted in the contract. The collective agreement can also set shorter maxima than the law. In other words: you cannot draft the probation clause before knowing which agreement applies.
Salary: two floors, the higher one wins
The statutory minimum wage (SMIC) is the absolute floor — but it is rarely the operative one. The applicable collective agreement sets its own minima by classification level, frequently above the SMIC for qualified roles, plus mandatory pay components (bonuses, premiums) of its own. The employee is entitled to whichever floor is higher.
On top of gross salary come employer social contributions — health, retirement, unemployment, family allowances, workplace accidents — moderated near the minimum wage by France’s general reduction of contributions. The result is a total cost curve that is far from linear: run the numbers with our Hiring Cost Calculator.
The operational heart of a French hire is the collective agreement: it decides the minimum salary, the probation, the notice periods, sometimes working time. DAIRIA AI identifies the applicable agreement and reads its current grid, with sources — before you sign, not after.
Hiring in France — key questions
Do we need a French subsidiary to hire an employee in France?
No. A foreign company can employ staff in France without creating a local entity: French social security has a dedicated registration channel for foreign employers with no establishment in France, which allows you to declare the hire, run payroll contributions and comply with French employment law. Whether a subsidiary is preferable is a separate question — tax presence, commercial activity and scale matter — but hiring alone does not require one.
Which contract should we use — and does it have to be in writing?
The permanent contract (CDI) is the legal default: article L.1221-2 of the Labour Code states it is “the normal and general form of the employment relationship”. Fixed-term contracts (CDD) are the exception, allowed only for listed cases and formalised in writing. In practice a written contract is the rule for every hire — and for a non-French employer it is where the applicable collective agreement, classification, remuneration structure and probation are locked in.
What is the DPAE and when must it be filed?
The déclaration préalable à l’embauche is a nominative declaration filed with the social protection bodies before the employee starts: article L.1221-10 of the Labour Code says the hire “cannot take place until” it has been made. It is filed per workplace, covers social security registration and is the first formality any inspection will check. Skipping it exposes the employer to undeclared-work sanctions — the most serious enforcement territory in French employment law.
How long can the probation period last?
For a CDI, article L.1221-19 caps the initial probation by category: two months for blue-collar and white-collar employees, with longer caps as you move up to supervisors, technicians and executives. Renewal is possible only once and only under strict conditions (it must be provided for by the applicable branch agreement and the contract). The applicable collective agreement can also set shorter durations — another reason to identify it before drafting.
What determines the minimum salary — the SMIC or something else?
Both floors apply, and the higher one wins. The statutory minimum wage (SMIC) is the absolute floor, but the applicable collective agreement almost always sets its own minima by classification level — frequently above the SMIC for qualified roles. Identifying the applicable agreement and reading its current pay grid is therefore step one of any French hire. That is exactly what DAIRIA AI does: it reads the applicable agreement, its grid and its extension status, with sources.
Hiring your first employee in France?
We advise foreign employers from the first hire to full French teams — contract, collective agreement, payroll setup and compliance, handled in English.