French Employment Law for Chinese Companies Hiring in France

If your Chinese company hires an employee working in France, French labour law applies to that employment relationship — not Chinese employment law, and generally not the law you may have chosen in the contract. Under EU rules and the French Labour Code, mandatory French protections (dismissal rules, working time, minimum wage, paid leave) govern any job physically performed on French soil, regardless of your head office in Beijing, Shanghai or Shenzhen.

This guide is written for Chinese employers, their HR directors and their France or EU regional executives. It explains what changes when you move from a Chinese employment framework to the French one, and where the compliance risks are highest. DAIRIA Law advises and represents Chinese and international employers on hiring, contracts, secondment and dismissal in France.

Why French law overrides your Chinese contract

Many Chinese groups assume that a contract signed in China, drafted under Chinese law and mentioning Chinese jurisdiction will continue to govern an employee sent to or hired in France. That assumption is a frequent and costly error.

Under the EU Rome I Regulation, even where you choose Chinese law as the governing law, the employee keeps the benefit of the mandatory protective provisions of the country where the work is habitually carried out. For a job performed in France, that means the French Labour Code’s core protections cannot be contracted away. In practice, a French labour court (Conseil de prud’hommes) will apply French rules on notice, severance, dismissal justification and paid leave whatever your contract says.

Key structural differences from Chinese employment practice:

No termination-at-will and stricter dismissal control. France requires a “real and serious cause” (cause réelle et sérieuse) for every dismissal, plus a formal procedure. There is no simple mutual agreement replacing the statutory framework except the specific “rupture conventionnelle”.
Collective bargaining agreements (conventions collectives). Your sector’s collective agreement is binding on you and often improves on the Labour Code (extra notice, higher severance, seniority bonuses). This layer has no direct equivalent in Chinese practice.
Heavy written-contract formalism. Fixed-term and part-time contracts that are not correctly written and dated are automatically re-characterised as permanent full-time contracts.

Employment contracts: the French rules you must follow

The default contract in France is the permanent contract, the CDI (contrat à durée indéterminée). Fixed-term contracts (CDD) are the exception and are strictly limited.

Fixed-term contracts (CDD). A CDD is only lawful for specific listed reasons (replacement of an absent employee, temporary increase in activity, seasonal work). It must be in writing and delivered to the employee within two working days of hiring. Under Article L.1242-12 of the French Labour Code, a CDD that is not established in writing is deemed to be a permanent contract. Renewals, maximum duration and the end-of-contract precarity bonus (usually 10% of gross pay) are all regulated.

Trial periods. Unlike the flexible probation common in China, French trial periods are capped by law and by the applicable collective agreement. You must respect a statutory notice period even during the trial once a minimum time has passed.

Language. A contract performed in France must be available in French; a Chinese or English-only contract can be unenforceable against the employee on any clause that disadvantages them.

Mandatory clauses and declarations. Before the employee starts, you must file the pre-hiring declaration (DPAE) with the French social-security body URSSAF. Failure to do so exposes you to charges of undeclared work (travail dissimulé), with criminal and financial consequences.

Working time, minimum wage and paid leave

French working-time rules are considerably more protective than typical Chinese practice, and the notorious “996” schedule is simply unlawful in France.

Legal working week: 35 hours. Hours beyond 35 per week are overtime, paid at increased rates (commonly +25% then +50%) or compensated in rest time under your collective agreement.
Maximum limits. As a rule, the working day may not exceed 10 hours and the week may not exceed 48 hours (44 hours on average over 12 weeks), subject to limited exceptions.
Daily and weekly rest. Employees are entitled to a minimum of 11 consecutive hours of daily rest and at least 35 consecutive hours of weekly rest.
Minimum wage (SMIC). You must pay at least the national minimum wage, revalued regularly, and never below the sector minimum set by the collective agreement.
Paid holiday. Employees accrue 2.5 working days of paid leave per month worked, i.e. five weeks per year — far above statutory Chinese annual leave.
Forfait-jours executives. For autonomous managers, a day-based annual working-time agreement (forfait-jours) is possible, but only with a valid collective-agreement basis and real monitoring of workload; defective forfait-jours agreements are routinely struck down.

Dismissal and termination: the highest-risk area

Terminating an employee in France is procedurally demanding, and errors are expensive. This is where Chinese employers face the biggest gap with home practice.

Every dismissal must rest on a real and serious cause, either personal (performance, misconduct) or economic. The procedure typically includes:

A written invitation to a preliminary meeting (entretien préalable).
The meeting itself, where the employee may be assisted.
A dismissal letter sent by registered mail after a waiting period, stating precise reasons.

Under Article L.1234-1 of the French Labour Code, a dismissed employee (except for gross misconduct) is entitled to a notice period, the length of which increases with seniority. Statutory severance pay applies after a minimum length of service under Article L.1234-9, and your collective agreement may require more.

If a French labour court finds the dismissal lacks real and serious cause, it awards damages within the scale set by Article L.1235-3 (the “Barème Macron”), based on seniority. Procedural defects generate additional compensation. For null dismissals (for example, discrimination or harassment-related), the cap does not apply.

The rupture conventionnelle is a negotiated mutual termination with its own approval procedure through the labour administration; it is the closest French tool to an amicable exit, but it cannot be used to bypass dismissal protections.

Secondment vs. local hire: choosing your entry structure

Chinese groups entering France usually choose between seconding staff from China and hiring locally.

Posting/secondment (détachement). If you post a Chinese employee to France temporarily while keeping the Chinese contract, France’s posted-worker rules impose a “hard core” of French protections — minimum wage, working time, health and safety — plus a prior online declaration and a designated representative in France. Non-compliance triggers administrative fines. A France–China bilateral social-security agreement may, for a limited period, allow the employee to remain under Chinese social security instead of the French scheme; the certificate must be obtained in advance.

Local hire. Hiring directly under a French contract subjects you fully to the Labour Code, the collective agreement and French social charges (roughly 40–45% employer contributions on gross salary in many sectors). This is usually the right structure for durable operations.

DAIRIA Law assists Chinese employers in choosing the compliant structure, drafting the French contract and collective-agreement mapping, and managing terminations.

FAQ

Does Chinese employment law apply to our employee working in France?

No. For work habitually performed in France, mandatory French Labour Code protections apply even if the contract chooses Chinese law and Chinese courts. You can keep some Chinese-law elements, but you cannot deprive the employee of French protective rules on dismissal, working time, minimum wage and paid leave.

Can we terminate a French employee the way we would in China?

No. France has no true termination-at-will. Every dismissal needs a real and serious cause and a strict written procedure, with statutory notice and severance under Articles L.1234-1 and L.1234-9. An unjustified dismissal leads to damages under the scale of Article L.1235-3.

Are fixed-term contracts a safe way to stay flexible?

Only within narrow limits. A CDD is valid solely for legally listed reasons, must be in writing per Article L.1242-12, and has capped duration and renewals. Misused CDDs are re-characterised as permanent contracts, with back pay and damages.

As a local employer you owe substantial employer social-security contributions to URSSAF on top of gross salary, funding health, pension, unemployment and family branches. Rates vary by sector and salary level; budgeting only the net salary is a common and serious mistake.

Can we send Chinese managers to France without hiring them locally?

Yes, through secondment, but you must file the prior posting declaration, appoint a French representative, and apply France’s core protective rules. A social-security certificate under the France–China agreement may keep the employee in the Chinese scheme for a limited time; it must be secured beforehand.

Compliance checklist for Chinese employers in France: file the DPAE before day one; use a French-language CDI as the default; verify the applicable collective agreement; respect the 35-hour framework and 5 weeks of paid leave; and never dismiss without a real and serious cause and the full procedure. DAIRIA Law advises, assists and represents Chinese and international employers across hiring, secondment, payroll compliance and dismissal in France. Contact us before you hire or terminate — the costliest errors are the ones made at signature and at exit.