Hiring in France from a UK HQ: Contracts, Compliance, and Payroll Basics

Expanding into France from a UK head office can feel familiar yet quite different. The fundamentals of good HR still apply, but the French Labour Code, sectoral agreements, and strong employee protections shape how you hire, onboard, and pay people. Get the building blocks right and you avoid costly missteps later.

Early on, align your UK templates to French requirements so offers, contracts, and handbooks are enforceable in France. This is where specialist input pays off: French lawyers in London and the UK can translate UK HR practice into compliant French documentation without slowing your hiring plans.

Think of your process in three tracks: contracts and probation; benefits and social charges; payroll and remote work. Keep documents bilingual where practical and ensure managers understand local working‐time rules.

Contracts and Probation

• Most hires are on open‑ended “CDI” contracts; fixed‑term “CDD” contracts are only legal in specified cases.
• Probation periods must be in writing, time‑limited, and renewed only under strict legal conditions. For a CDI, the maximum probation is generally 2‑4 months, depending on job category; it can sometimes be renewed once so total probation may reach up to 4‑8 months in certain managerial/executive roles.
• For CDD contracts the probation period is typically much shorter (e.g. 2‑4 weeks depending on the duration of the CDD).
• Hiring teams should also watch market cycles: e.g. recruitment market updates in Europe (and Germany) has softened in recent quarters, making candidate leverage lower and clear compliant offers more important.

Benefits and Social Charges

• Employer costs in France are significant. Employer social contributions are typically 40‑50% of gross salary.
• Employee contributions are generally in the 20‑25% range of gross salary.
• Beyond base pay, mandatory compulsory benefits include healthcare, pension contributions (basic and supplementary ARCCO/AGIRC schemes), family benefits, life/disability insurance in some sectors, mutuelle (top‑up private health insurance), and sometimes transport or commuting allowances.
• Paid leave is far more generous than in many UK contracts: employees accrue 5 weeks’ paid leave per year (usually 2.5 working days per month) for full‑year work.
• Social charges are often the biggest line item: when you include employer contributions + statutory benefit costs, your total cost of employment can be well above the headline salary—sometimes ~1.4× the gross salary in budget forecasts.

Payroll and Payslips

• Payroll in France is run monthly. Each payslip (bulletin de paie) must itemise: gross pay, employer and employee contributions, net pay, any deductions, collective agreement references, etc.
• Reporting: DSN (Déclaration Sociale Nominative) is required to report social contributions each month. Delays or errors can lead to fines or retroactive recalculations.
• If you don’t yet have a French‐entity, using an Employer of Record (EOR) may help ensure compliance whilst you set up locally. If you do have a French entity, partner with a local payroll bureau or provider with strong French compliance capability.

Remote Work Rules

• France treats telework (remote work) as a formal arrangement, not just a perk. Policies or contract addenda should specify eligibility, working hours, data security, equipment, expense reimbursement, and the “right to disconnect” (droit à la déconnexion).
• Working time rules (legal maximums, rest periods) are strictly enforced. For example, the standard legal maximum weekly working time is 35 hours for many sectors, but there are exceptions; overtime rules and rest periods are tightly regulated under the Code du travail.

Practical Steps for UK Teams

• Map each hire to the correct contract type (CDI vs CDD), collective agreement, and job classification.
• Lock down probation terms in writing and diarise any renewal deadlines.
• Model total cost of employment, including social charges, compulsory benefits, payroll overheads. Use a multiplier (e.g. ~1.4× gross salary) when estimating total employer cost.
• Choose a payroll route able to produce legally compliant French payslips and filings.
• Document remote work / telework arrangements; train managers on working time obligations, rest/leave rules, and “disconnect” obligations.

Hiring in France from a UK HQ involves more than exporting your current HR playbook. It is vital that you align contracts, benefits, payroll, and remote‑work policies with French requirements to ensure compliance and to attract top talent. With the right preparation, you can ensure smooth onboarding, strong employee relations, and a competitive operation.

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