Suppose you intend to expand your operations into France. In that case, you may be aware of the complications that can arise when setting up and maintaining a new entity. Company incorporation takes time; going through the required steps means fees and man-hours spent that could otherwise be directed towards company growth.
Additionally, ensuring regulatory compliance and managing HR operations such as payroll means hiring new staff pulling staff away from other tasks.
A PEO (Professional Employer Organization) offers companies around the world a quick and safe way to expand their operations to overseas markets by taking charge of essential HR services. Through a PEO in France, companies can hire and manage employees overseas in as little as 48h.
An Employer of Record (EOR) in France provides companies with a cost-efficient and secure way to follow global expansion strategies by acting as the employer for oversees workers to simplify tax and compliance assurance responsibilities.
For companies looking to boost their global mobility potential, INS Global’s EOR provides the perfect mix of experience and expertise in the international market
Enjoy the expertise of a team of experienced legal specialists, whatever challenges may arise
The tasks that would take an entire team or department can be accomplished with just one monthly payment
Focus on your business goals and leave the complications of day-to-day HR operations to us
Company incorporation in a foreign country can take months, while with a PEO, you can be operating in France in a matter of days
Work with one point of contact to take care of every service necessary from the day you begin
The cost of opening a new company in a foreign country and then maintaining it can be cumbersome for a business that wants to focus on growth and success in the new market.
A PEO offers a way for companies to operate in their market of choice without worrying about all of the downsides involved in Company Incorporation or entering into any kind of Joint-Venture agreement.
A PEO:
The Advantage in Figures
PEO/EOR
Company Incorporation
Price
80% Less Expensive
Market Entry
2-5 Days
6 Months
Companies seeking to simplify their HR service needs will likely see references to both Professional Employer Organization (PEO) and Employer of Record (EOR) services. The benefits they provide are similar, but they differ in how they deliver them.
It’s important to understand the possible differences to choose the type of service that suits you and your needs best. This may depend on the size of your company or whether you already have some presence in the target market and wish to hire workers on a more temporary basis.
INS Global offers both PEO and EOR services in France according to your needs.
For a complete breakdown of the differences, you can read our article on the subject.
Contracts in France must be first understood alongside the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that applies to them. This depends on the industry and the type of work involved.
France allows for two types of contracts, Fixed Term (CDD), and Permanent (CDI).
A CDD can only be offered for a specific temporary basis with a known end-date, such as temporarily replacing a worker. It must include a written contract.
France has a minimum wage. In 2022, this is EUR 10.57 (hourly gross).
A Standard work week in France is 35 hours. While this may be the legal standard, this is not necessarily the case in practice.
According to the labor law, anything outside the standard 35 hours per week is considered overtime.
For overtime work, the rate is 1.25x standard salary for the first 8 hours and 1.5x standard salary beyond that.
While legally, an employer only has to offer 20 minutes of break every 6 hours, it should be noted that lunch breaks are expected to be long, potentially 1.5 or 2 hours.
There are 11 days of annual paid public holidays in France (with 2 additional days in some parts of the country). Ten of these are technically at the discretion of the employer and should be included in the employment contract.
Many companies may also include “bridge” days to extend public holidays that fall on a Thursday.
French workers are entitled to 2.5 days of paid annual leave per month worked, or 5 weeks annually, with some restrictions as to when this leave can be taken.
Employees who have worked consistently for 90 days or have paid a set amount into their social security for 6 months before falling ill are eligible for up to 6 months paid sick leave in France.
Employees wishing to take paid sick leave must provide a doctor’s note as proof.
Sick leave allowance is typically 50% of standard salary, and is paid by social insurance. Some circumstances can raise this, like having 3 or more children, or if the employee has worked for their company for more than a month. In either circumstance, the sick leave allowance is raised to 90% of gross salary.
Sick leave allowance decreases after 3 months of illness.
A Standard work week in France is 35 hours. While this may be the legal standard, this is not necessarily the case in practice.
According to the labor law, anything outside the standard 35 hours per week is considered overtime.
For overtime work, the rate is 1.25x standard salary for the first 8 hours and 1.5x standard salary beyond that.
While legally, an employer only has to offer 20 minutes of break every 6 hours, it should be noted that lunch breaks are expected to be long, potentially 1.5 or 2 hours.
Individual taxes are paid on a progressive scale from 0 to 45% and also depend on the familial status of a taxpayer.
For social security contributions, the employer is obliged to contribute around 45% of the employee’s gross salary, while the employee contributes between 20-23%. These payments provide employees with all benefits of medical, unemployment, accident, and pension insurance.
In France, the cost of expert EOR services is determined as a portion of the monthly salary of a co-employed person. All HR duties necessary to guarantee adherence to all regional employment laws are included in this pricing.
Without needing to form a specific company structure, handling employer duties in France through an EOR is safe, legal, and effective. EORs achieve this by retaining top-notch HR support and employing local legal experts.
Your team members will be fully protected by the law, get accurate and timely payments each month, and have access to all employee benefits in France with an EOR service agreement.
Independent contractors that interact with their clients inside a French EOR framework may be qualified for many or all of the same benefits as regular employees while maintaining complete control over their work. As if they were employing an umbrella organization, this is what would happen.
By utilizing their extensive professional networks, in-depth knowledge of local business resources and benchmarks, and persistent dedication to ethical hiring practices, our team of recruitment consultants can locate the greatest local talent in France for your needs.
As a result, integrating these new hires into our French EOR framework will be simpler and more efficient than if they had been hired using more traditional hiring practices.
Through INS Global, you receive comprehensive compliance-assured employment outsourcing assistance from a truly global EOR services provider. This complies with all municipal, regional, and federal laws.
It’s possible that certain PEO or EOR service providers in France have minimal hiring standards or a cap on the number of workers you may hire at once. INS Global is aware, however, that depending on your global company strategy, you might need to scale up or down swiftly at any given time. As a result, working with us gives you the flexibility to hire as few or as many people as you need to realize your objectives.
Salary, recruiting service fees, signing bonuses, and other direct and indirect costs, including incentive schemes, handling foreign employees’ taxes, and social insurance, should all be considered when calculating the cost of hiring in France.
By forgoing the requirement for a local location, you can bypass time-consuming incorporation laws by employing French PEO services.
However, it’s still a good idea to give your staff the choice to work in a shared workspace or the freedom to do so whenever and wherever it’s most convenient.
Absolutely. We can handle the relevant visa and work permit formalities if local employment regulations, tax legislation, or employee benefits differ for French nationals or foreigners.
EOR and PEO solutions are the best for assuring the effective and secure employment of foreign or local personnel for businesses of all sizes, from SMEs to multinational corporations. If necessary, our services can quickly scale up to meet rising employment demands and can replace more intricate internal HR requirements.
Businesses in a number of industries that either don’t have their own structures in a target country (or desire to avoid cost-scaling issues while focusing on expansion) would benefit greatly from the legal expertise offered by PEO and EOR services.
Two different categories of third parties—staffing companies and umbrella corporations—can be utilized to directly or indirectly hire independent contractors.
The majority of independent contractors in France either work for themselves or operate their own small businesses. French legislation states that a labor agreement, not an employment contract, must be used to recruit contractors.
A CV, portfolio, verified references, and possibly a signed NDA may be requested from an independent contractor prior to the commencement of the job.
Known for having one of the most complex payslips in Europe, French employers must take care of multiple, often overlapping, systems for deducting tax and social security contributions for their workers. Typically made on a monthly basis, all payments have to include details of every deduction and contribution.
The gross minimum wage in France, known as the SMIC, is now 11,52 euros per hour in 2023.
France includes 2 tiers of procedures for immigration and working visas. Citizens of the EU and the EFTA do not need any type of additional documentation to live and work in France. All others require one of the following:
In France, employers are responsible for organizing and withholding amounts of an employee‘s monthly salary to arrange their tax and social security payments. In addition, employers are expected to share in the contributions to the employee‘s social security fund. This means employers and employees must each pay an equivalent of around 20% of the employee‘s gross salary per month.
Employees in France are entitled to many benefits, with some of the best employee protections and benefits in the world. They‘re entitled to medical insurance, pension, life insurance, a transport allowance, work injury insurance, paid leave for sickness as well as parental responsibilities and annual vacation. In addition, many companies offer a range of other benefits to stay competitive on the national market.
Employers in France need the written consent of the employee to alter anything related to the employee‘s contract or working conditions.
For those with a social security fund, the healthcare system is a universal right covering the majority of the country‘s mixed public and private system. Most healthcare is free or highly subsidized, with patients paying extra for some additional services (which may also be covered by the country‘s system of supplementary medical insurance plans taken out by individual companies).
It is notoriously difficult to terminate an employee in France without the agreement of the employee. All employees who have worked for a company for longer than 8 months are eligible for mandatory severance pay which is calculated as at least 25% of a month’s salary per year of employer or 33% for more than 10 years of employment.
Notice periods are determined by the employee’s CBA.
The Inspection du travail is the government body in charge of overseeing the application of the French Labor Code.
While only May 1st is mandated as a paid day off nationally, it‘s common practice to offer all 11 national public holidays as paid leave.
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