🇫🇷 Hiring in France

💡 Everything you need to know to hire and manage employees in France through Toku. Toku handles payroll processing, tax withholding, social contributions, and statutory compliance. This guide covers what you need to plan costs and manage your team.

At a Glance

Onboarding a New Hire

Plan for 6-8 business days between submitting a new hire and their start date. France requires a pre-hire declaration (DPAE) filed at least 48 hours before the start date, and Toku asks for 5 business days to complete it. Toku also enrolls the employee in mandatory supplementary health insurance (mutuelle) at hire, and arranges the required medical exam before the end of probation; the employee just needs to attend.

Submit the new hire through the Toku platform for the employment agreement, statutory registrations and payroll setup. See Onboard Contributors as a Client Admin in Toku for the steps. Toku will confirm the expected onboarding timing for your hire.

Employer Costs

France has one of the highest employer contribution burdens in Europe. On top of each employee's gross salary, you pay:

As a rule of thumb, total cost of employment is roughly 142-147% of gross salary. A 13th month salary is not required by law, but some collective agreements (for example banking and insurance) mandate one; Toku will confirm whether your employee's agreement does.

Employees pay their own contributions of roughly 20-23% (pension, social charges such as CSG and CRDS, and supplementary pension), plus income tax withheld at source. These come out of gross salary, not on top of your costs. Toku calculates and remits all of the above.

Compensation & Payroll

Toku runs one payroll per month in France, and employees receive a detailed payslip (bulletin de paie) each cycle. The minimum wage (SMIC) is EUR 12.31 gross per hour as of 1 June 2026, which is EUR 1,867.02 gross per month for a 35-hour week; many collective agreements set higher sector minimums. Where a 13th month applies, it is typically paid in December or split between mid-year and year-end.

Employment Contracts & Probation

• Toku issues a compliant local employment agreement for every hire, drafted in French as the law requires (a bilingual version can be provided).
• The indefinite-term contract (CDI) is the default. Fixed-term contracts (CDD) are only allowed in specific circumstances and are generally capped at 18 months including renewals.
• Probation is 6 months under Toku's employment agreement, in line with the renewal rules of the Labour Code and applicable collective agreement.

Working Hours

The standard legal working week is 35 hours. Hours beyond 35 count as overtime: 125% pay for hours 36 through 43 and 150% from hour 44, with an annual cap of 220 overtime hours (collective agreements can vary this). The absolute maximum is 48 hours in any week. Autonomous managers can instead work under an annual working-day arrangement (forfait jours, typically 218 days per year). France also has a mandatory right to disconnect outside working hours.

Leave Entitlements

Annual leave accrues at 2.08 days per month over a reference year running 1 June to 31 May, and employees must take at least 12 consecutive working days during the main summer period. Maternity, paternity, and most sick pay are funded by Social Security, with the employer topping up sick pay after a waiting period.

Public Holidays (2026)

France has 11 national public holidays in 2026. Only 1 May is a mandatory day off by law; for the others, time off depends on the collective agreement and company practice. The Alsace-Moselle region observes two additional holidays (Good Friday and 26 December).

Benefits

France's statutory schemes (universal healthcare through Social Security, a state pension plus the mandatory Agirc-Arrco supplementary pension, unemployment insurance, and fully employer-funded workplace accident coverage) run through payroll as shown in Employer Costs above. On top of this, French law and the applicable collective bargaining agreement require a company health plan (mutuelle) with at least 50% employer sponsorship, and income protection insurance (prévoyance) for managerial employees. Toku provides the mutuelle through Alan, plus meal vouchers, and handles enrollment and payroll deductions.

Benefits at a Glance

Statutory Benefits

France's public system (Sécurité sociale) reimburses baseline healthcare costs; the company mutuelle tops these up, paying after Social Security based on the official BRSS rates. Under the applicable collective bargaining agreement, Toku must offer supplementary healthcare and sponsor at least 50% of the premium, and enrollment is mandatory under French law unless a narrow legal exemption applies (e.g., coverage under another group plan or certain short-term contracts; a documented waiver is required).

Employees in Alsace-Moselle benefit from the mandatory regional regime that raises base reimbursement to ~90%; it's funded entirely by the employee via a payroll deduction of roughly 1.5% of gross salary, and the mutuelle premium is correspondingly lower there.

Supplemental Health: Alan

The Alan plan is a collective, "responsible" contract (tax-advantaged). Coverage highlights: doctors and specialists up to 300% BRSS; hospitalization at 300% with private room allowance (€80/day, up to 30 days/year); maternity delivery at 400% with private room €100/day; dental routine at 200%, orthodontics 350%, implants €500 per implant/year, with 100% Santé crowns and dentures fully covered; optical 100% Santé fully covered (other frames/lenses €300 - €500); psychology sessions; and hearing aids fully covered under 100% Santé.

Meal Vouchers (Titres-Restaurant)

Meal vouchers are loaded monthly onto a card/app, one voucher per worked day that includes a meal break. Toku pays 60% of face value and the employee 40% (e.g., €9 voucher → €5.40 Toku / €3.60 employee); the employer-funded portion is billed to you. Because of France's equal-treatment principle, all eligible France-based employees receive meal vouchers on the same basis: individual employees may decline, but you can't selectively opt your group out.

Costs & Who Pays

The employer share is billed to you. Dependents (spouse/partner, children under 25) are optional and fully employee-paid via payroll deduction.

Enrollment

All employees are automatically enrolled in the Alan plan on their start date, with no waiting period and no action needed unless adding dependents. Opt-out is only possible on legal grounds with supporting documentation sent to benefits@toku.com.

What You Need to Know About Benefits

• The mutuelle is mandatory: budget €44.90/month (€34.85 in Alsace-Moselle) per employee for the employer share.
• Meal vouchers apply to all eligible France-based employees on the same basis; plan for the 60% employer share of each worked day's voucher.
• Dependent cover is optional and paid in full by the employee.
• Managerial employees also require income protection insurance (prévoyance). Toku enrolls every French hire in a compliant mutuelle as part of onboarding. See France Supplementary Health Insurance for plan details and coverage.

Common Extras

Common extras in the French market include the mandatory 50% subsidy of public transit passes, company savings plans, and profit-sharing schemes. Toku can advise on the cost impact of any extras you want to offer.

Ending Employment

France does not recognize at-will employment: every dismissal needs a "real and serious cause" and must follow a strict procedure of convocation, preliminary interview, and formal notification, so involve Toku early, before any termination conversation happens. For the process, see How to Terminate an Employee or Contractor and the France Termination Process Guide.

Statutory severance applies after 8 months of service (except for gross misconduct): one quarter of a month's salary per year of service for the first 10 years, and one third per year after that, with many collective agreements providing more. A mutual termination agreement (rupture conventionnelle) is a common alternative and requires at least the statutory severance amount plus approval by the labor authorities.

Annual Leave at Termination

This section describes statutory annual leave. Any additional contractual or company-provided leave above the statutory minimum may follow different carryover, expiry, or payout rules under the employee's agreement or applicable policy, subject to local law.

Statutory leave termination payout: Required. Accrued untaken statutory paid leave that remains outstanding is generally paid when employment ends.

Statutory carryover / look-back: Carryover can extend beyond the normal leave period in protected circumstances. Sickness-related entitlement can involve a 15-month carryover framework once the required employee information has been provided.

Admin responsibility: Track prior-year leave separately, record sickness and other protected absences, and make sure employees receive the required information about accrued leave and applicable expiry periods.

Important exceptions: Employer information obligations can affect when protected carryover starts or ends. Toku should review sickness-related or historic balances before final termination amounts are communicated.

See the Annual Leave / PTO Carryover & Termination Payout Guide for the cross-country framework.

Hiring Someone from Overseas?

EU, EEA, and Swiss nationals can work in France without a permit. Other nationals generally need both a work permit and a residence permit: the Passeport Talent (up to 4 years, no labor market test) is the main route for highly skilled hires, while standard salaried permits require showing that no suitable local candidate is available. Processing takes roughly 2 to 4 months, so talk to Toku before extending an offer to a candidate who needs sponsorship.

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Last updated November 5, 2026 (onboarding link only). Last verified October 2026. This guide is for general information and doesn't constitute legal or tax advice. Your Toku account manager can confirm specifics for your situation.