Legal Requirements for Hiring in France

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Updated on: 23/01/2026 Reading time: 6 min

Hiring in France comes with real opportunity – and real structure. Whether you are thinking about a full-time employee or an independent contractor, French employment law will quickly ask a simple question: “What is the true nature of this relationship?”

This article summarises the main legal requirements for hiring in France, with a focus on how an Employer of Record in France like Freeteam can help you stay on the right side of the line for contractors, and when you should instead consider an Employer of Record in France or direct employment.

Two main categories under French law: employees and contractors

At a high level, French law distinguishes between two worlds:

Employees, who work under a relationship of subordination and are integrated into your organisation.
Independent contractors, who provide services as autonomous professionals.

Everything else – contracts, taxes, social contributions, HR processes – flows from that basic distinction. Getting it wrong is where most compliance issues start.

Employees: employment contract and labour protection

If the relationship is employment, French law requires:

A written employment contract (CDI, CDD, etc.) in most cases.
Compliance with the French Labour Code.
Application of the relevant collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
Registration with social security and payment of contributions.

Employees benefit from:

Minimum wage and classification-based salary floors.
Paid leave, sick leave, maternity/paternity leave and other statutory protections.
Protection against unfair dismissal and clear termination procedures.

In practice, this is where an Employer of Record in France or payroll outsourcing partner can turn complex legal requirements into a “service” rather than an internal project.

Use their own legal structure (micro-enterprise, company, etc.).

Invoice your company for services.

Are supposed to keep real control over how they organise their work.

If, in reality, they:

Work full-time for a single client.

Follow the same schedule, tools and rules as employees.

Receive instructions and supervision similar to staff…

…a French court may re-qualify the relationship as employment, with back-dated social contributions, tax adjustments and potential penalties. This is exactly where a structured Employer of Record in France becomes a protective layer: it forces everyone to clarify the relationship from day one instead of improvising.

Key legal requirements when hiring employees in France

The employment contract

An employment contract in France typically includes:

Job title and classification.
Working hours and place of work (including remote/hybrid rules).
Salary, bonuses and benefits.
Duration (permanent or fixed-term) and probation period.
Termination conditions and applicable collective agreement.

The contract must reflect reality. If the person is effectively remote, travels a lot, or works under specific working-time arrangements, this must appear. “Copy–paste” contracts that do not match what actually happens are one of the easiest ways to create legal risk when hiring in France.

Social security and payroll obligations

Employers must:

Register with social welfare bodies.
Withhold and pay social contributions and payroll taxes.
Produce detailed payslips with all mandatory information.
File regular declarations (DSN, annual summaries, etc.).

For international companies, these legal requirements for hiring in France are often the trigger to work with an Employer of Record or local payroll partner: they turn French payroll and HR compliance into a managed service, especially when you do not yet have a French entity or HR team on the ground.

Legal requirements when engaging independent contractors

Checking that the contractor is genuinely independent

That they have a valid SIRET or equivalent registration.
That they work with several clients over time (or at least are free to do so).
That they can choose how they organise their work to deliver the agreed results.

This is not just due diligence. It is part of showing that the relationship is genuinely B2B, not disguised employment – a key point if authorities or courts ever review the situation.

Structuring the relationship: why EOR helps

An Employer of Record in France like Freeteam helps you:

Use standardised, French-law-friendly contracts for independent contractors.
Clarify mission scope, expected deliverables and boundaries of the role.
Keep an operational distance between employee-type management and contractor autonomy.
Document the relationship in a way that is defensible if questions arise later.

The EOR does not “magically” make every contractor compliant. But it gives you a structured framework that reduces the risk of random, case-by-case decisions and inconsistent practices across teams or countries. For international companies managing dozens of consultants, that structure is often the difference between comfort and constant doubt.

Immigration and cross-border aspects

If the person you want to work with:

Lives in France but is not an EU/EEA national, or
Will move to France to work for you, you must consider immigration and work permit rules.

Key points:

Independent status does not automatically give work rights; the visa or permit must allow commercial activity.
Employment via EOR in France often aligns better with long-term immigration routes.
Ignoring immigration rules can expose both the worker and your company to serious sanctions.

Here again, a mature AOR/EOR partner can quickly flag when external immigration advice is necessary before you finalise the relationship.

Data protection and HR documentation

French and EU law require careful handling of personal data when hiring in France:

Contracts, payslips and HR files contain sensitive information.
GDPR and local rules govern how data is stored, used and transferred.
Remote work raises additional questions about security, tools and access rights.

Whether you use AOR, EOR or your own entity, you must:

Maintain clear HR documentation and employee/contractor files.
Restrict access to HR data to authorised people only.
Provide transparent information notices about how personal data is processed.

A mature partner in France will integrate these concerns into their tools and processes, rather than leaving you to invent everything from scratch for each new hire or contractor.

How to navigate the legal requirements for hiring in France in practice

Classify each role correctly

Is this genuinely employment or genuinely independent consulting?
Be honest about how the role will work day to day.

Choose a corresponding structure

Employee : local entity or Employer of Record in France.
Contractor : direct contract or, safer, Agent of Record in France for standardisation and compliance.

Use local expertise :

Rely on an AOR or EOR partner that already understands the French legal framework.
Stay compliant with changes in French employment law without having to manage it yourself.

Document everything

Contracts, addenda, mission scopes, and communication around major changes.
Good documentation is often what turns a potential issue into a non-issue.

If you want more detail on specific angles:

Explains the EOR side and how it helps with employees.

Used together with your own legal and HR teams, these tools make the legal requirements for hiring in France much more manageable – and let you focus on what really matters: finding the right people and building a sustainable French presence.

Conclusion

If you want more detail on specific angles, you can dive deeper into the surrounding pieces of your French hiring strategy. “What is an Employer of Record?” explains the EOR side and how it helps with employees.

Used together with your own legal and HR teams, these tools make the legal requirements for hiring in France much more manageable – and let you focus on what really matters: finding the right people, structuring them in the right way, and building a sustainable French presence over time.