Montpellier Méditerranée Technopole
Recruiting
Are you worried about strict French labor laws?
ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT STRICT FRENCH LABOR LAWS?France is an industrial economy whose labor laws are designed to protect the interests of employees while taking into account the economic priorities of businesses. Labor relations in France are governed by labor laws (Code du Travail) and collective agreements for each economic sector of activity. Employee profit-sharing and equity-ownership programs are encouraged through tax and social security payment exemptions. The flexibility of working hours and staffing are generally based on production considerations.
Learn more about labor law in France
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK?
We can help you find the right people. A partnership agreement with the public-service employment agency and close links with other partners for employment and training enable us to respond individually to your recruitment needs by identifying local skills organizing additional training when necessary.For more information, please fill out our 1-minute form. WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN ABOUT THE PROCEDURES AND AVAILABLE AID RELATED TO HIRING? You can start hiring as soon as your company is registered. Administrative procedures for hiring have been simplified with a single hiring declaration form ("Déclaration unique d'embauche", or DUE). The employer must fill in and file this form with URSSAF ("Unions de Recouvrement des Cotisations de Sécurité Sociale et d'Allocations Familiales", meaning the Organizations for the payment of social security and family benefit contributions) before the employee assumes his or her job functions. Filing may be handled on-line. Financial aid for hiring and professional training is available. Each case must be analyzed in order to determine the most appropriate form of aid for both the employer and employee. We can help you identify and contact the right resources. For more information, please fill out our 1-minute form.. IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE THE DIRECTOR, WHAT STATUS WILL YOU CHOOSE FOR YOURSELF? Company directors in France are generally not tied to the company with a regular work contract. Their appointment, compensation and conditions for termination are written into the company's by-laws. However, in some cases it may be possible to cumulate a director position and a work contract with the company (for example for general managers and presidents of public limited companies (SA), presidents in simplified joint-stock companies (SAS) and minority-shareholder managers in limited liability companies (SARL). For more information, we recommend that you contact a labor law specialist. WHAT ABOUT SOCIAL BENEFITS? Expatriates (still under contract with a company abroad) who come to work in France have the option to continue with the social security/healthcare plan in their country of origin. Impatriates (those who actually sign a French work contract with a French company ) can only choose this option if a treaty between France and the other country specifically allows it. To find out more about bilateral social security/healthcare treaties between France and other countries, please check the Center for European and International Social Security Liasons ("Centre des liaisons Européennes et Internationales de Sécurité Sociale, or CLEISS"). If these treaties do not apply, or are no longer applicable, France offers a social security/healthcare system for all employees, covering the vast majority of people's healthcare costs, and those of their dependents. There are four major types of coverage:- Health insurance (illness, maternity, disability, death)
- Retirement
- Family services
- Work-related accidents
HOW CAN FOREIGNERS WORK IN FRANCE?You may want to assign staff from your home country to your new location in France. The administrative formalities have been streamlined in recent years to make it easier for these expatriate employees and their families to enter the country. Tax and social measures have also been implemented to enable them to offset the costs of living abroad.The legal situation for foreign employees varies according to the circumstances of their expatriation. Impatriate employees work in France for a company located outside France. Expatriate employees are employed by a foreign-owned firm in France and are subject to French labor law.
Citizens of the European Union, the European Economic Community and Switzerland are free to travel and work in France without a visa, resident permit, work permit or authorization to engage in commerce. Resident cards for France are still required for citizens of new member States. Employees from outside the European Union must respect an immigration procedure. They must obtain a long-term resident visa, a work permit (introduction contract) and a resident card with the mention employee (salarié).> An accelerated procedure for delivering work permits and resident visas for high-level managers is managed by the National Agency for the Reception of Foreigners and Migration (Agence nationale de l'Accueil des Etrangers et des Migrations, or ANAEM). The introduction application is filed directly the hiring French company with the regional ANAEM bureau.
> For non-director managers, the Work, Employment and Professional Training Agency (DDTEFP) provides work permits under certain job conditions. The work permit application is sent by the hiring French company to the appropriate employment agency (Pole Emploi), which posts the job offer for 2 weeks. If the job is not filled within that time, the Departmental Employment Agency has 3 months to reach a decision. DDTEFP approval to authorize the work permit enables the Consulate to deliver a long-term visa. Following a medical check-up at ANAEM, the non-director manager can pick up his or her resident card (with the mention salarié on it) at the "Préfecture" nearest his or her place of residence.
> Employees still under contract with the foreign company from outside the European Economic Community must obtain a temporary work permit (autorisation provisoire de travail, or APT), valid for a maximum of 9 months. This permit is renewable. While the employee applies to the Consulate for a long-term visa, the hiring French company files the APT application with the DDTEFP. Following approval, the DDTEFP transmits the file to ANAEM, which then informs the Consulate. Upon entry into France, the employee must pass a medical check-up at ANAEM, following which he or she may obtain the APT and/or resident card. Employees who receive an APT are not allowed to change employers in France.
Find out more about favorable conditions in France for internationally mobile employees.> For non-director managers, the Work, Employment and Professional Training Agency (DDTEFP) provides work permits under certain job conditions. The work permit application is sent by the hiring French company to the appropriate employment agency (Pole Emploi), which posts the job offer for 2 weeks. If the job is not filled within that time, the Departmental Employment Agency has 3 months to reach a decision. DDTEFP approval to authorize the work permit enables the Consulate to deliver a long-term visa. Following a medical check-up at ANAEM, the non-director manager can pick up his or her resident card (with the mention salarié on it) at the "Préfecture" nearest his or her place of residence.
> Employees still under contract with the foreign company from outside the European Economic Community must obtain a temporary work permit (autorisation provisoire de travail, or APT), valid for a maximum of 9 months. This permit is renewable. While the employee applies to the Consulate for a long-term visa, the hiring French company files the APT application with the DDTEFP. Following approval, the DDTEFP transmits the file to ANAEM, which then informs the Consulate. Upon entry into France, the employee must pass a medical check-up at ANAEM, following which he or she may obtain the APT and/or resident card. Employees who receive an APT are not allowed to change employers in France.
