Before employees start an assignment in France, the employer needs more than a posting declaration. The work itself determines the formalities, pay rules and records required. Use these checks to prepare the assignment and identify issues that could affect the start date.
Establish which formalities apply
Where required, submit the prior declaration through SIPSI before work begins and designate an employer representative in France for liaison with inspection authorities during the assignment. Agree the representative’s mandate and access to documents before entering their details.
Own-account postings and certain listed short-term activities have exemptions from these two formalities. A brief visit is not automatically exempt. Check the actual activity and relevant conditions; an exemption from formalities does not remove applicable employment protections.
French Labour Code: declaration and representative · French Labour Code: short-term exemptions
Organise documents for inspection
Identify the records required for the specific posting: employment contract or equivalent, pay evidence, proof of payment, daily start and finish times and working duration, and applicable medical or work-authorisation documents. The pay evidence required differs for assignments shorter than one month.
Arrange availability at the workplace or, where materially impossible, another location accessible to the representative. Required documents must be in French, with amounts converted into euros where necessary. Agree document access during the assignment and determine retention periods under the rules applicable to each record.
French Labour Code: required records · French Labour Code: French translations
Apply French employment conditions
Identify the applicable collective agreement and job classification. Check remuneration, overtime, paid leave, rest, health and safety, and the rules for posting expenses. The relevant minimum can exceed the SMIC. Expense reimbursements cannot make up required remuneration. Your company remains responsible for these employment obligations even when administrative assistance is outsourced.
French Labour Code: employment conditions and long-term postings
Check the schedule before committing
For adults under the general rules, usual maxima are 10 hours per day, 48 hours in one week and an average of 44 hours over 12 consecutive weeks. These are separate checks, subject to applicable exceptions. Sunday and night work require their own analysis.
Exceptional authorisation can allow a week above 48 hours, up to 60 hours; it does not authorise exceeding 60. A qualifying agreement or administrative route may allow a 46-hour average. Night workers have separate limits, including an eight-hour daily limit with specific derogations. ALTALEO can help prepare and follow up relevant requests within an agreed scope; availability and approval depend on the applicable rules and authority.
Service Public: working-time limits · French Labour Code: exceptional weekly limits · French Labour Code: night workers
Separate employment-law duration from social security
After 12 months, additional French employment rules apply to a long-term posting. A reasoned declaration made before that threshold can postpone this change for up to six months. These thresholds are not a general ban on continuing the assignment. Successive workers replacing one another on the same job can count towards the duration.
Social-security affiliation follows separate rules. Under EU coordination, remaining in the sending system for up to 24 months is conditional, including the rules against replacing another posted worker. The A1 records the applicable legislation; it is not a SIPSI receipt or proof that contributions were paid. Longer coverage can require an exceptional agreement between institutions. Check the regime with the competent institution, including any rules specific to non-EU countries.
French Labour Code: employment conditions and long-term postings · CLEISS: social-security coordination rules
Address construction and other specific requirements
Check whether the workers’ actual activities require a Carte BTP and whether construction paid-leave arrangements apply. A Carte BTP is an identification card, not certification of overall compliance. Temporary agency work and regulated activities also need specific checks. Keep the declared team, dates and locations aligned with changes to the project.
CIBTP: Carte BTP questions and answers
Prepare your assignment with ALTALEO
Send us the activity, work locations, dates and team size. Our employer representation and SIPSI assistance service helps organise the administrative file and define any additional support on quotation. Establish the scope before the assignment starts, particularly if unusual working hours require advance preparation.
