Local labor laws shape how you hire and recruit talent in France. The country’s employment regulations cover everything from nondiscrimination rules to background checks. Collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) add extra protection for employees — and extra regulations for you to keep up with.

Recruitment strategies in France

Recruitment strategies include using nondiscriminatory job ads and interview processes, advertising roles in French, handling candidate data according to GDPR, providing written employment contracts, and following collective bargaining agreements. 

Popular job boards in New Zealand include Seek, Trade Me Jobs, Jora, LinkedIn, and Indeed. 

Best practices for drafting job ads include:

  • State the company name, job title, and location.

  • Include application instructions and a closing date.

  • Be clear about whether the role is full-time, part-time, permanent, or temporary.

Avoid language that could be seen as discriminatory.

Legal considerations when recruiting in France

When hiring employees in France, you must work within strict legal frameworks that protect candidates' rights and ensure fairness.

French nondiscrimination laws

France enforces anti-discrimination laws, outlined in Article L1132-1 of the French Labor Code. Job advertisements and interview questions must directly relate to the job requirements and can’t be based on protected characteristics, such as: 

  • Origin, ethnicity, or nationality

  • Sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation

  • Age

  • Family situation or pregnancy

  • Physical appearance

  • State of health, disability, or genetic characteristics

  • Political opinions or trade union activities

  • Religious beliefs

  • Place of residence

  • Their banking provider or where their bank is located

  • Vulnerability due to an economic situation

  • Surname

  • Morals

Background checks in France

Background checks are strictly regulated when hiring employees in France. You can only ask for information directly relevant to the job, in line with Article L1221-6 of the French Labor Code and GDPR requirements.

Employers can ask for proof of qualifications and contact references, but you need the candidate’s explicit consent before contacting previous employers.

Employers can’t get criminal records directly from authorities. For roles where it’s legally required — for example, in childcare or security — ask the candidate to provide their own Bulletin n°3. This is an official extract from the French criminal record (casier judiciaire) that lists someone’s most serious criminal convictions. 

Asking about a candidate's previous salary can trigger discrimination claims. Under the EU Pay Transparency Directive (2023/970), employers can’t ask candidates about their previous salary during the recruitment process.

How to hire in France

Employment contracts in France

A written offer (offre d'emploi) or promise of employment (promesse unilatérale de contrat de travail) is legally binding if it includes core terms, such as compensation, role, benefits, and start date. The employer must honor these terms once the candidate accepts them.

A written contract is needed for fixed-term (contrat à durée déterminée, or CDD) and part-time roles. A full-time, indefinite-term contract (contrat à durée indéterminée, or CDI) can be verbal, but we recommend writing it in French, as well as in a language that the employee understands if they don’t speak French.  

Core terms of an employment contract in France include:

  • Job title and duties

  • Place of work

  • Start date

  • Contract type

  • Probation period

  • Compensation in euros (EUR)

  • Working hours

  • Paid leave

  • Notice period

  • Reference to the applicable CBA

The employment contract must meet or exceed the minimum standards set by the law and the relevant CBA, which usually details certain benefits and payroll structures.

Employment regulations in France

When hiring employees in France, employers must ensure that new hires have the right work and residence permits before employment starts. This is especially important for non-European Economic Area and non-Swiss nationals.

The déclaration préalable à l'embauche (DPAE) is a mandatory, pre-employment declaration that is filed with France’s social security authority — either with the Unions de Recouvrement des Cotisations de Sécurité Sociale et d’Allocations Familiales (URSSAF) or the Mutualité Sociale Agricole (MSA) for agricultural workers. This declaration registers the employee with social security. It must be done no earlier than eight days before employment and no later than the employee’s first day of work. Not filing the DPAE can incur administrative and criminal penalties, including fines and possible imprisonment.

Get instant guidance on French employment laws

When hiring in new countries,G-P Gia™ offers instant compliance guidance you can trust. Get expert-vetted answers to all your questions and save valuable time so you can focus on hiring the right talent. Gia also gives you real-time, multijurisdiction compliance checks on employment contracts — no more waiting days for legal counsel or costly billable hours.

Onboarding new employees in France

Best practices for onboarding employees in France include:

  • Reviewing the employment contract and company policies

  • Introducing new hires to key team members and workflows

  • Providing necessary tools and system access

  • Clearly outlining expectations for the role and performance metrics

Hiring employees in France: an alternative solution

By partnering with a France EOR, companies can onboard talent in new countries without setting up a local legal entity. This reduces the complexity, cost, and time associated with global employment, making hiring employees in France easier. An EOR ensures compliance with France’s laws while enabling quick and compliant hiring.

Recruiting and hiring independent contractors in France

Hiring independent contractors in France is a flexible alternative to traditional employment. Using independent contractors, called travailleurs indépendants or auto-entrepreneurs, gives you access to specialized skills and expertise for specific projects or periods, without the long-term commitments that come with full-time employees. 

Working with independent contractors gives you flexibility and cost control, so you can scale your team up or down as business needs change. 

Independent contractors are self-employed and entirely separate from your payroll. 

Hire independent contractors in France with G-P

G-P Contractor™ simplifies contractor hiring and payment. Our Contractor offering ensures compliance and reduces the risk of misclassification in jurisdictions like France. 

Partner with G-P to centralize your global workforce, gain peace of mind, and accelerate your growth in France.

Build your team in France with G-P

G-P EOR makes building global teams easy — without the need to set up entities or spend time engaging consultants and local experts in HR, law, and taxes. With G-P, you get simple workflows,integrations, and AI-powered features that transform the way you onboard, manage, and pay global teams.

Book a demo to learn more about how we can help you hire and onboard anyone, anywhere.