French employment and labour laws: a comprehensive guide

France is fast becoming a hotspot for the tech industry.

In 2021 President Macron committed €30 billion to boosting the tech industry in France, as part of the France 2030 plan. This included an aim to see 100 French tech unicorns by 2030 – and given there are already around 25, and 18 ‘soonicorns’ in the works, this may well be an achievable aim.

This environment, plus other factors like the French tech visa which makes it easy for start ups in France to hire non-EU employees, means that if you’re thinking of opening a French office or hiring employees based in France, it could be a good bet.

But what do you need to know about employment and labour laws in France?

That’s exactly what this guide covers.

[Article last updated: August 2024]

What is the minimum wage in France?

The minimum wage in France is €11.52 per hour. This was last updated in May 2023, with an increase of 2.22%. This hourly minimum wage represents a monthly wage of €1,747.20 and an annual wage of €20,966.40.

What are standard working hours in France?

Under French labour law, the standard working week in France is 35 hours and a working day must not be more than 10 hours – this was passed as law in 2000.

Employees can work overtime above the standard 35 hour working week. But, it’s common for employment contracts to include an overtime policy for these instances – the two most common approaches being to offer one of:

• Réduction du temps de travail (reduction of working time), commonly known as RTT. Employees receive additional paid time off in exchange for overtime worked.
• Overtime pay rate above salary. Overtime pay is offered at 125% of regular salary for the first 8 hours, and 150% after that. Overtime pay is typically at least 110% of salary.

What social security contributions are made by French employers and employees?

The French social security system is a robust one, so there are pretty significant payroll contributions for both employee and employer.

Overall social security contributions are approximately:

• For employers – 45% of the employee’s salary
• For employees – 20-23% of the employee’s salary

These contributions break down as follows (source: Le Cleiss):

Employer social security contributions:

• Old-age insurance:* 8.55% of earnings up to the monthly social security ceiling of €3,666; 1.9% of earnings beyond the ceiling
• Supplementary pension*: 4.72-12.95% of earnings
• Health, maternity, disability, death insurance: 7% of earnings for salaries up to 2.5x minimum wage; 13% of earnings for salaries above
• Family benefits: 3.45% of earnings for salaries up to 3.5x minimum wage; 5.25% of earnings for salaries above
• Autonomy solidarity (a fund for the autonomy of elderly or disabled people): 0.3% of earnings
• Accidents at work: varies depending on workplace risk
• Unemployment insurance: 4.05% of earnings, up to a ceiling of €14,664 (4x monthly social security ceiling)
• Wage guarantee insurance (AGS): 0.15% of earnings

Employee social security contributions:

• Old-age insurance:* 6.9% of earnings up to the social security ceiling of €3,666; 0.4% of earnings beyond the ceiling
• Supplementary pension*: 3.15-8.64% of earnings
• Social security surcharge (contribution sociale généralisée or CSG): 9.2% of earnings
• Social security debt reimbursement contribution (contribution pour le remboursement de la dette sociale/CRDS): 0.5% of earnings

What is income tax in France?

French employees pay income tax on their earnings. Income tax rates are progressive tax from 0% to 45% based on salary, with the brackets as follows:

There is also an additional surtax for those on the highest salaries:

• 3% of income that exceeds €250,000 for a single person or €250,000 for a married couple
• 4% of income that exceeds €500,000 for a single person or €1 million for a married couple.

What annual leave are French employees entitled to?

Under French labour law all full-time employees (working a 35 hour week) are entitled to a minimum of five weeks (25 working days) of paid annual leave per year.

Holidays are accrued from an employee’s starting date at a rate of 2.5 days per calendar month worked.

What public holidays are there in France?

There are 11 public holidays per year in France.

Only Labour Day on 1st May is a statutory paid holiday on which employers must grant leave – but most employers give all 11 public holidays as paid time off.

What sick leave are French employees entitled to?

Under French labour law, all employees who have worked at least 150 hours during the prior three calendar months are entitled to unlimited paid sick leave.

The first three days of sick leave are seen as a ‘qualifying period’ and the employer isn’t obliged to pay wages. After day three the sick leave is paid for by social security at 50% of the employee’s salary. After day eight, the employer must top that up as follows:

• 90% of salary for 30 days (increased by ten days for every five years of service)
• 66% of salary for the following 30 days (increased by ten days for every five years of service) if there has been at least one year of service

It’s common for employers to top up to full salary.

Maternity leave in France

Under French labour law, all working mothers in France who have been employed for at least 150 hours during the prior three calendar months are entitled to 16 weeks of fully paid maternity leave (6 weeks pre-birth, 10 weeks after) as standard.

Maternity leave can be granted above 16 weeks, in the following circumstances:

• If there are complications, an additional 2-4 weeks of fully paid leave are given
• For the third birth and above, 26 weeks of fully paid leave are given (8 weeks pre-birth, 18 after)
• For twins, 34 weeks of fully paid leave are given (12 weeks pre-birth, 22 weeks after)
• For triplets or more, 46 weeks of fully paid leave are given (24 weeks pre-birth, 22 weeks after).

Paternity leave in France

Similarly, all working fathers in France who have been employed for at least 150 hours during the prior three calendar months are entitled to 25 days of fully paid paternity leave as standard.

Four days must be taken after the child’s birth, and the remaining days can be divided into two periods before the child reaches six months. For multiple births, 32 days of fully paid leave are given.

Adoption leave in France

All adoptive parents in France who have been employed for at least 150 hours during the prior three calendar months are entitled to 16 weeks of fully paid leave as standard.

If more than one child is adopted, 22 weeks of paid leave are given. For people who already have two or more dependent children, 18 weeks of paid leave are given. If the leave is shared between parents, the duration is extended by 25 days (for a single adoption) or 32 days (for a multiple adoption).

Parental leave in France

In all scenarios both parents in France are entitled to up to one year of parental leave or part-time working arrangements after the maternity/paternity leave and before the child reaches the age of three – as long as they have been with their company for at least one year.

The year of leave can be taken by one parent or divided, and can be taken simultaneously or consecutively. During the parental leave the employer does not pay salary. However, benefit payments can be received from the state.

Is private health insurance mandatory for employers in France?

Health benefits are part of social security in France. However, not all costs are covered by the state and so private health insurance is also needed to cover the rest – known as mutuelle ou complémentaire santé.

Under French labour law employers must pay at least 50% of the cost of the private health insurance, but it’s common for employers to cover the whole cost as part of their benefit package.

What is the French commuting allowance?

Under French labour law, employers must cover at least 50% of the employee’s cost for commuting to the place of work via public transport, including bike rental.

On top of that, there are also optional schemes in place:

• Transportation bonus (prime de transport): grants employers a tax-free amount of €200 per year per employee to pay to employees who use their car to travel to work if the employee’s place of residence or work or their working hours mean that public transport is not an option.
• Sustainable mobility package (forfait mobilité durable): grants employers a tax-free amount of €800 per year per employee to pay to employees who opt for sustainable transportation (e.g. bike, scooter, carpooling – this can be coupled with the public transport costs too).

What other employee benefits are common in France?

Alongside these, other common employee benefits in France include meal vouchers and a 13th month salary:

• Meal vouchers. It’s common for employers in France to offer some variety of payment for meals. Some places of employment have a subsidised canteen, and it’s also common for employees to be given a ‘meal voucher’ which is a pre-paid card that employees can use to pay for meals during their time at work – this is a scheme of the French government to support French hospitality businesses. Historically spend has been limited to €19 per day, but following the Covid-19 lockdowns this was increased to €38 to further support the hospitality industry.
• 13th month salary. An additional month’s salary given to employees – isn’t mandatory in France, but it is commonly cited as a customary benefit.

• Wellness benefits. It’s common today for employers all over the world to offer wellness benefits to employees as part of their overall compensation package, and France is no exception. Ravio’s data shows that fitness and mental health are particularly important in France: 23% of employers offer a fitness allowance or gym membership, whilst 20% of employers offer a mental health service or subscription.
• Flexible working arrangements in France. Flexibility is also hugely important in today’s world of work, and this is an area of benefits that France is particularly strong in offering.

On flexible working, Ravio’s data shows that 90% of employers in France offer a hybrid model of working wherein working time is split between onsite and remote working – this compares to 77% of UK employers.

However, French employers are actually less likely to localise salaries for remote workers – 30% of employers do localise salary for remote workers based on their location in France, compared to 41% in the UK.

So, we’ve looked at benefits and payroll contributions.

What about salary?

What is the average salary in France?

According to figures from the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) the average salary in France in 2021 was €29,572 per year – €2,464 per month.

However, of course, there’s significant variance in this typical salary. Employees at different levels of seniority are paid differently, as are (sadly) men and women – and INSEE has reports separating these out too to show how the average salary differs with these factors.

We can also see this through Ravio’s data – the largest and most comprehensive real-time talent dataset in Europe. Let’s take a look at two example roles to give a more accurate indicator of average salaries in France.

Comparing a P3 (established professional / IC as per the Ravio level framework) in software engineering:

And a P3 account executive in sales:

We can see that:

• Engineering salaries tend to be slightly higher than commercial salaries (though it’s also common for sales roles to have variable compensation on top of base salary)
• Salaries in France tend to be slightly lower than salaries in the UK – and the difference in pay between these locations also increases as the level of seniority of the role increases (especially true in management roles).

Is it typical for companies in France to offer equity compensation?

Ravio's data shows that 85% of French companies offer equity compensation to employees. Notably, this is slightly more than in the UK where 80% of employers offer equity compensation.

Of those companies that offer equity compensation, the majority (67% of companies) offer equity to all employees. 18% offer equity only to select roles, of which 6% only offer equity to founders and/or C-suite leadership team members.

What is France’s gender pay gap?

The gender diversity of teams and pay equity across genders is becoming more and more important for companies, especially with the rollout of the EU Pay Transparency Directive looming.

So how does the gender pay gap in France compare to elsewhere?

Ravio’s data shows that France has a gender pay gap of 18% – which is actually much lower than other countries in Europe e.g. UK at 31%.

Whilst this is a positive sign for gender equality in France, it’s clear that pay remains far from equal across genders still – there’s more work to be done.

What is pay transparency legislation in France?

In France pay transparency legislation has already been implemented, in the form of gender equality obligations.

Employers with more than 50 employees are legally required to measure and publish five key indicators relating to the gender pay gap:

• The pay gap percentage between women and men in the same age group and job category
• The gap in the rate of salary increases between women and men
• The gap in the rate of promotion between women and men
• Percentage of women who received a salary increase in the year following return from maternity leave
• Number of women among the 10 highest-paid employees.

Each of these indicators is scored, and there is a minimum required overall score of 75 points (out of 100) – known as the Gender Equality Index or the ‘Index de l’égalité professionnelle femmes-hommes’.

The score must be published by 1 March each year on the company’s website (or if there is no website, communicated directly to employees in another way).

Employers who score below 75 points must conduct a comprehensive pay equity analysis annually to identify gender pay gaps and develop corrective measures.

When will France implement the EU Pay Transparency Directive?

The EU Pay Transparency Directive came into force on 6 June 2023 and is now being rolled out across all EU member states – including France.

The Directive is top level guidance, and countries now have until 7 June 2026 to implement the legislation within their own national laws – though it’s possible some will do this more quickly than that official date.

Whilst we don’t know exactly how France will, therefore, interpret and implement the EU Pay Transparency Directive, in general there will be much stricter rules on pay transparency than currently exists, across four main areas of ruling:

1. Stricter gender pay gap reporting. Companies with over 100 employees will be required to submit reports on their gender pay gap, and any company with a gender pay gap of over 5% will be required to conduct a joint pay assessment in cooperation with employee representatives to further analyse the gender pay gap and take action to reduce it.
2. Increased access to pay information for employees. Employees will be entitled to request information on pay levels and the criteria for career and pay progression.
3. The burden of proof shifts to the employer. In any case regarding pay discrimination, the employer will need to prove that pay discrimination has not taken place – whereas historically the employee would have to prove that pay discrimination has taken place.
4. Increased access to pay information for job applicants. Employers will be required to include the salary range for all job positions to candidates before interviews. Employers will be banned from asking candidates about their salary history.

We’ll update this page once France announces exactly how and when the new rulings will be in place.

For now it’s worth getting to know the rulings in preparation, so head to our EU Pay Transparency Directive guide to get started.