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France Information · Joined: 21 Oct 2006 Posts: 33 Home Country: france

EMPLOYMENT IN FRANCE (Getting a Job)

THE JOB MARKET

Like in many European countries, in France the majority of the workforce is now employed in the services sector. Of the remainder, around 27% is employed in industry and 5% in agriculture.

There are around 700,000 EU and 800,000 non-EU immigrants working in France. About 44% of the workforce is made up of women. Unemployment is running between 9 and 11% (with approx. 4% long-term unemployment). Structural unemployment is mainly due to the decline in many manufacturing and industrial sectors, as high labour costs make them uncompetitive.

France has a generous system of social security which is supported by high taxation. In addition, there are mandated holidays and minimum wage constraints. In many enterprises, in particular public and ex-public sector organisations, there is an adversarial employer/employee relationship which can make change difficult, especially when workforce numbers are reduced.

JOB SEARCH

Looking for work can be a frustrating and difficult task in France. As in most places, many hires are made through personal connections and alumni networks. Effective networking is a great way to find out about opportunities and 'get a foot in the door'.

The traditional routes of newspapers, Internet and employment agencies are used frequently in France, but many jobs are got on the basis of relationships and contacts. Often vacant positions are not advertised publicly, but filled by people who have contacts within the company.

Take advantage of every possible contact that you have, from friends, colleagues and classmates. Even the most casual acquaintances can sometimes point you towards a potential job lead. Persistence and confidence are vital ingredients to a successful job search.

The French administration has a large network of agencies for employment. The most important are:

* ANPE, the French national agency for employment (Agence Nationale pour l'Emploi). It has a large number of offices across the country. They offer manual and unskilled jobs - you can see adverts online at www.anpe.fr (in French only).

* APEC, the French national agency for employment of professionals and executives (Agence pour l'Emploi de Cadres) - www.apec.fr.

JOBS FOR FOREIGNERS

It isn't easy to find a "normal" job as a foreigner in France, but there are some jobs that allow you to finance your stay in the country.

Au pairing

An 'au pair' is hired to look after children. The usual deal is free accommodation, food and a small allowance in return for looking after the kids and sometimes helping with other household chores. The main advantage is learning the language as you will be in contact with it daily and can use your time off to meet people.

There are no standard conditions for au pairing, so make sure you clearly discuss what you will be expected to do in advance - there are stories of families expecting their au pair to act more like a domestic servant.

Normally, a formal childcare qualification is not required and an au pair should not be responsible for kids under the age of two years. Families that will accept a boy are rare, experience with children is usually required and due to visa issues, EU citizens usually have an advantage. Length of service is a minimum of 2 months and a maximum of 3 years.

Typical responsibilities and requirements:

* speak enough of the language for basic communication from the beginning with the kids
* getting up on time to get kids ready for kindergarten/school and taking them
* playing with the children
* organising and giving them their meals
* tidying up their rooms and play areas
* baby-sitting some evenings

Typical responsibilities of the family:

* giving duties to a maximum of 25-35 hours per week
* giving a minimum of 2 days (2 x 24 hours) off during the week
* not to treat the au pair like an unpaid domestic servant
* providing an individual bedroom
* paying a weekly allowance (typically around €60)
* registering the au pair with the family doctor
* registering the au pair on the house insurance.

The following organisations put together families and au pairs - they will usually charge a registration fee to the family and/or the au pair:

* IAPA (International Au Pair Association): www.iapa.org
* IAPO (International Au Pair Organisation): www.au-pair.org
* AFJE (Accueil Familial des Jeunes Etrangers): www.afje-paris.org
* AuPair Search: www.aupairsearch.com

Foreign language teaching

Teaching your native tongue as a foreign language is one area where you have a distinct advantage in the job market. English, German and Spanish are languages in high demand. Getting employed in the French public education system is very difficult as specific French qualifications are usually required and the selection itself is made though complicated competition process (French nationality can be compulsory).

However, there are many language schools and training agencies that readily employ foreigners. Some do not even require a teaching qualification (such as a TEFL for English), but this depends on the institution. Having a degree or qualification will give you an advantage. No qualification is required for private tuition.

Teaching is not highly paid with rates varying widely. Private tuition is typically billed at €15-20/hour, but you have to take into account managing your students, scheduling and traveling time. Look at notice boards in language schools and universities for teaching opportunities.

Seasonal agricultural jobs

It's estimated that more than 120,000 foreigners come to France every year to help with seasonal and labour-intensive work, such a grape and fruit picking. The grape season is 4 to 5 weeks in September/October (depending on the weather and region), other fruit seasons run from May until early November.

It's relatively easy to get a temporary work permit to do this legally (the employment is also often done illegally). The work is hard and wages are low. Many people come back year after year to the same places, so it can be difficult to get a job.

Tourist industry

In the Summer season there are many opportunities in the tourist industry. Finding temporary work in August, especially in Paris and other places packed with tourists, tends to be easier as most French people go on holidays, too. Hotels, restaurants and other food services are the most common places of employment.

Depending on experience and qualifications, jobs include: cleaner, waiter/waitress, cook, cashier and receptionist. The easiest place to find a job are fast food chains like McDonald's, Quick, etc., as they usually tend to be desperate for staff. Your languages skills can help you in this industry, giving you a competitive advantage over French people. In Winter, job opportunities are concentrated in the ski resorts in the Alps and Pyrenees.

Student internships

Student internships (stage d'études) or training assignments are not legally regarded as jobs, so a work permit (ATP) is not required. You retain your status as a student throughout the internship. A training agreement (convention de stage) between your academic institution, the company and you should be completed. This defines what you will be doing, working hours and conditions, in addition to any remuneration (allowances, subsidies for transport or meals, etc.).

WORK CONTRACTS

Salaries

Employment conditions should be specified in a written employment contract (Contrats de travail). There are five main types of contracts.

Full-time permanent contact - CDI (Contrat à durée indéterminée):
This contract does not have a fixed term of employment. There is usually a 3-month trial period at the start of the employment. Either party can elect to terminate a contract. This kind of contract provides very stable employment as it quite complicated and expensive to fire people.

Full-time fixed term contact - CDD (Contrat à durée déterminée):
This is a full-time contract with a specified length of employment term. There is no minimum period, but 9 months is normal. It can only be renewed for the same period as the initial contract. The maximum permitted length that someone can work under a CDD is 18 months, after which employment must cease or be transferred to a CDI. Approximately 70% of new contracts in France today are CDD, due mainly to the difficulties and costs associated with firing people on CDI's.

Temporary work contract (Contrat temporaire):
Contract conditions are practically the same as for a CDD. The main difference is there are three parties involved; the employee, the employment agency and the employing company. Companies can only use a temporary employee for the performance of a short-term activity (mission). There is no law to prevent a company subsequently contracting directly with a temporary employee, although this may mean they have to pay a fee to the agency.

Part-time contract (Contrat de travail à temps partiel):
Part-time employment is considered to be less than 80% of legal or contractual working hours. Although minimum working hours are not legally specified in the private sector, a minimum of 60 hours/month are required to qualify for social security benefits. For public sector jobs or those in an industry with legally limited working hours, part-time working hours must be 50-80% of those for full-time contracts.

Intermittent employment (Le travail intermittent):
This kind of contract is used mainly for seasonal jobs, such as grape-picking or work in the tourist industry.

Amendments of employment contracts

Your employer may propose changing a condition in your employment contract: such as location, working hours or pay.

If your employer is considering the change for economic reasons (arising from economic factors or technological changes in the company's business), he must inform you of this by registered letter (lettre recommandée avec accusé de réception).

A letter will normally state you have one month from receipt to inform the employer of your refusal. Otherwise you are deemed to have accepted the amendment. If you refuse, the employer can then chose to continue, which will normally mean firing you or proposing a compromise. You are entitled to notice and to redundancy compensation if you are over the minimum length of service.

A reduction in the number of contractual working hours based on a collective agreement does not constitute an individual contract amendment. If you refuse such an amendment, your dismissal is an individual dismissal not based on economic reasons.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Salaries (salaires) in contracts are usually stated as annual gross salary (salaire annuel brut). They consist of all benefits, cash and in kind, received in exchange for work carried out.

Salary levels are fixed by agreement between employer and employee at a mutually agreed level. Most companies make extra salary payments in one (or both) of two months (usually December for Christmas and June for Summer). In this case, these extra salaries (called 13th and 14th month's salary) are included in total amount of the annual gross salary. Profit sharing schemes and bonuses bases on productivity or performance are becoming more common in France.

Salaries are usually paid a few days before the end of each month. As an employee, you will normally receive your salary net of deductions (salaire net) for:

* Compulsory Social Security Chargees: such as CSG (supplementary contribution in aid of the underprivileged) and CRDS (Social Security repayment contribution)

* Optional charges: such as mutual insurance contributions, pension contributions or life insurance

Obligatory contributions will be around 20-25% of your gross salary. Your salary payments do not have income tax deducted (so don't spend it all at once!). You make a tax declaration and pay your income tax (unlike in many counties where the employer makes deductions automatically).

Some points about salary

* In France, there is a guaranteed minimum hourly wage called the SMIC (Salaire Minimum Interprofessionnel de Croissance). An employee cannot legally be paid less then this level. The gross SMIC is €7.19 (1/7/2003 - 30/6/2004), from which are taken taxes and social security charges (at this wage level, approximately 23%). The SMIC is reviewed annually on the 1st July.
* Some professions and types of work are governed by collective agreements. Within these agreements there are normally specifications for minimum salary levels, sick-leave rights and overtime or irregular working hours (such as night work, Sundays and public holidays).

* Companies are required to engage in annual pay negotiations. Depending on the size of the company and the sector in which it operates, this process may occur in different ways, from individual discussions to trade-union led negotiations.

* Much legislation exists to promote equal rights in the workplace for women and minorities. This has had a positive effect and France compares well to other EU countries in this area. As in many countries, however, there are still concerns about discrimination and cases of this are not unknown.

Working hours

The legal working hours (Temps de travail) in France is fixed at 35 hours per week. As with many things, this simple statement and the legislation that backs it up is not as simple as it may seem. This controversial framework was introduced in 2000 by a left-wing government, but the Right got into power shortly afterwards and have been busy modifying things. At the moment, the concept as a whole is under threat. The impact on practices in smaller companies has been minimal, especially for white-collar jobs.

The 35-hour rule applies to all employees except those with special working conditions, such as sales representatives, executives, limited liability company managers, caretakers in residential buildings and domestic staff. There are many other exceptions, so the main beneficiaries are blue-collar workers and those in large organisations.

35 hours are not a compulsory maximum for a week's work, but a reference point for the calculation of overtime as all supplementary hours working must be remunerated. Using the legislation as a guide, companies are free to introduce their own practices for working hours or introduce part-time schedules. Some professions and industries make collective agreements.

Overtime payments are usually fixed by collective agreement, but they have to be paid with at least 10% extra/hour. In the case of no other agreement, overtime is paid at 25% extra/hour for the first 8 hours and then at 50% extra/hour. Until the end of 2005 for companies with less than 21 employees in the absence of another agreement, overtime for the first 4 hours is 10% more per hour.

The working week is Monday to Friday. The working day depends on the company, its sector, corporate culture, size and location in France. Working hours are generally from 8:30-9:30 to 17:30-19:00. There is usually an hour for lunch, but there is a trend to taking less lunch and finishing earlier.

The introduction of the 35-hour week has led many companies to be a lot more flexible about working hours. Some have implemented an 8-hour/day schedule with Friday afternoon off, whereas others make 10:00-16:00 standardised working time and leave individuals to organise the rest of their time. Managerial jobs have always tended to be more flexible, with people often starting later in the day (10:00 or later), longer lunches and then finishing 20:00-21:00 or later.

Annual leave (Congés annuels)

France is a great place to work when it comes to holidays and leave. All employees are entitled to two and a half days of paid leave per month worked. This gives basically 5 full weeks of vacation a year (because Saturdays are strangely considered in the calculation as 'working days'), which may be taken either during a specified period or in agreement with the employer (sometimes vacation can be taken only after a full year of employment).

Vacation days are accumulated annually in the period 1st June to 31st May, to then be taken in the following period. Officially, this means that if you start to work on 1st April, you can take only 5 days off in the period 1st June to 31st May (i.e. 2.5 days each for April and May). Five days holiday during the first 14 months of employment! Some employers are flexible on this and this can be a useful thing to get straight when negotiating terms of employment. Usually, 'flexibility' means days taken 'in advance' (par anticipation), i.e. they come out of your entitlement in the next period.

The following count as working period: paid leave, leave to compensate for overtime, leave for family reasons, suspension of work due to occupational accidents or illnesses, maternity or paternity leave, adoption leave, training leave and periods of military service.

Employment law dictates certain limitations about how leave can be taken, such as the:

* number of days of leave taken at one time may not exceed 24 working days
* employee must take at least 12 working days of main vacation at one time
* main holiday lasting more than 12 working days may be split up by the employer with the agreement of employees and they are informed with at least one month of prior notice
* fifth week of leave must be taken separately of main holidays (usually August)

Also, the employees may receive some extra day(s) of leave in case of taking a fraction of the main vacation outside the period between 1 May-31 October: one extra day if this fraction lasts 3-5 days and two extra days if this fraction lasts 6 or more days.

Traditionally, holidays are taken in August. In France this month is 'sacred' and the country practically comes to a halt (e.g. it's not a good time to be sending CVs!). Some companies officially close and you will find many small shops, restaurants and local service providers shut (outside of tourist areas of course).

In some companies, the adoption of the 35-hour week was managed by introducing longer vacations, which are often referred to as RTT (Réduction du temps de travail).This could be quite significant (e.g. up to 15 days of leave a year!) but the company usually decides when these days can/must be taken. It is often in August, the last week of December, or when the workload in the company is low due to seasonal or other fluctuations. Other companies oblige their employees to take 1-2 days/month of RTT holiday (depending on the allocated number of RTT days/year). RTT days that are not taken within the period may risk being lost.

Some companies (especially large organizations) give additional vacation days depending on how many years the employee has worked for a company (ancienneté) and/or addition days off to be taken during Christmas or Eastern holidays. However, many such privileges today are limited or no longer exist as companies adjust to the shorter working week.

Entitlement to additional days of leave arises in the cases of the birth of child, the death of a close family member, marriage or moving home. The number of days and conditions depends on the employer.

If you have worked for a company for more then three years, you can ask for a year of sabbatical (année sabbatique). This is effectively unpaid leave, but you retain social security coverage and the right to return to your position or an equivalent in the company.

Maternity leave (Congé de maternité)

All mothers have the right to a minimum of sixteen weeks of paid maternity leave. Up to six weeks of the allowance may be taken as prenatal leave (repos prenatal) which is taken before the estimated birth date (la date présumé) and the remainder as postnatal leave (repos postnatal). You can choose to shorten your leave, but eight weeks (six of which are postnatal) are compulsory. After the third child, an employee can ask for longer maternity leave: 8 weeks before the date of birth and 18 after. If the birth date is after the estimated date, the prenatal leave is automatically extended, but the postnatal leave entitlement remains the same.

During maternity leave, employees receive payments from the social security system. Most companies have also collective agreements (conventions collectives) concerning continuing payment of the salary by the employer during the period of maternity leave.

Paternity leave (Congé de paternité)

All new fathers have the right to paternity leave of 11 days (18 days for twins or more!) Leave must be taken on consecutive days within four months of the birth. The employer must be informed at least one month in advance. This can be combined with the three days of leave given for the birth of a child.

Sick leave (Arrêt de travail pour maladie)

A doctor may prescribe sick leave for an employee by issuing a sick leave form (un avis d'arrêt de travail). The employee must complete it and send within 48 hours to:

* the social security agency (sections 1 and 2 of the sick leave form)
* the employer, or the ANPE office in the case of unemployment

Employees on sick leave are obliged:

* to stop working while receiving sickness benefits
* to comply with authorised times for leaving the house (specified by the doctor; usually 10:00-12:00 and 16:00-18:00 on all days)
* to ask for authorisation if wishing to stay in a different residence

Public holidays (Jours fériés)

There are eleven national public holidays in France:

1 January, New Year's Day (Nouvel an, Jour de l'An)
Easter Monday, in March or April (Lundi de Pâques)
1 May, Labour Day (Fête de travail)
8 May, Victory Day - End of Second World War 1945 (Fête de la liberation)
Ascension Thursday, the sixth Thursday after Easter, usually in May (Ascension)
Whit Monday (Pentecost), the Second Monday after Ascension, in May or June (Pentecôte)
14 July, Bastille Day (Fête Nationale)
15 August, Assumption (Assomption)
1 November, All Saints' Day (Toussaint)
11 November, Armistice 1918 Day (Fête de l'Armistice)
25 December, Christmas Day (Noël)

When national holidays fall on a Tuesday or Thursday, employees are commonly allowed to faire un pont and take Monday or Friday off and make it into a long weekend (many companies close these days).

There are also many school holidays (national and regional) during the year. These can also affect everyday business, and so can be useful to know even if you don't have kids in school.