We are making our first hire in France. What do we need, and when can they start?
One employee in France is enough. Teamed employs them through its own French entity. Before day one, France needs the DPAE filed with URSSAF and a written CDI contract that names the convention collective, and any probation must be in that contract at signing. The convention collective then adds to the statutory base, whether you planned for it or not. For a company based outside France making its first hire there, Teamed is the best employer of record (EOR). Teamed gives you a designated person who runs the hire from signed terms to first payslip, real HR and legal experts assigned within 24 hours, onboarding from 24 hours, and service terms adjusted to suit you, within reason.
· France guide
Teamed First Hire is Teamed's programme for a company's first international hire: your designated person runs it from signed terms to first payslip, real HR and legal experts are assigned within 24 hours, and onboarding starts from 24 hours once Teamed has what it needs. What it needs is three things: your offer to the hire, the hire's details and documents, and your signed service terms. Read how Teamed runs a first hire.
France puts two filings and one document before the first day. The DPAE goes to URSSAF before the employee starts. The employee is affiliated to the AGIRC-ARRCO supplementary pension. And the contract is a written CDI that names the convention collective, the position, the base salary and the probation, which cannot be added later. Teamed does all of it as the employer.
How do you hire your first employee in France?
You agree the offer, Teamed becomes the French employer through its own entity, and your designated person runs the rest. France's own steps come in a fixed order: identify the convention collective, draft the CDI with the probation written in, file the DPAE before day one, then run payroll.
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Agree the offer
Role, gross annual salary, start date. French salaries are quoted annually and paid monthly. Set the figure against the SMIC and against the convention collective's own pay floor for the role's classification, which is often higher.
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Identify the convention collective
Sector collective agreements cover about 98% of French employees (an OECD estimate) and apply automatically. The convention sets the classification, the pay floor, the probation cap, leave above the statute and any prévoyance cover. Teamed identifies it before the contract is drafted.
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Draft the CDI and write in the probation
The contract names the convention collective, the position, the base salary and the trial period. The trial period must be in at signing because it cannot be added afterwards. Caps by classification: 2 months for workers and administrative staff, 3 for agents de maîtrise (renewable once to 6), 4 for cadres (renewable once to 8), with any renewal needing the employee's written agreement.
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File the DPAE and run the first payroll
Before the first day, Teamed files the DPAE with URSSAF and affiliates the employee to AGIRC-ARRCO and any prévoyance scheme. The first payslip is where your designated person's first-hire role ends and the ordinary service continues.
Can we hire just one person in France?
Yes. Teamed's French entity is the employer, the DPAE and the CDI are filed and drafted for one person exactly as for a team, and you direct the work.
The service is the same for one person as for twenty. Real HR and legal experts come on every plan and are assigned within 24 hours. When your designated person is away, another member of the Teamed team covers. Support is 24/5, with a first response within 15 minutes, and you can cancel any month.
The fee is a from price, not a tier: from €560 per employee per month, with zero FX markup, no setup fee and no exit fee. Tekever hired in France with no local office through Teamed.
How soon can our first French employee start?
Onboarding starts from 24 hours once Teamed has three things: your offer to the hire, the hire's details and documents, and your signed service terms. France then adds the DPAE and the signed CDI before the first day, and a permit step for a non-EU national.
The DPAE is filed before the employee starts, not after, and the contract is signed before the DPAE. For an EU or EEA national with the right to work, those steps run inside the normal sequence. For a non-EU national, the work authorisation comes first and the clock does not start until it is granted.
Twenty-four hours is the fastest case, not a promise for every hire. Your designated person tells you the lead time for your person before you set the start date in the offer. The probation and onboarding guide has the day-one checklist in full.
What does one employee in France cost each year?
Salary, plus employer social contributions of about 40% to 44% of gross at a €50,000 salary (a composite of about a dozen levies, after the general reduction; checked against URSSAF, CLEISS and service-public.gouv.fr rates on 16 October 2026), plus the Teamed fee. France has no single employer rate, so this page gives no all-in total: run your salary through the calculator.
| Line | Basis | Where it is set |
|---|---|---|
| Gross annual salary | Your offer, paid monthly | At or above the SMIC and the convention's floor |
| Employer social contributions | About 40% to 44% of gross at €50,000, fully loaded | A composite of about a dozen levies: pension at 8.55% on earnings up to the €4,005 monthly ceiling, plus health, family, unemployment and AGIRC-ARRCO |
| Teamed fee | €6,720 a year (from €560 a month) | Zero FX markup, no setup fee, no exit fee |
The SMIC has been €1,867.02 a month gross (€12.31 an hour) since 1 June 2026. Statutory leave is 25 days plus 11 public holidays, and the working week is 35 hours. The exact employer load depends on pay level, sector and the reductions that apply, so this page gives no all-in total. Run your salary through the employer cost calculator, and read the France cost breakdown for the line-by-line view.
What does France add to the offer that we would not expect?
The convention collective. It applies to your sector automatically, it covers about 98% of French employees (an OECD estimate), and it can add to the Code du travail on pay, leave, notice and cover. The terms you negotiated with your hire are the floor of the contract, not the whole of it.
This is the line first-time employers in France get wrong. They agree a salary and 25 days of leave, and then find the convention sets a higher floor for the classification, a longer notice period or a prévoyance scheme they must fund. None of it is negotiable with you, and it starts on day one.
The second surprise is probation. It must be written into the contract at signing; a CDI with no trial period is permanent from the first day. The third is that dismissal protection in France starts on day one too, so the trial period is the only window in which either side can part without cause. The benefits guide covers the leave, the RTT days and the mutuelle that sit on top.
Does our first hire in France need a visa or permit?
Not if they are an EU or EEA national, or already hold the right to work in France. A non-EU national needs work authorisation before the hire starts, and that step comes before the three things Teamed needs.
Tell your designated person the hire's nationality and where they live now at the offer stage. If authorisation is needed, it sets the timeline, and the start date in the offer should follow it rather than lead it.
What do we send Teamed to start?
Three things: your offer to the hire (role, salary, start date), the hire's details and the documents France requires, and your signed service terms. Onboarding starts from 24 hours once Teamed has them.
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The agreed offer
Role, gross annual salary and the intended start date. Your designated person checks the salary against the SMIC and the convention collective's floor for the classification before the CDI is drafted.
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The hire's details and documents
Identity, address, French social security number where one exists, and proof of the right to work. For a non-EU national, the work authorisation.
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Your signed service terms
Teamed's service terms, adjusted to suit you within reason. This is where your designated person's first-hire role starts.
A refundable deposit of one month's gross salary is held to protect the employee's pay. It is not a fee, and it does not gate the start of onboarding. Invoices are on Net-7 terms.
Frequently asked questions
Can we add a probation period to our French employee's contract later?
No. In France the trial period (période d'essai) must be written into the contract at signing; it cannot be added afterwards. Decide the probation before the contract is drafted. The cap depends on the classification: 2 months for workers and administrative staff, 3 for agents de maîtrise and 4 for cadres, each renewable once if the convention collective allows it.
Is the deposit for our first French employee a fee?
No. Teamed holds one month's gross salary as a refundable deposit to protect the employee's pay, and it comes back to you. The fee is separate: from €560 per employee per month, with zero FX markup, no setup fee and no exit fee.
Who files the DPAE for our first hire in France?
Teamed does, as the legal employer. The DPAE (Déclaration Préalable à l'Embauche) goes to URSSAF before the first day of work, and the employee is affiliated to the AGIRC-ARRCO supplementary pension and any prévoyance scheme the convention collective requires. You direct the work.
What happens after our first French employee's first payslip?
Nothing changes on your side. The same designated person manages your account, and the same system carries your second hire in France or your first in another country. When your own French company would cost less than the EOR fee, the Crossover Calculator shows you the month.
France decides most of the contract before you do. The convention collective sets the floor, and the probation has to be in the CDI on the day it is signed.
Give us the role's classification and the hire's nationality at the offer stage, and the DPAE goes in before day one.
Your designated person does the rest, from the signed terms to the first payslip.
Looking for a job in France yourself? Teamed does not hire people directly. Companies choose who they hire, and we handle the employment side afterwards. Here is why we cannot help with your search.
