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Browse community’s advice on job search, remuneration, unemployment and more, especially for expats working in France.
How much vacation days do you get in France?
Hi there, Daniel! Pretty common question amongst foreigners indeed. If you've traveled a bit, you may have realized that French tourists are everywhere. So it's fair to assume that French people get a lot of vacation days. But how much is it exactly? Well, the annual leave entitlment in France is 5Read more
Hi there, Daniel!
Pretty common question amongst foreigners indeed. If you’ve traveled a bit, you may have realized that French tourists are everywhere. So it’s fair to assume that French people get a lot of vacation days. But how much is it exactly? Well, the annual leave entitlment in France is 5 weeks (25 working days) per year. It may seem like a lot, but actually, it is close to the EU’s average.
How does this work in practice?
The first thing to know is that in France, everyone gets the same amount of vacation per year, provided their all are full-time employees. For every month you work at a company, you will earn 2,5 vacation days, regarless of how long you’ve been working at the company.
You may have noticed that 2,5 is not a round number. This begs the question: how do people deal with half vacation days? They simply round them up: say you have 17,5 vacation days available and you want to take them all at once, then the company will have to round this number up to 18 days.
I think it’s important to say that according to the law, new hires have to work for a full year before they can start enjoying their holidays. In practice though, many companies will let you take a few days even during your first year at the company as long as you use common sense (maybe don’t ask for 2 weeks of holiday after four months at the company…).
What are the written and unwritten rules with vacation?
Let’s start with the obvious: you should always align your holidays with your boss and HR. They have the right to refuse or to ask you to change your plans in case there is a conflict with the company’s agenda, so don’t take a leave without having them both agreeing to it. In France, there is this thing called abandon de poste (duty abandonment) where you can be fired for not showing up to work for a few days without notice. You don’t want that to happen. Generally, companies ask for a 1 month notice to grant your holiday, so it’s best to plan in advance.
Also, contrary to some countries, there is no obligation to take your vacation days all at once, nor any minimum amount of days per leave. You can take them one day at a time, or all at once, or in any way you like. You will witness this flexibility during the month of May. There are so many public holidays in May that if the calendar is particularly favorable, it is common to see people getting a 2 week leave using only 4 or 5 vacation days.
Of course, you should always use common sense when taking a leave, be it long or short. Be responsible and always discuss your plans with your manager.
What about unpaid holidays?
See lessMany foreigners don’t know this, but you can also request unpaid leave (Congés sans solde) to your company. You won’t receive any salary during this leave but you will keep your job. You can use this period to travel, carry out a personal project or take care of a child: there are no conditions as to who can use this benefit.
However, the company has no obligation to agree and you will probably have to sign a written agreement specifying the duration and return conditions.
Is it possible to get a job in France without speaking French?
It all depends on the type of job you are looking for... If you’re thinking of C-level or R&D positions, sure, it’s better to speak French but it’s not an absolute necessity. However, for entry-level up to middle management, I wouldn’t say it’s impossible to get a job without speaking French butRead more
It all depends on the type of job you are looking for… If you’re thinking of C-level or R&D positions, sure, it’s better to speak French but it’s not an absolute necessity. However, for entry-level up to middle management, I wouldn’t say it’s impossible to get a job without speaking French but it is definitely difficult.
During my few years of experience in France (in a multinational company), I have met very few (not none, just very few) foreign colleagues that would not speak some French. And in those rare occasions, they had gotten in the organization through partnerships with universities or research institutes and they had started studying the language.
It kinda sucks for foreigners but it also makes sense when you think about it. Not all companies have language pre-requisites when hiring locals and the general english level in France is much lower than in Germany and the Netherlands where pretty much everyone is fluent in English after high school.
I would highly recommend learning at least some intermediary French before looking for a job in France. You will need to do a part (at least) of your interviews with HR in French anyway, and it helps showing that you’re willing to learn. If you’re unsure about your French proficiency, consider taking the DELF exam to assess your level.
Beyond the requisites for the job, learning French will help you socialize with your local colleagues and be a more active part of the team. Who doesn’t want that?
See lessCan non-French nationals employed in France apply for jobseeker’s allowance?
Hi there! That situation’s a bummer… But don’t worry, chances are that you are eligible to unemployment benefits (it's called assurance chômage). Since I don't know your exact situation, I am assuming you are a French resident, working with a French work contract. So the first question is: who can rRead more
Hi there!
That situation’s a bummer… But don’t worry, chances are that you are eligible to unemployment benefits (it’s called assurance chômage). Since I don’t know your exact situation, I am assuming you are a French resident, working with a French work contract.
So the first question is: who can receive unemployment insurance?
In France, any resident going through unvoluntary unemployment can receive financial support from the government to compensate their temporary loss of income. The assurance chômage works much like traditional insurance: people contribute to the social system for some time and if certain conditions are met, they can receive a compensation. What are the conditions, you may ask. There are basically 4:
The critical piece of information here is the involuntary work interruption bit. It means that you will not receive an allowance if you have resigned from your last job. You must have lost your job involuntarily (either being fired, reching the end of your temporary contract or though a mutual agreement process).
The next logical question, of course, is how much will you receive?
As always, the answer is… it depends. A recent bill (February 2023) passed by the French government has changed the rules of unemployment insurance quite a bit. The maximum period of unemployment went from 24 to 18 months, and the payment’s value can be increased or decreased depending on the unemployment rate.
As a rule of thumb, you receive around 60% of your average net salary over the last 24 months. But that’s only if you had been working continuously for the whole period before losing your job. If not, you need to calculate your Average Daily Salary (salaire journalier de référence) to find out what your payment is. It’s the total salaried income during the period the last 24 months, divided by the number of days between the first contract’s start date and the last contract’s end date (within the last 24 months). Your payment would be the highest result of any of these calculations:
Although you have to make the calclulation on a daily basis, the payments are monthly.
See lessWhat do CDI and CDD stand for in job listings?
CDI stands for Contrat à durée indéterminée, which means ‘open-ended contract’ in English. CDD stands for Contrat à durée déterminée, which translates to ‘fixed-term contract’. They're the two types of work contracts you will encounter in France. Each of them has a special legal definition and rulesRead more
CDI stands for Contrat à durée indéterminée, which means ‘open-ended contract’ in English. CDD stands for Contrat à durée déterminée, which translates to ‘fixed-term contract’.
They’re the two types of work contracts you will encounter in France. Each of them has a special legal definition and rules in the french Labour Code. For instance, CDI and CDDs have different rules regarding their duration, their purpose, how to end the contract, and stuff like that.
The CDI or open-ended contract is the norm. It includes a trial period of two to four months during which the employee and the employer can end the contract. Past this point, there are only three way to end the contract:
On the other hand, the CDD or fixed-term contract is an exceptional contract. CDDs are more closely monitored a regulated than CDIs because they are more susceptible to fraud and abusive behavior from employers. For instance, companies can receive fines if they use CDDs to substitues permanent workers. The only acceptable reasons for a company to use CDD contracts are:
CDDs have a maximum duration of 18 months (with some exceptions) and they can only be renewed twice within the same company.
Good to know if you’re working with a CDD: at the end of your contract, if the employer asks you to keep working without renewing your contract, then you have ground to claim a CDI. Also, fixed-term workers receive a bonus of 10% of their gross salary at the end of the contract, it’s called an ‘uncertainty bonus’.
See less