July 1, 2017 : More Constraints for Companies Seconding Employees to France

The decree of 5 May 2017 (1) imposes stricter rules on the secondment of employees in France.

The decree comes into force on 1 July 2017.

Your employees are seconded if they work in France for a limited period (2) :

for a French company with which you have concluded a service contract
for your company or a company of your group
for a company based in France that uses temporary employees (3)

In practice, following frequent checks of the labour inspectorate, the sanctions that may impact your company’s situation are the payment of overtime and the temporary suspension of the service.

Your obligations in France (4)

Before seconding your employees to France, you must:

Obtain a temporary residence permit from the Direccte (5) of the place of work, except for citizens (6) of the EU, EEA or Switzerland (7)
Designate a representative of the company in France responsible for relations with the French authorities. This representative must be present in France on the workplace of the seconded employees and speak French, if possible.
Submit an online secondment declaration (8) in French to Direccte of the place (9) where the employee works. You will soon (10) have to pay a contribution of €40 per employee.In the declaration, you must provide the following information (11):Your company Name
Postal address
Email address
Telephone number
Legal form of the company
VAT number
Main business activity
Last name, first name, date and place of birth of the manager

Your seconded employees
Last name and first name
Date and place of birth
Habitual residence
Nationality
Date of signature of the employment contract
Professional qualification
Position occupied during the secondment
Monthly gross pay in euros
Secondment start date
Foreseeable end date

Place of work in France
Addresses of successive workplaces
Last name, first name, date and place of birth, email and postal address in France, telephone number of the company’s representative in France
Starting date and expected end date of the service
Main activity carried on within the framework of the service
Nature of dangerous work processes or materials used (if applicable)
Name, address, SIRET number, VAT number and main activity of the principal

Working times in France
Work start and end times, duration of rest periods

Accommodation and expenses
Address of the collective accommodation of the employees (if applicable)
Conditions governing the coverage of travel, food and accommodation expenses

Applicable social security law
Social security legislation applicable to each seconded employee
Communication of the corresponding A1 Form
Provide seconded employees in the construction industry with an information document on the labour law rules applicable to them (12)
In the construction industry, unless there are exceptions for certain jobs (13), apply online (14) for a professional identification card (15) for each seconded employee, attaching the prior declaration of secondment. The card costs €10.80 and is mandatory since 22 March 2017. If you fail to apply, you are liable to a fine of up to €2,000 per employee.
The pay slips of the seconded employees must be in French.In addition, if the secondment is for longer than one month, pay slips must specify the following mandatory information (16):
– Minimum salary due under the collective agreement applicable in France
– Working hours
– Hours paid at the regular rate
– Overtime hours comprising extra pay
– A record of paid leave and public holidays
– Conditions governing the applicability of incle

The labour law rules applicable to your seconded employees

The list of labour law topics applicable to your seconded employeesMost of the French labour law provisions (17) apply to seconded workers (18):- Working hours, compensatory leave, public holidays, annual paid leave
– Minimum salary resulting from the law or branch collective agreement, including extra pay for overtime worked and salary accessories
– Rules relating to occupational safety and health
– Individual and collective freedoms in the employment relationship (freedom of expression, respect for private life, freedom of association, etc.)
– Discrimination
– Professional equality between women and men
– Maternity protection, maternity and paternity leave and new child adjustment leave, leave for family events
– Conditions governing the provision of personnel and guarantees that must be given to employees by companies engaged in temporary employment activities
– Exercise of the right to strike
– Conditions governing the applicability of inclement weather and leave funds
– Illegal workFor topics that are not listed, and in particular, the termination of the employment contract, reference must be made to the Rome I Regulation n°593/2008 in order to determine the law applicable to your particular case.
The branch collective agreement applicable to your employees seconded to France. Depending on your main activity in France, a branch collective agreement probably applies automatically to your employees seconded to France.
Working hours in France. The French rules on working hours apply to your seconded employees in France, and in particular:
– Working hours per week: 35 hours
– Overtime: any hour worked over and above 35 hours constitutes an hour of overtime
– Maximum number of hours per day: 10 hours a day, save exception or emergency
– Maximum number of hours per week: 48 hours per week
– Minimum daily rest: 11 consecutive hours
– Minimum weekly rest: 35 consecutive hours

MGG LEGAL can help your business organise the working time of your employees in France so that they can legally work more than 35 hours a week, without entailing the payment of overtime, for example, by giving them days off.

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1 Decree No. 2017-825 of 5 May 2017 on the strengthening of the rules to combat illegal international service provision

2 Article L. 1262-1 of the Labour Code. The Labour Code currently provides that the secondment must be of a limited duration, without specifying this duration. However, the new French President, Emmanuel Macron, intends to limit this period to one year

3 Article L.1262-2 of the Labour Code

4 Article L.1262-2-1 of the Labour Code

5 French authority responsible, in particular, for labour and employment matters

6 EU citizens and members of their family

7 Article R. 5225-1 of the Labour Code

8 https://www.sipsi.travail.gouv.fr

9 The first if there are several

10 This contribution will enter into force no later than 1 January 2018.

11 Article R. 1263-3 and following of the Labour Code

12 New Article R. 8294-8 of the Labour Code

13 The professional identification card for construction employees applies t: max-age=0
Origin: http://ellished on French territory and that second employees and whose employees perform, direct or organise, even on an occasional, auxiliary or secondary basis, in the building and civil engineering sectors, excavation works, earthworks, works of drainage, construction, assembly and dismantling of prefabricated elements, interior and exterior fittings or equipment, rehabilitation or renovation, demolition or transformation, cleaning, building maintenance or servicing, refurbishment, repair as well as painting and cleaning works relating to such works and all operations directly relating thereto. This specifically excludes employees who are never present on the construction sites and persons occupying the following positions: architects, real estate diagnosticians, quantity surveyors, health and safety coordinators, drivers and delivery personnel (Article R. 8291-1 of the Labour Code).

14 https://www.cartebtp.fr

15 The Carte BTP (construction industry card) contains the essential information about the employee, his/her employer, safety/security information and references to facilitate the management and control of the seconded work.

16 Article R 1263-1 II. 3° of the Labour Code

17 Resulting from the Labour Code and the collective agreement applicable to the branch

18 L.1262-4 of the Labour Code

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