The French have a talent for turning working life into a text with chapters: the labour code, the collective agreement, the contract, the pay slip with 40 lines. It looks heavy and it is, but it also gives employees real protection. For a European working in France, there are fewer hurdles at the border than at the first pay slip.
Can EU citizens go working in France without a permit?
Yes. If you are a citizen of the EU, the EEA or Switzerland, you do not need any authorisation. You can sign a contract on day one and register as a jobseeker at France Travail, the public employment service, with the same rights as a French person. A residence card is optional (see residence card in France for EU citizens).
If you are British and arrived after 1 January 2021, the situation is different: GOV.UK says you will generally need a work permit or work visa. See moving to France from the UK.
How do you find jobs for working in France?
Register on the France Travail site as soon as you arrive. It gives you access to job offers, guidance and help. The European portal EURES also lists French offers. For a trade that is regulated, such as health, law, teaching, construction or estate agents, check the European database of regulated professions: you may have to get your diploma recognised by the competent French authority before you work. Doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, pharmacists, architects and veterinarians benefit from automatic recognition.
Having your foreign degree explained helps with employers too: the ENIC-NARIC France centre issues a comparability statement for a fee paid in two steps (€20, then €100 if the file is admissible, according to Service-Public), though it is not a legal equivalence and the school or employer decides.
What does a French employment contract look like?
Two main types. The CDI (contrat à durée indéterminée) is the permanent contract. The CDD (contrat à durée déterminée) is for a fixed term. Read the gross salary, the working time, the applicable collective agreement and any trial period.
The legal working week is 35 hours, which means 151.67 hours a month, with a daily maximum of 10 hours and a weekly maximum of 48 hours (44 hours on average over twelve weeks). A break of 20 minutes applies after six hours. Employees acquire 2.5 working days of paid leave per month of work, five weeks a year. The trial period of a CDI is two months for workers and employees, three for supervisors and technicians and four for managers, renewable once if the sector agreement, the contract and your written consent allow it.
How much is the minimum wage in France?
The Smic in 2026 is €12.31 gross per hour, which makes €1,867.02 gross per month on a 35-hour week and €22,404.20 per year in mainland France and in the overseas departments except Mayotte. Mayotte's rate is €9.56 per hour and €1,449.93 per month. These amounts come from the order of 22 May 2026. The net is lower, because contributions are deducted. Income tax is withheld at source, and your first return is explained in French tax number.
Which French holidays do employees get?
France has 11 national public holidays, but only 1 May is compulsorily a day off for everybody (with exceptions such as hospitals and transport). For the rest, the collective agreement or the employer decides. Alsace-Moselle has two extra holidays. If a holiday falls on a Thursday, many people take the Friday, but the pont is not a right. More about local habits in daily life in France.
What happens if you lose your job in France?
Register with France Travail. If you have worked in another European country, ask your former unemployment body for a U1 form before you leave: it makes your periods of work abroad count to open your rights in France. The amount, however, is calculated on your French salaries only.
If you are drawing unemployment benefit in your former country and come to look for work in France, you need a U2 form. Under the rules for this form, you must have been registered for at least four weeks in the former country and register with France Travail within seven days. Payment lasts three months, extendable to six. Without the U2, you cannot keep it. A person who resigns during a trial period usually has no right to benefit.
Cross-border workers who live in France and lose a job in Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium or Germany are in principle compensated by France, the country of residence, taking the salaries of the country of employment into account.
What about overseas and cross-border work?
Labour law and the Smic apply in the overseas departments, with the exception of Mayotte for the Smic. Read living in the French overseas departments. If you prefer to be your own boss, ask the Urssaf which status fits your situation before you quit a job. And if your employer is abroad, see the section on remote work below.
What is a trial period in France?
A trial period allows either side to end the contract more easily at the beginning. In a CDI, it lasts two months for employees and workers, three for supervisors and technicians, and four for managers, renewable once under the conditions above, so that the total may reach four, six or eight months. In a CDD, it is one day per week, capped at two weeks for a contract of up to six months, and at one month for a longer one.
A tip that matters for foreigners: a resignation during the trial period is a decision taken by you, and in principle it does not give the right to unemployment benefit except in listed exceptions. Think before you quit a job while you are still in your trial period.
Which documents do you need for working in France?
You need a valid ID or passport, your social security number once it exists (your employer helps you obtain it, with a temporary number first if you were born abroad), your bank details and, if you have worked in another European country, the U1 form from your former unemployment body. Keep your diplomas, and for a regulated profession, the decision on the recognition of your qualification. If you will keep drawing unemployment benefit from another country while you look for work, you need the U2 form.
Can you work remotely for a foreign employer while living in France?
Yes, but taxes and social security follow special rules. The employer's country, the country where you work physically and your tax residence all matter, and cross-border agreements set thresholds of days for some borders. For Switzerland, for example, a 2026 amendment sets teleworking thresholds for employees living in France and working for a Swiss employer outside the 1983 regime: the teleworked pay remains taxable in Switzerland up to 40% of annual working time, and beyond that the teleworked days are taxed in France from the first day. For Luxembourg, the tolerance is 34 days a year. Check the regime for your border with the tax authority before you sign.
What are your rights during sickness, leave and notice?
Your doctor can issue a work stoppage (arrêt de travail), and the health insurance pays daily allowances under conditions. A work or commuting accident is reported to your CPAM, which pays medical costs and daily allowances. Paid leave builds up monthly. For the other details of daily work culture, see daily life in France.