Employer of record in France: the real cost in 2026

EOR, own company or contractor?

There are three ways to work with someone in France. Each one fits a different case.

Employer of record

The EOR employs the person for you and runs the payroll. You need no French company. But French law limits this model (see the next section).Code du travail, article L8241-1Checked 20 Oct 2026

Your own company as the employer

A foreign company with no establishment in France can employ someone there directly. It registers with the URSSAF foreign firms service and declares each hire before the work starts. A free URSSAF service (TFE) can run the payroll and the income tax withholding for it.URSSAF, the foreign firms service, URSSAF, the foreign firms payroll service (TFE)Checked 20 Oct 2026

Contractor (indépendant)

The law presumes that a registered self-employed person is not an employee of the client. But a court can find an employment contract when the person works under the client's permanent authority. Then the client can owe the employer's contributions, and it can face charges for concealed work.Code du travail, article L8221-6Checked 20 Oct 2026

Compare an EOR with a PEO, your own company and a contractor.

Read how to hire international employees.

Read how a contractor of record works.

Staff lending: temporary work and portage salarial

An EOR is the legal employer, but the person works for you, and the EOR charges a fee. In France, a strict rule applies to this.

The ban

The Code du travail bans any operation for a profit whose only purpose is to lend staff. Lending is not for a profit only when the lender bills just the salary, the social charges and the expenses. An EOR that charges a fee lends for a profit.Code du travail, article L8241-1Checked 20 Oct 2026

The penalties

Illegal staff lending can lead to 2 years of prison and a fine of €30,000 for a person. Companies face fines and bans.Code du travail, article L8243-1, Code du travail, article L8243-2Checked 20 Oct 2026

Temporary work agencies

A temporary work agency (entreprise de travail temporaire) must declare its activity and hold a financial guarantee. A mission is only for a precise and temporary task, in cases such as a temporary rise in work. It cannot fill a permanent job of the client, and it normally lasts at most 18 months.Code du travail, article L1251-45, Code du travail, article L1251-5, Code du travail, article L1251-6, Code du travail, article L1251-12-1Checked 20 Oct 2026

Portage salarial

A portage salarial company does only portage, and it holds a financial guarantee. The worker must be an expert who can find clients and agree the price alone. The client can use them only for an occasional task or for expertise that it lacks, for at most 36 months.Code du travail, article L1254-24, Code du travail, article L1254-2, Code du travail, article L1254-3, Code du travail, article L1254-4Checked 20 Oct 2026

Minimum pay in portage

The branch agreement sets the minimum pay at 70% of the monthly social security ceiling for a junior, 75% for a senior and 85% on a yearly day contract. The ceiling is €4,005.00 a month in 2026. Without the agreement, the law sets 75%.Code du travail, article L1254-2, Service-public, portage salarial, URSSAF, the social security ceilingsChecked 20 Oct 2026

Deel, Remote, WorkMotion and Boundless say on their own pages that they use portage salarial in France. The other providers in our table do not say how their service fits the rule.

Ask each provider these questions before you sign:

• Is your French company, or your partner, a temporary work agency or a portage salarial company, with the financial guarantee? Can we see the proof?
• Does the person meet the portage rules: an expert who works with autonomy, at or above the minimum pay?
• What happens after 36 months of portage, or 18 months of temporary work?
• Who pays if a court finds illegal staff lending?

These rules are complex. Ask a French employment lawyer how they apply to your case.

Compare an EOR with a staffing agency.

Sources: Deel France page, Remote local terms, WorkMotion France page, Boundless France guideChecked 20 Oct 2026

Employment rules

Minimum wage

€12.31 an hour, or €1,867.02 a month for 35 hours a week, since 1 June 2026. It was €12.02 an hour from 1 January. Collective agreements often set higher minimums by job grade.URSSAF, the amount of the SMIC, Service-public, the SMIC from 1 June 2026Checked 20 Oct 2026

Working hours

The legal week is 35 hours. At most 10 hours a day, 48 hours in one week, and 44 hours a week on average over 12 weeks. Without an agreement, overtime pays 25% more for the first 8 hours a week, and 50% more after that.Code du travail, article L3121-27, Code du travail, article L3121-18, Code du travail, article L3121-20, Code du travail, article L3121-22, Code du travail, article L3121-36Checked 20 Oct 2026

Paid leave

2.5 working days for each month of work, up to 30 working days a year. Working days count from Monday to Saturday, so this is 5 weeks.Code du travail, article L3141-3Checked 20 Oct 2026

Public holidays

11 public holidays a year. Only 1 May is a day off by law. The other days are off by agreement or by the practice of the company.Code du travail, article L3133-1, Code du travail, article L3133-4Checked 20 Oct 2026

Written terms

A permanent contract (CDI) is the normal form of work. The employer gives the main terms in writing within 7 calendar days of the start, and the others within 1 month. A fixed-term or part-time contract must be in writing.Code du travail, article L1221-2, Code du travail, article R1221-35, Code du travail, article L1242-12, Code du travail, article L3123-6Checked 20 Oct 2026

Probation

At most 2 months for workers and employees, 3 months for supervisors and technicians, and 4 months for cadres. A branch agreement can allow one renewal, up to 4, 6 and 8 months.Code du travail, article L1221-19, Code du travail, article L1221-21Checked 20 Oct 2026

Notice period

When the employer dismisses: 1 month after 6 months of service, and 2 months after 2 years. A collective agreement or the contract can give more.Code du travail, article L1234-1Checked 20 Oct 2026

Dismissal and severance

A dismissal needs a real and serious cause. The employer invites the employee to an interview at least 5 working days before it, and sends the reasons by registered letter. After 8 months of service, the severance pay is at least a quarter of a month's pay for each year up to 10 years, and a third for each year after that.Code du travail, article L1232-1, Code du travail, article L1232-2, Code du travail, article L1232-6, Code du travail, article L1234-9, Code du travail, article R1234-2Checked 20 Oct 2026

Mutual termination

The employer and the employee can agree to end the contract (rupture conventionnelle). The payment is at least the legal severance pay, and the administration must approve it. Since 2026, the employer pays a contribution of 40% on the part of the payment that is free of social contributions.Code du travail, article L1237-11, Code du travail, article L1237-13, Code du travail, article L1237-14, BOSS, termination paymentsChecked 20 Oct 2026

Sick pay

Social security pays 50% of the daily pay after 3 waiting days. After 1 year of service, the employer tops this up to 90% of the pay for 30 days, then to two thirds for 30 days, after 7 days of absence.Service-public, daily sickness benefits, Code du travail, article L1226-1, Code du travail, article D1226-1Checked 20 Oct 2026

Maternity leave

16 weeks: 6 before the birth and 10 after it. From the third child, 26 weeks. Social security pays the benefit.Code du travail, article L1225-17, Code du travail, article L1225-19Checked 20 Oct 2026

Paternity and birth leave

3 days of birth leave, paid by the employer, and 25 calendar days of paternity leave. Since 1 July 2026, each parent can also take 1 or 2 months of extra birth leave, paid by social security at 70% and 60% of the net pay.Code du travail, article L3142-4, Code du travail, article L1225-35, Service-public, the extra birth leaveChecked 20 Oct 2026

Parental leave

After 1 year of service, a parent can take unpaid leave or work part time, up to the child's third birthday.Code du travail, article L1225-47, Code du travail, article L1225-48Checked 20 Oct 2026

Payroll and taxes

The employer, or the EOR, takes income tax out of the pay each month (prélèvement à la source), at the rate that the tax office sends for each employee. It declares the pay, the contributions and the tax in one monthly declaration (DSN), by the 5th or the 15th of the next month.

Several contributions stop at the 2026 social security ceiling (PASS) of €48,060 a year, or at a multiple of it. The supplementary pension (Agirc-Arrco) has two bands: up to 1 ceiling, and from 1 to 8 ceilings.

Since 1 January 2026, the general sliding reduction (RGDU) lowers the employer's contributions on salaries below 3 times the SMIC of 1 January, or €65,629.08 a year. The reduced health and family rates ended on the same day.

BOSS, the official social security guide, has announced a ceiling of €48,900 for 2027. A decree must still set it.

Read how payroll works through an EOR.

Sources: impots.gouv.fr, how withholding at source works, URSSAF, the social security ceilings, Agirc-Arrco, circular 2025-16, the parameters for 2026 (PDF), BOSS, the general sliding reduction (RGDU), BOSS, the end of the reduced health and family rates, BOSS, the social security ceiling on 1 January 2027Checked 20 Oct 2026

Payroll in France: an EOR or a local payroll company?

A local payroll company (an expert-comptable or a payroll firm) calculates the pay, the tax and the contributions, and it files the declarations. It does not employ the person. Your company stays the legal employer, with all the duties of an employer under French law.

Registration

A foreign company with no establishment in France registers with the URSSAF foreign firms service. It declares each hire before the work starts (DPAE), and it pays the contributions each month.URSSAF, the foreign firms serviceChecked 20 Oct 2026

Income tax

A foreign employer that pays salaries taxable in France registers with the tax office and needs a bank account in the SEPA zone. An employer from a country such as the United States or Canada also needs an accredited tax representative in France.impots.gouv.fr, how withholding at source worksChecked 20 Oct 2026

The TFE service

URSSAF's free foreign firms payroll service (TFE) makes the payslips and handles the income tax withholding. The payslips are in French.URSSAF, the foreign firms payroll service (TFE)Checked 20 Oct 2026

So in France, your company can be the employer itself, with a local payroll company or the TFE service. You then direct your own employee, so the ban on staff lending does not apply. Ask a tax adviser if an employee in France creates a taxable presence (a permanent establishment) for your company.

Read how staff abroad can create a permanent establishment.

Sources: URSSAF, the foreign firms service, URSSAF, the foreign firms payroll service (TFE), impots.gouv.fr, how withholding at source worksChecked 20 Oct 2026

Benefits

The law requires the social contributions, 5 weeks of paid leave, and company health insurance (mutuelle) for all employees, with at least 50% of the premium paid by the employer. For a cadre, the employer also pays 1.50% of the pay up to the ceiling for the mandatory cadre insurance.

Meal vouchers are not mandatory. An employer who gives them pays 50% to 60% of their value, and its share is free of contributions up to €7.32 a voucher in 2026.

The collective agreement for the sector often adds a 13th month, higher minimum pay and other benefits. Ask your provider which agreement applies.

Read what an EOR gives you and your staff.

Sources: Service-public, company health insurance, BOSS, supplementary social protection, Service-public, meal vouchersChecked 20 Oct 2026

How hiring through an EOR works

1. Compare providers and ask for quotesAsk for the monthly fee in France, the deposit, the exchange rate and the notice period of the EOR contract. Ask whether the provider works as a portage salarial company or a temporary work agency.
2. Agree the employment termsAgree the yearly salary, the status (cadre or not), the start date, the leave and the probation period with the candidate.
3. The EOR signs the contractThe EOR becomes the legal employer. It declares the hire to URSSAF before the first day of work.
4. The EOR runs the payrollEach month, the EOR pays the salary, takes out the income tax and the employee's contributions, and files the DSN.
5. You manage the daily workYou set the tasks and the goals. The EOR handles the employment administration.

Read how to check an EOR provider before you sign.

Read which terms to check in an EOR contract.

Sources: Code du travail, article L1221-10, impots.gouv.fr, how withholding at source worksChecked 20 Oct 2026