Foreign companies hiring their first employee in France follow exactly the same process as French companies: no separate track, no shortcuts, and no exemptions. Here is what that process actually involves.
The DPAE: your first mandatory step
Before a new hire's first day, you must file a déclaration préalable à l'embauche (DPAE), a pre-employment declaration. It must be submitted no earlier than 8 days before the start date and, at the latest, before the employee starts work. This applies regardless of contract type, duration, or the employee's role. There is no minimum threshold or exemption for a first hire.
Filing your first DPAE is also what registers your company with URSSAF and generates your employer number. This is often the actual moment a foreign company becomes a registered employer in France, not the company's original incorporation.
A change coming in 2027: the DPAE will be able to go through the DSN (déclaration sociale nominative), France's unified monthly payroll reporting system, instead of being a separate filing. The launch was planned for 2026 and has been postponed to January 2027; until then, file it the usual way through URSSAF.
The employment contract: mandatory content, mandatory language
The contract must be in French and include, at minimum: job title, workplace, salary, and trial period terms. Both employer and employee should sign before the start date. Best practice is to have it finalised at least a week ahead, not on day one. This is not paperwork you can improvise from a template built for another country's labour law; French contracts have their own required clauses and protections that a US, UK, or Gulf-market template will not cover correctly.
What happens automatically once you file
Once the DPAE is submitted, the employee is automatically registered with the French social security and unemployment insurance systems. You do not file separately for each. This is genuinely one of the more efficient parts of the process once you understand the sequence.
If your company has no establishment in France
A foreign company can employ someone in France without opening a branch or a subsidiary. In that case the employer deals with one office: the Urssaf foreign companies service (service Firmes étrangères). You declare the company on the Guichet unique run by INPI, then file the DPAE. A Siret number is then issued and an employer account opened.
Social contributions are then declared and paid every month, either through the DSN or through the Titre firmes étrangères (TFE), a free Urssaf service. One difference from French employers: a company with no establishment in France does not pay the vocational training contributions or the apprenticeship tax.
Minimum pay and trial period limits
Since 1 June 2026, the legal minimum wage (Smic) is €12.31 gross per hour, or €1,867.02 gross per month for a 35-hour week.
A trial period exists only if the contract or the offer letter provides for one. For a permanent contract (CDI), the legal maximum is:
- 2 months for manual and clerical staff (ouvriers and employés)
- 3 months for supervisors and technicians
- 4 months for managers (cadres)
It can be renewed once, and only if three conditions are met: an extended branch agreement allows it, the contract says so, and the employee agrees in writing during the first period. An employer who ends the trial must give notice: 24 hours in the first 8 days, rising to 1 month after 3 months.
What is due in the first three months
- Within 7 calendar days of the hire: the main terms in writing (parties, workplace, job title, start date, pay, working hours).
- Within 1 month: the remaining information, including paid leave, the applicable collective agreement and the company health cover.
- From the first employee: a staff register (registre unique du personnel) in which each new hire is entered.
- Within 3 months of the employee taking up the post: an information and prevention visit with the occupational health service. For night workers and employees under 18, it takes place before they start.
- Health cover: a private employer must offer a collective complementary health plan (mutuelle) and pay at least 50% of the contribution.
If the person you hire is a foreign national, you must also check that they hold a work authorisation. And do not treat the DPAE as optional: the administrative penalty for a missing declaration is €1,305 per employee concerned.
Why foreign companies underestimate this step
Companies used to at-will employment or lighter-touch hiring processes elsewhere often plan their first hire's start date without accounting for the DPAE window, the contract-signing lead time, and the need for the contract itself to be legally sound in French. The fix is simple: build in the standard week-or-so of lead time. But skipping it is the single most common reason a first hire's start date slips.