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Employer of record France services put your hire on a compliant local payroll for $199 to $599 per employee a month in provider fees, according to RemoFirst, Remote and Deel’s own pricing pages. On top of that fee, France’s own employer social contributions average about 45% of gross salary, per PwC’s Worldwide Tax Summaries for France, so an employer of record France engagement costs more than the provider’s fee alone. Most companies stay on an EOR for their first few hires and start weighing a French entity once ongoing local payroll and compliance support for several employees is worth the cost.
Registering a French entity instead of using an EOR can take months once legal, banking and tax registration steps are added together, against weeks to place a first hire through a provider. That timeline is as big a factor as the fee in why most companies hiring one or two people in France start with an EOR and revisit the decision as headcount grows.
France hiring costs at a glance
| Cost item | Amount | Who pays | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| EOR service fee | $199 to $599 per employee a month | You, to the EOR | RemoFirst, Remote and Deel pricing pages, 2026 |
| Employer social contributions | About 45% of gross salary | You, via the EOR | PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, 2026 |
| SMIC (minimum wage floor) | EUR 1,867.02 a month gross | You, via the EOR | URSSAF, as of 1 June 2026 |
| Statutory paid leave | 30 working days (5 weeks) a year | You, via the EOR | service-public.gouv.fr |
| French entity registration (SAS) | EUR 291.96 | You, if you set up an entity | LegalRapide, 2026 |
These are current provider list prices and statutory minimums; actual payroll costs move with salary and role. The entity registration figure above is strictly the government’s own filing cost for forming a SAS. Legal advice, accounting support, a registered office and payroll setup to actually run a French entity add materially more on top of it.
How an EOR works in France
An EOR in France employs your worker through its own registered French entity, while your company directs the day-to-day work under a service agreement with the provider. This follows the same structure as an employer of record anywhere else: the provider is the legal employer on paper, and your company keeps control of hiring decisions, goals and the work itself.
The provider drafts a compliant French employment contract, registers the worker with URSSAF and the tax authorities, and runs payroll and the associated filings every month. Onboarding through an EOR in France is faster than registering a French entity, which takes months once legal, banking and tax registration steps are added together, though the exact timeline still depends on the provider and whether the worker already has the right to work in France.
A non-EU hire also needs a work authorization before starting, under service-public.gouv.fr’s rules for employing a foreign national in France. An EOR with its own French entity can sponsor this the same way providers sponsor work visas in other countries, but the application still adds processing time before the hire can start.
Cost comparison
| Hiring cost | 1 hire | 5 hires | 10 hires |
|---|---|---|---|
| EOR fee (monthly, at $199 to $599 per worker) | $199 to $599 | $995 to $2,995 | $1,990 to $5,990 |
| French entity registration (one-time, SAS) | EUR 291.96 | EUR 291.96 | EUR 291.96 |
The registration fee is a one-time cost that does not scale with headcount, but it is only the statutory floor. Running a French entity also means local accounting, payroll administration and compliance filings every year, costs that stay roughly fixed whether you employ one worker or ten. For a single hire, that fixed overhead usually outweighs the EOR’s monthly fee by a wide margin. As headcount grows, the entity’s cost per worker falls while the EOR’s total fee keeps climbing in a straight line, which is why most companies plan the switch once they are hiring enough people in France to justify dedicated local support.
Legal compliance in France
French employment law sets a 35-hour work week, five weeks of paid leave a year, and seniority-based notice and severance rules that apply to every employer in France, French or foreign.
France’s statutory work week is 35 hours, with an absolute cap of 48 hours (up to 60 with a labor-inspectorate exemption) and a 44-hour average over any 12 consecutive weeks, under the French Ministry of Labour’s rules for posted workers. Overtime pays at least 25% above the base rate for hours 36 through 43 each week and 50% from the 44th hour on, with a minimum daily rest of 11 consecutive hours.
Employees accrue 2.5 working days of paid leave for every month worked, reaching 30 working days, or five weeks, over a full year, under France’s paid leave rules for private sector employees.
During a probation period, the employer’s notice to end the contract scales with how long the worker has been there: 24 hours under eight days, 48 hours from eight days to one month, two weeks from one to three months, and one month after three months, per service-public.gouv.fr’s rules on ending a permanent contract.
After probation, the Code du travail sets dismissal notice by seniority: a period set by the applicable collective agreement, contract or custom below six months, one month from six months to two years, and two months at two years or more, under Code du travail Article L1234-1. Many collective agreements or employment contracts set a longer period, often three months for managers.
Hiring someone as a contractor instead of an EOR carries its own risk in France: a worker who takes direction on fixed hours, uses company equipment and reports into your management structure is at risk of being reclassified as an employee. A France-based hire with authority to negotiate or sign contracts can also create permanent establishment exposure for your company, regardless of whether the person is employed through an EOR.
Payroll taxes in France
URSSAF collects both the employer’s and the employee’s social contributions on every French payroll, with the employer’s share averaging about 45% of gross salary and the employee’s share about 22% to 25%, under PwC’s Worldwide Tax Summaries for France.
Gross pay cannot fall below the SMIC, France’s minimum wage, which URSSAF set at EUR 1,867.02 a month (EUR 12.31 an hour, on a 35-hour week) as of 1 June 2026, per URSSAF’s SMIC rate page. The average employer rate falls as gross salary climbs past the social security ceilings, so a senior hire’s effective employer contribution rate can sit below the 45% headline figure.
Payroll tax exposure varies widely from one country to the next: employer tax obligations change entirely by jurisdiction, and France’s roughly 45% employer burden, per PwC’s Worldwide Tax Summaries, is among the highest of the common EOR destinations. Filing payroll declarations and remitting both shares to URSSAF each month sits with the EOR rather than with you directly, which is part of what the provider’s fee covers.
EOR versus a local entity
An EOR fits a company testing the French market or hiring a handful of people, while a local entity fits sustained headcount growth once the legal and accounting support it needs is worth the cost.
An EOR gets a hire started in weeks rather than the months a French entity takes to register, and it can be wound down with the notice period alone when a role ends. A local entity gives you direct control over contracts, benefits and payroll, and lets you sponsor work authorizations and hold local bank accounts directly instead of through a provider.
The distinction matters more than it looks: a PEO requires you to already have your own entity in the country, while an EOR does not, so the two models suit very different stages of expansion into France.
Either way, the underlying employment terms stay the same. A worker employed through an EOR still earns at least the SMIC, accrues the same 30 working days of paid leave, and is owed the same notice and severance set out above. Switching to a local entity changes who administers those obligations and who carries the registration and running costs; what France requires of an employer stays the same either way.
Scaling framework
| Stage | Headcount | Hiring model | Trigger to move on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 1 to 2 | EOR | A second team forms around the first hire |
| Build | 3 to 10 | EOR, entity planned | Dedicated local compliance needs grow |
| Establish | 10 or more | Local entity | Headcount justifies ongoing legal, accounting and payroll support |
Most companies plan the French entity during the build stage, since forming a SAS and getting it fully operational, bank account, payroll registration and all, takes months rather than weeks. Keep a running comparison of the monthly EOR fees against what dedicated local support for your headcount would cost, and move once the fees consistently outweigh it.
The test stage usually covers a single pilot hire or a founder validating the French market before committing further. The build stage is where most of the legal compliance work in this guide, contribution rates, leave accrual, notice tiers, starts to matter for more than one worker at a time, which is why it is also when companies start pricing out a French entity in parallel with their EOR contract.
Termination rules in France
France requires statutory notice for every dismissal and, after eight months of seniority, severance pay, both scaled to length of service, regardless of whether the employer is French or foreign.
Once a worker is past probation, the Code du travail’s dismissal notice runs by seniority, from a period set by agreement or custom below six months up to two months at two years or more, as described above. The EOR serves the notice as the legal employer, but the decision and the documented reason for dismissal come from your company.
Severance applies once a worker has at least eight months of seniority, and the statutory minimum is at least one quarter of a month’s salary for each year of service during the first 10 years, per service-public.gouv.fr’s rules on severance pay for permanent contracts.
FAQ
An employer of record becomes your worker’s legal employer in France through its own registered French entity, while your company keeps control of the day-to-day work, goals and performance. The provider drafts the employment contract, runs payroll, and files the required contributions with URSSAF and the tax authorities on your behalf.
Employee-side social contributions typically run about 22% to 25% of gross salary, on top of progressive income tax, under PwC’s Worldwide Tax Summaries for France. The employer pays a separate share, averaging about 45% of gross salary, directly to URSSAF.
French law centers on two main contract types: the CDI, an open-ended contract with no fixed end date, and the CDD, a fixed-term contract used only for specific, time-limited situations and subject to a maximum duration and limited renewals. Most employers, including EOR providers, default to a CDI unless the role is genuinely temporary.
French employment is governed by the Code du travail, which sets working hours, leave, notice and severance minimums, while URSSAF administers payroll contributions and the SMIC minimum wage. The dismissal notice tiers described above come from Code du travail Article L1234-1, and the paid leave and probation notice rules come from service-public.gouv.fr.
Dismissal notice after probation runs by seniority under Code du travail Article L1234-1: a period set by agreement or custom below six months, one month from six months to two years, and two months at two years or more. Collective agreements and employment contracts can set a longer period on top of these minimums.
Severance is owed once a worker passes eight months of seniority, and the statutory minimum is at least one quarter of a month’s salary for each year of service during the first 10 years, under service-public.gouv.fr’s rules on severance pay. A collective agreement or employment contract can set a higher amount.
