"I am recruiting staff in France
You are a foreign company with no place of business in France and you employ salaried staff in France (as such you are required to submit declarations and payments of social security contributions unemployment benefit contributions and other social taxes for your employees) : subjet to Article L 243-1-2 of the French social security code (‘Code de la Sécurité Sociale’).
Registering a foreign company : EE0 form
Your foreign company must register with Foreign Companies Service by completing an EE0 form INSEE to allocate an identification number (‘SIRET’), and contributions account at Foreign Companies Service.
You may designate, in a written agreement, a representative - resident in France - who will be personally responsible for the performance of these obligations.
I want to declare a future recruitment (DPAE)
Before recruiting an employee, employers must declare their intention by making a declaration prior to recruitment (‘déclaration préalable à l’embauche’ - DPAE). The DPAE is a compulsory procedure for declaring each employee to be recruited, and must be made within the eight days prior to recruitment.
This gives you the benefit of a means of proving the actual date of recruitment to the control agencies.
You must make a DPAE in order to :
- Enable your employee to get all their social entitlements;
- Be covered in the event of your employee having an accident on the workplace;
- Be able to take advantage of all your entitlements to any exemptions;
- Meet the requirements of the various control agencies, thereby avoiding any penalties, particularly with regard to concealed employment.
How to make the declaration :
The DPAE must be made on-line via net-entrepriseswithin eight days prior to recruitment. If you haven't yet a SIRET number, you can download the form and send it to CNFE.
How to fill in the DPAE
You must give the following information on a DPAE: - Your company's name, or the first and last names of the employer - Identification code of your professional activity (APE/NAF number) - SIRET number (number identifying the company) and postal address of the company (or the identification number issued by your business formalities centre (‘Centre de Formalités des Entreprises’ - CFE) if the company is in the process of being registered) - Identity of the occupational health service (‘service de santé au travail’) for your area: its contact details can be obtained from the DIRECCTE - Identity of your employee and their French social security number (if they already have one) - Date and time of recruitment - Information about the employment contract (duration and type of contract: fixed-term contract, open contract, etc)
The penalties for failing to draw up a DPAE
The penalties if you are an employer
If you do not complete a DPAE, you lay yourself open to : - civil penalties: the URSSAF will regularise the social security contributions eluded because of the lack of a declaration; - administrative penalties: a fine equal to 300 times the minimum guaranteed hourly rate (3.52 euros in 2016); - criminal penalties: intentional lack of a DPAEconstitutes an offence in terms of concealed employment. In case of the concealment of paid employment, you may be sentenced by the criminal courts to pay a cumulative penalty : - a fine of 45 000 euros and three years’ imprisonment if you are a natural person; - a fine of 225 000 euros and placing under judicial supervision if you are a legal entity.
The penalties if you are a client or project manager
If you are a client, the deliberate lack of a DPAE for any persons placed directly or indirectly in a relationship of subordination to you lays you open to criminal prosecution for concealed employment. If you are a project manager, you must check that your co-contracting party has fulfilled its obligations regarding declarations, including the DPAE. If you fail to meet your obligation of vigilance, you could face a procedure of financial solidarity in respect of your co-contracting parties if they are found to be concealing employment. In this case, you could be ordered to: - Pay the direct and indirect taxes and compulsory contributions plus a number of penalties and surcharges due from your co-contracting parties to the social - protection bodies; - Refund any amounts they may have received in public aid; - Pay the remunerations, allowances and charges due from your co-contracting parties for the employment of employees for whom a DPAE had not been set up. Your obligation of vigilance covers all contracts: - For a sum of at least 5 000 euros; - Concluded for the purpose of carrying out work, supplying a service, or carrying out a commercial act. You are required to check this at the time of concluding the contract and every six months thereafter while the contract remains valid.
I have to subscribe to a supplementary pension scheme ('retraite complémentaire') for my employees in France
For contributions that must be paid into the compulsory supplementary pension schemes, you must register with the Malakoff Humanis additional pension fund. If you employ crew staff you must subscribe to CRPN.
I have to join a providence fund ('caisse de prévoyance') for my employees in France
A providence scheme is a form of social protection in addition to the compulsory scheme. It provides you with protection against the risks connected with death, inability to work, invalidity, and dependence. You must join a providence fund if: - You recruit a managerial employee (‘cadre’); - Required by collective agreement (‘convention collective’) valid in the branch of your activity. To find out which collective agreement (‘convention collective’) applies to you, you can contact the DREETS by phoning 3939, or +33 173 603 939 from abroad, or consult the website at Legifrance.
You are an company in the building and public works sector
Companies in the building and public works sector must register with the CIBTP in order to pay contributions in respect of paid holidays, unemployment in the event of adverse weather conditions, and contributions to the prevention of accidents on the workplace.
If you employ crew staff you must subscribe to CRPN (pension fund for crew staff) instead of Malakoff Humanis, and therefore have to affiliate at DSN to declare your social contributions."
