The hiring of an employee comes with certain contractual obligations for the employer. While using digital tools for signing an employment contract is permitted, the contract can be verbal—and thus unwritten—provided it does not fall under the mandatory writing provisions set by law for certain types of contracts.
The legislator is clear on this subject. Only the full-time permanent contract is exempt from requiring a signature. Exceptions include site-specific contracts and other specific full-time permanent agreements. Any job that includes particular clauses, such as a trial period or notice period, must still be documented in an employment contract. Consequently, very few employees are exempt from having a signed agreement with their employer.
If an employment contract is not signed, the employer assumes significant risks. In such cases, a part-time employee—whether hired under a permanent, fixed-term, or temporary arrangement—is deemed to be employed on a full-time permanent basis. Moreover, the employer may face a fine of 1,500 euros, which can rise to 3,000 euros in cases of repeated non-compliance.
For fixed-term contracts, the employer has 2 days to present the employment contract to the employee. Failure to do so exposes the employer to an indemnity equal to one month’s salary, plus a fine of 3,750 euros that can be increased to 7,500 euros for habitual offenders.
These contracts must also be signed within 2 days after the temporary worker or employee begins work. The penalties are identical to those for fixed-term contracts.
If an apprenticeship contract is not signed, it automatically converts into a full-time permanent contract. It must be signed by the apprentice if they are of legal age, or by their parents or guardian if the apprentice is a minor, and in every case before the apprenticeship begins.
The first step is to verify the applicable collective agreement, which may mandate a written employment contract for every type of position within the company. This requirement is designed to provide protection in case of a dispute and to avoid taking matters to labor courts. In the absence of a contract, an employee may demand the preliminary declaration of employment (DPAE) from the employer, which must be completed before the employee starts work. Failure to do so exposes the employer to severe sanctions.
It is important to note that the collective agreement takes precedence over the Labor Code when the latter does not specify mandatory drafting provisions for an employment contract. Furthermore, for any employee working in France, the employment contract must be written in French to be valid. The employer is also obligated to provide a translation of the contract into the employee’s native language upon request.
