A Chinese company hiring its first person in France usually budgets the gross salary and is surprised twice: by what the position actually costs, and by how permanent the commitment is. Neither is a hidden trap — both are simply how French employment works, and both are entirely manageable when they are known in advance.
What the position costs
Employer social contributions sit on top of the gross salary and fund health, pension, unemployment and family benefits. They are substantial and they vary with salary level, company size and the applicable schemes, so the only useful figure is the one an accountant computes for your specific case. The point to retain is that the gross salary is not the cost of the position, and that a budget built on it alone will be materially wrong.
What the contract commits you to
- The open-ended contract (CDI) is the norm. Ending it requires a real reason and a defined procedure; an at-will dismissal does not exist.
- The fixed-term contract (CDD) is restricted to specific situations and cannot be used simply to keep flexibility.
- A trial period exists and is genuinely useful — but it has a legal duration and must be in the contract from the start.
- A sector-wide collective agreement usually applies on top of the law and can set minimum pay, classifications and notice. Finding out which one applies to your activity is an early task, not a later one.
The alternatives to employing directly
A commercial agent, a distributor's own staff, a service provider, or an employer of record each let you have someone working on your market without being the employer. Each carries its own constraints — an agent may have statutory rights to compensation when the relationship ends, for example — and none of them is a way around employment law when the reality is an employment relationship. Choose deliberately, with advice.
French employment rules, contribution rates and collective agreements are detailed and change. Everything here is context for the questions to ask; confirm the specifics with a French accountant and an employment lawyer before hiring.
Where to read it yourself
Official pages, opened and checked on 15 October 2026. Where a rule changes, these are the addresses that change with it — this article does not.