You run a French company from London, New York, Dubai or Singapore. Your first hire in France, on a CDI (contrat à durée indéterminée, the standard open-ended employment contract), is not working out: persistent underperformance, repeated absences, loss of trust, or simply the end of a business line. From your desk abroad, dismissal looks like a short email and a final payment. Under French law it is a formal adversarial procedure with mandatory waiting periods, a reasoned notification letter that frames the entire future trial, and a price list fixed by statute. One missed deadline or one vague sentence in the letter can turn a lawful separation costing a few thousand euros into a labour court (conseil de prud’hommes, the elected judges who hear employment disputes) defeat costing months of salary. This guide explains, for a foreign founder or foreign parent company, how to dismiss a French employee on a CDI lawfully while you live abroad, what the exit really costs with worked calculations, and how to defend a claim from another country.

French employment law does not know employment at will. Every dismissal for personal reasons (licenciement pour motif personnel) must rest on a real and serious cause (cause réelle et sérieuse), follow the preliminary meeting procedure, and be notified with stated reasons. Economic dismissals follow a heavier separate regime that this article does not cover. The procedure below applies to individual dismissals for personal grounds: underperformance (insuffisance professionnelle), misconduct (faute), or unfitness. If you are still hesitating between vehicles for your French presence, read our companion guide on choosing between an SAS, an SARL, a branch and a subsidiary as a foreign founder, because the person who signs the dismissal letter must have authority to do so. If the difficulty concerns working time rather than separation, our analysis of overtime, the 35-hour week and time records for a first hire may resolve the conflict without a dismissal.

I. How do you dismiss a French employee lawfully when you live abroad?

A. What pre-dismissal procedure must you follow from abroad?

The procedure starts before any decision is taken, and the distance between you and France changes nothing about the timetable. The Labour Code provides: “L’employeur qui envisage de licencier un salarié le convoque, avant toute décision, à un entretien préalable. La convocation est effectuée par lettre recommandée ou par lettre remise en main propre contre décharge. Cette lettre indique l’objet de la convocation. L’entretien préalable ne peut avoir lieu moins de cinq jours ouvrables après la présentation de la lettre recommandée ou la remise en main propre de la lettre de convocation.” (Article L1232-2 of the Labour Code). In plain English: you must invite the employee to a preliminary meeting (entretien préalable) by registered letter or hand-delivered letter stating its purpose, and the meeting cannot take place sooner than five working days after presentation of the letter. Working days (jours ouvrables) mean Monday to Saturday excluding public holidays, which gives the employee real time to prepare.

From abroad, three practical points cause most failures. First, the sender must be the employer or a person with written authority to hire and fire. A foreign president of an SAS (société par actions simplifiée, the flexible company form most foreign founders choose) can sign, but if daily management sits with a French general manager, give that person an explicit written delegation before the procedure starts, and keep it in the file. Second, service by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt (lettre recommandée avec avis de réception) remains the safest channel when the employee works in France and you sit abroad; keep the proof of posting, the tracking slip and the acknowledgment. Hand delivery against receipt only works if someone on site can perform it. Third, compute the five working days from presentation, not from sending: if the letter is presented on a Tuesday, the earliest meeting date is the following Tuesday, accounting for Sundays and holidays. The official employer guide confirms this sequence step by step (service-public.fr, procédure de licenciement pour motif personnel).

At the meeting itself, the employee may come accompanied, and you must have warned the employee of that right in the invitation. The statute states: “Lors de son audition, le salarié peut se faire assister par une personne de son choix appartenant au personnel de l’entreprise. Lorsqu’il n’y a pas d’institutions représentatives du personnel dans l’entreprise, le salarié peut se faire assister soit par une personne de son choix appartenant au personnel de l’entreprise, soit par un conseiller du salarié choisi sur une liste dressée par l’autorité administrative. La lettre de convocation à l’entretien préalable adressée au salarié mentionne la possibilité de recourir à un conseiller du salarié et précise l’adresse des services dans lesquels la liste de ces conseillers est tenue à sa disposition.” (Article L1232-4 of the Labour Code). The conseiller du salarié is an outside volunteer listed by the local administration (DREETS, the regional authority for employment and labour) who assists employees of very small companies; the invitation must give the address where that list is available, typically the town hall (mairie) or the DREETS office. Omit that paragraph and the procedure is already irregular.

You do not need to be physically in the room. A duly mandated representative can hold the meeting: your French lawyer, your local manager, or an HR provider with a written power of attorney limited to that meeting. What matters is that the representative can state the reasons envisaged, listen to the employee’s explanations, and report back before you decide. Take dated notes the same day, keep them unsigned by the employee if the employee declines to sign, and do not announce the dismissal at the end of the meeting: the decision must come later, after reflection. For disciplinary dismissals, an additional rule applies: “Lorsque l’employeur envisage de prendre une sanction, il convoque le salarié en lui précisant l’objet de la convocation, sauf si la sanction envisagée est un avertissement ou une sanction de même nature n’ayant pas d’incidence, immédiate ou non, sur la présence dans l’entreprise, la fonction, la carrière ou la rémunération du salarié. Lors de son audition, le salarié peut se faire assister par une personne de son choix appartenant au personnel de l’entreprise. Au cours de l’entretien, l’employeur indique le motif de la sanction envisagée et recueille les explications du salarié. La sanction ne peut intervenir moins de deux jours ouvrables, ni plus d’un mois après le jour fixé pour l’entretien. Elle est motivée et notifiée à l’intéressé.” (Article L1332-2 of the Labour Code). In a disciplinary case, the facts must also be recent: misconduct older than two months from when you learned of it can no longer support a disciplinary dismissal, so act promptly once the file is complete.

A final distinction structures everything that follows. French law separates ordinary personal grounds, where notice and severance are due, from serious misconduct (faute grave) and wilful misconduct (faute lourde), where the employee loses notice and statutory severance and leaves immediately. Do not label ordinary underperformance as serious misconduct to save money: judges reclassify artificial misconduct findings every week, and the reclassification adds damages to the sums you tried to avoid. Build the file on what the evidence actually shows, with dates, warnings, appraisals, emails and witnesses, rather than on adjectives.

B. How do you notify the dismissal and close the file?

After the meeting, a second waiting period applies. The Labour Code provides: “Lorsque l’employeur décide de licencier un salarié, il lui notifie sa décision par lettre recommandée avec avis de réception. Cette lettre comporte l’énoncé du ou des motifs invoqués par l’employeur. Elle ne peut être expédiée moins de deux jours ouvrables après la date prévue de l’entretien préalable au licenciement auquel le salarié a été convoqué. Un décret en Conseil d’Etat détermine les modalités d’application du présent article. Un arrêté du ministre chargé du travail fixe les modèles que l’employeur peut utiliser pour procéder à la notification du licenciement.” (Article L1232-6 of the Labour Code). Send the dismissal letter by registered post with acknowledgment, at the earliest two full working days after the scheduled meeting date, even if the employee did not attend. The letter must state the reasons. Since 2017 the administration publishes optional model letters (modèles de lettre de licenciement) by type of dismissal; using the model that matches your ground is strongly recommended because it prompts you to include the mandatory paragraphs, including the employee’s right to ask for clarification of the reasons.

The letter is the boundary of any future trial. The statute provides: “Les motifs énoncés dans la lettre de licenciement prévue aux articles L. 1232-6 , L. 1233-16 et L. 1233-42 peuvent, après la notification de celle-ci, être précisés par l’employeur, soit à son initiative soit à la demande du salarié, dans des délais et conditions fixés par décret en Conseil d’Etat. La lettre de licenciement, précisée le cas échéant par l’employeur, fixe les limites du litige en ce qui concerne les motifs de licenciement.” (Article L1235-2 of the Labour Code). Concretely, the judge will only examine the reasons written in that letter, as clarified if clarification was requested. A vague formula such as loss of confidence, without facts, dates and examples, collapses at trial. A precise letter sets out the job, the targets or duties, the dated failures with figures, the prior warnings, and the consequences for the business. Write facts a stranger could verify, keep each allegation supported by an exhibit, and have the letter reviewed before posting: once sent, you cannot silently add a new ground later, except through the formal clarification procedure within the short regulatory deadlines.

From abroad, organise the closing paperwork as carefully as the letter. On the last day of the contract you must hand over or send the final pay slip (bulletin de paie), the balance of all accounts (solde de tout compte, the receipt itemising sums paid on exit), the employment certificate (certificat de travail), and the France Travail attestation (attestation France Travail, formerly Pôle emploi, the document the employee needs to claim unemployment benefits). Payroll must be run through the DSN (déclaration sociale nominative, the monthly electronic social declaration) by your French payroll provider, with the URSSAF (unions de recouvrement des cotisations de sécurité sociale et d’allocations familiales, the agency collecting employer and employee social contributions) assessment adjusted for the final month. If the employee worked a notice period (préavis), salary runs to its end; if you exempt the employee from working the notice, the statute states: “Lorsque le salarié n’exécute pas le préavis, il a droit, sauf s’il a commis une faute grave, à une indemnité compensatrice. L’inexécution du préavis, notamment en cas de dispense par l’employeur, n’entraîne aucune diminution des salaires et avantages que le salarié aurait perçus s’il avait accompli son travail jusqu’à l’expiration du préavis, indemnité de congés payés comprise. L’indemnité compensatrice de préavis se cumule avec l’indemnité de licenciement et avec l’indemnité prévue à l’article L. 1235-2 .” (Article L1234-5 of the Labour Code). Keep proof of every dispatch, because the labour court will ask for it.

Two traps specific to foreign employers deserve emphasis. First, language: if the employment contract and daily work are in French, write the invitation and dismissal letters in French; an English-only file handled from headquarters creates translation disputes about what was actually alleged. Second, protected employees: if the employee is pregnant, on maternity or paternity leave, a staff representative, or a disabled worker with specific protection, dismissal is restricted or void during the protection period, and the standard procedure described here does not suffice. Check the employee’s status with payroll before sending anything. A dismissal notified during a protection period is cancelled by the judge, with reinstatement and back pay, regardless of the underlying performance file.

II. What does a French dismissal really cost and how do you survive a prud’hommes claim?

A. How much do you pay on exit day: legal severance, notice and paid leave?

Budget three layers: statutory severance (indemnité légale de licenciement), notice worked or paid (indemnité compensatrice de préavis), and accrued paid leave (indemnité compensatrice de congés payés), plus any higher conventional severance under the applicable collective agreement (convention collective). Start with eligibility. The statute provides: “Le salarié titulaire d’un contrat de travail à durée indéterminée, licencié alors qu’il compte 8 mois d’ancienneté ininterrompus au service du même employeur, a droit, sauf en cas de faute grave, à une indemnité de licenciement. Les modalités de calcul de cette indemnité sont fonction de la rémunération brute dont le salarié bénéficiait antérieurement à la rupture du contrat de travail. Ce taux et ces modalités sont déterminés par voie réglementaire.” (Article L1234-9 of the Labour Code). Below eight months of continuous service, no statutory severance is due, unless the collective agreement grants one; at or above eight months, it is due except in cases of serious or wilful misconduct.

The regulatory formula sets a floor, not a ceiling. It provides: “L’indemnité de licenciement ne peut être inférieure aux montants suivants : 1° Un quart de mois de salaire par année d’ancienneté pour les années jusqu’à dix ans ; 2° Un tiers de mois de salaire par année d’ancienneté pour les années à partir de dix ans.” (Article R1234-2 of the Labour Code). And partial years count: “L’indemnité de licenciement prévue à l’article L. 1234-9 ne peut être inférieure à une somme calculée par année de service dans l’entreprise et tenant compte des mois de service accomplis au-delà des années pleines. En cas d’année incomplète, l’indemnité est calculée proportionnellement au nombre de mois complets.” (Article R1234-1 of the Labour Code). The reference salary is the most favourable of the average gross monthly pay over the last twelve months or the last three months, including bonuses pro rated, or one-third of the last three months where a large annual bonus distorts the comparison. Gross means before employee social charges and income tax withholding (prélèvement à la source), and it includes the thirteenth month and contractual variable pay.

Three worked examples make the arithmetic concrete. Assume a Paris-based office manager paid 3,500 euros gross per month with no variable pay. After two full years, statutory severance equals 2 × 0.25 × 3,500 = 1,750 euros. After three years and seven full months, the calculation runs 3 × 0.25 × 3,500 for the full years plus 7/12 × 0.25 × 3,500 for the incomplete year, totalling 2,625 + 510.42 = 3,135.42 euros. After twelve years at 5,000 euros gross, the first ten years yield 10 × 0.25 × 5,000 = 12,500 euros and the next two years yield 2 × 0.333 × 5,000 = 3,333.33 euros, for a statutory floor of 15,833.33 euros. Then compare with the collective agreement: the Syntec, commerce de gros, or metallurgy scales often exceed the statutory floor, and the employee receives whichever is higher. Add notice: one to three months depending on seniority and the agreement, paid as salary if worked or as compensatory indemnity if the employer waives performance, plus 10 percent-ish of untaken leave converted into paid-leave indemnity, plus the final month pro rated. A two-year exit at 3,500 euros therefore typically costs between 4,000 and 8,000 euros all-in before any dispute, while a twelve-year exit at 5,000 euros typically costs between 25,000 and 35,000 euros including notice and leave.

Social and tax treatment follows the sums, not your location. Severance within the statutory or conventional amount is largely exempt from social charges and partly exempt from income tax up to thresholds that change with the finance laws; the surplus above those thresholds is charged and taxed like salary, and the URSSAF auditor will reconcile your DSN filings with the amounts on the balance of all accounts. Run the final payroll through a French provider, withhold correctly, and keep the calculation sheet in the file: the labour court routinely orders the employer to produce it, and an unexplained gap between the letter, the pay slip and the DSN undermines the whole defence. If cash flow is tight, negotiate a payment schedule for the conventional surplus in a written settlement (transaction) after notification, signed with mutual concessions, rather than delaying the statutory sums unilaterally, which accrues interest and penalties.

B. What happens if the employee sues you before the labour court?

The employee has twelve months from notification to challenge the dismissal before the conseil de prud’hommes of the place of work, and foreign residence does not pause that clock. The court examines first whether the dismissal rests on a real and serious cause, meaning precise, objective, verifiable facts serious enough to make continued employment impossible or at least genuinely difficult. Underperformance requires targets that were realistic, communicated in advance, and monitored, with warnings and support before the decision; a single bad quarter after years of praise rarely suffices. Misconduct requires dated incidents proved by documents or testimony, not general complaints about attitude. The employer bears the burden of proving the facts stated in the letter, and doubt benefits the employee only where the employer produces nothing probative, so the quality of the exhibits assembled before notification decides the case more than rhetoric at the hearing.

If the cause fails, the judge applies the statutory scale known as the Macron scale (barème Macron). The statute provides: “Si le licenciement d’un salarié survient pour une cause qui n’est pas réelle et sérieuse, le juge peut proposer la réintégration du salarié dans l’entreprise, avec maintien de ses avantages acquis.” (Article L1235-3 of the Labour Code). In practice reinstatement is almost always refused by one side, and the judge awards damages within a table running from a floor to a ceiling expressed in months of gross salary by seniority: at two years of service, between one and three and a half months; at five years, between three and six months; at ten years and beyond, between three and up to twenty months for thirty years of service, with reduced floors in companies that habitually employ fewer than eleven employees. These damages sit on top of the statutory severance, notice and leave already paid, not instead of them, and the judge may take severance already paid above the legal floor into account when positioning the award inside the bracket. Purely procedural breaches without loss of cause, such as a late invitation or a missing paragraph about the outside adviser, attract a separate capped indemnity of up to one month’s salary rather than the full scale, which is why getting the procedure right halves the exposure even when the underlying file is debatable.

Defending from abroad is routine and entirely feasible if you prepare early. Engage French counsel as soon as the dismissal is envisaged, not after the writ arrives; counsel will audit the letter, the proofs and the payroll exhibits, and will appear for the company at the conciliation hearing (audience de conciliation) and the trial hearing (audience de jugement) before the elected employee and employer judges, with a tie-breaking professional judge (juge départiteur) if they split. You do not need to fly in for every hearing: representation by a mandated lawyer with full knowledge of the file is standard, and your testimony can be prepared as a written statement (attestation de témoin) complying with the formal requirements of the Code of Civil Procedure. Preserve everything now: the employment contract and amendments, job description, target letters, appraisal reports, warning letters with proofs of receipt, payroll records, DSN confirmations, time records, emails showing impact on clients or the team, and the complete dismissal correspondence with postal slips. Delete nothing after the dispute starts; French courts draw adverse inferences from missing documents that the employer was required to keep.

Two parallel risks run alongside the labour case. The dismissed employee will register with France Travail and may report the circumstances of the separation; inconsistent dates between your attestation, the employment certificate and the DSN trigger questions and, in the worst case, a report to the labour inspectorate (inspection du travail). Separately, an aggressive dismissal calendar that coincides with a pregnancy announcement, a request for part-time parental leave, or trade union activity invites a discrimination or harassment claim, where the burden shifts and the scale no longer caps certain heads of damage. Before notifying, ask payroll to confirm no protection period applies, check the calendar against recent employee disclosures, and keep the written record strictly factual. A calm, documented, well-costed separation almost always settles at conciliation for a fraction of the trial exposure; a rushed letter written from headquarters without exhibits almost always proceeds to judgment.

Conclusion

Dismissing a French employee from abroad is a paper procedure with a calculable price, not an email with an unknown aftermath. Invite the employee to a preliminary meeting with five working days’ notice and the mandatory notice about the outside adviser, hold the meeting through a mandated representative who listens before you decide, then notify precise, dated, provable reasons by registered letter no earlier than two working days later, and close the file with the certificate, the France Travail attestation, the balance of all accounts and a DSN-clean final payroll. Budget statutory severance from eight months of service at a quarter month per year then a third beyond ten years, plus notice and paid leave, and compare every figure with the collective agreement. If the employee challenges the dismissal within twelve months, the labour court will judge the letter and the exhibits, and the Macron scale will price the loss of cause in months of salary on top of sums already paid. Prepare the file before you post the first letter, keep every slip, and have French counsel review the reasons while they can still be corrected: that discipline is what separates a controlled exit from a dispute that follows you across borders.