You live in London, New York, Dubai or Singapore, your French company (a SAS, a simplified joint-stock company, or a SARL, a limited liability company) is registered, the Kbis (the official company identity certificate issued by the greffe, the clerk of the commercial court) is in your inbox, and you need hands on the ground in Paris: an office manager, a sales representative, a developer. Hiring that first employee in France while you manage from abroad is entirely possible, but the procedure is rigid, the deadlines are short, and the cost of a missed formality is high. This guide explains, in English and step by step, how foreign founders hire a first employee in France: the DPAE (declaration prealable a l’embauche, the prior hiring declaration), the single personnel register, the written employment contract, the trial period, the monthly payslip, the DSN (declaration sociale nominative, the monthly electronic payroll return), the mandatory supplementary health cover, and the penalties that apply when a step is skipped, with the remedies that allow you to respond and challenge an assessment from abroad.<\/p>\n
French hiring law does not adapt to distance. The Labour Code applies in the same way whether the president of the SAS signs from Paris or from abroad, whether the manager (gerant) of the SARL lives in France or connects from another time zone. URSSAF (the network of agencies that collects social contributions) expects the same declaration, the labour court (conseil de prud’hommes, the employment tribunal) applies the same rules on proof, and the six-month penalty for concealed work applies to a foreign-managed company exactly as it applies to a domestic one. The good news is that every step can be prepared remotely: online DPAE filing, electronic signature of the contract, payroll outsourced to a French provider, DSN filed each month, health cover subscribed before the employee starts. Readers who are still choosing the structure for their French presence should start with our guide on choosing between a SAS, a SARL, a branch and a subsidiary when you run the business from abroad<\/a>, then return here for the hiring sequence itself.<\/p>\n The method below follows the order in which mistakes actually happen in practice. Part I covers the declarations that must exist before and immediately after day one: the DPAE, the opening of the URSSAF employer account, the single personnel register, and the affiliations that flow from the first hire. Part II covers the contract and the monthly routine: drafting the employment contract, setting a lawful trial period and its renewal, calculating the true monthly cost, issuing the payslip, filing the DSN, and funding the mandatory health cover. Each section gives the exact legal source, the practical deadline, the document to keep as proof, and the sanction attached to the obligation, so that a founder living abroad can delegate with precision and verify with confidence.<\/p>\n Before discussing salary levels or job titles, a foreign founder must understand one point: in France, hiring begins with a declaration, not with a handshake. The employment relationship is enforceable only when the administration has been notified in advance, the employee has been entered in the books, and the employer account exists. The two court decisions and the nine statutory provisions cited in this Part show why founders who treat the DPAE as paperwork come to regret it, and how a disciplined remote process removes the risk.<\/p>\n The DPAE is the single most urgent formality. Article L. 1221-10 of the Labour Code states: “L’embauche d’un salari\u00e9 ne peut intervenir qu’apr\u00e8s d\u00e9claration nominative accomplie par l’employeur aupr\u00e8s des organismes de protection sociale d\u00e9sign\u00e9s \u00e0 cet effet.”<\/a> In plain English, no employee may start work before the employer has filed a nominative declaration with the designated social protection body, which in practice means URSSAF for most private-sector hires. The declaration identifies the employer through the SIRET (the 14-digit establishment identifier), identifies the future employee by name, and announces the hiring date and contract type. Service-public and URSSAF guidance specify that the DPAE must be sent at the earliest eight days before hiring and in all cases before the employee effectively starts work, through the online portal. A founder in another country files the same form, through the same portal, with the same deadline; distance grants no extension.<\/p>\n The first DPAE has a second effect that surprises many foreign founders: it triggers registration as an employer. When URSSAF receives the first DPAE from a company that has never hired, it opens an employer account (compte employeur) under the general social security scheme. That account then serves for all subsequent contribution calls, DSN routing, and controls. Founders sometimes ask their accountant whether they can delay the DPAE until the Kbis arrives or until the bank account is active. The answer is negative in both cases. The Kbis proves the company exists, the SIRET proves the establishment exists, and once those numbers exist the DPAE can and must be filed before the first day of work. A practical remote sequence works well: obtain the SIRET at incorporation, mandate the French accountant or payroll provider in writing to file the DPAE, confirm receipt (accuse de reception) by email the same day, and store that receipt with the draft contract. The receipt is the proof that the declaration was made before the start, and labour inspectors and URSSAF controllers ask for it first.<\/p>\n Missing the DPAE is not a minor administrative delay. Article L. 8221-5 of the Labour Code provides: “Est r\u00e9put\u00e9 travail dissimul\u00e9 par dissimulation d’emploi salari\u00e9 le fait pour tout employeur : 1\u00b0 Soit de se soustraire intentionnellement \u00e0 l’accomplissement de la formalit\u00e9 pr\u00e9vue \u00e0 l’article L. 1221-10”<\/a>, relating to the prior hiring declaration (DPAE). In other words, deliberately avoiding the DPAE is classified as concealed work by concealment of salaried employment. The general prohibition is set by Article L. 8221-1, available at Article L. 8221-1 of the Labour Code<\/a>, which bans concealed work, advertising that favours it, and knowingly using its services. The financial consequence at the end of the relationship is set by Article L. 8223-1: “En cas de rupture de la relation de travail, le salari\u00e9 auquel un employeur a eu recours dans les conditions de l’article L. 8221-3 ou en commettant les faits pr\u00e9vus \u00e0 l’article L. 8221-5 a droit \u00e0 une indemnit\u00e9 forfaitaire \u00e9gale \u00e0 six mois de salaire.”<\/a> Six months of salary as a lump sum, whatever the length of service, even for an employee hired only weeks earlier.<\/p>\n A recent appeal decision shows how courts apply these texts to a missing DPAE. In a judgment of 16 July 2025 (Court of Appeal of Montpellier, 1st social chamber, general roll No. 23\/00786, official link: Court of Appeal of Montpellier, 16 July 2025, RG 23\/00786<\/a>), the employee had written to URSSAF to ask whether her hiring had been declared, and the court recorded that Intention matters, but it does not protect disorganised employers as much as they hope. The statute requires an intentional failure, yet courts infer intention from the absence of any filing combined with actual work performed, payslips missing, or contributions unpaid. A founder who says the accountant forgot, the portal password did not arrive, or the hire was urgent and the form would follow, faces an uphill argument once the employee proves work without a DPAE. The only robust defence is contemporaneous proof: a DPAE receipt dated before the start date, a contract signed before the start, and DSN entries from the first pay run. Remote founders should therefore never allow an employee to From abroad, three practical points deserve attention. First, designate one person responsible for the DPAE in writing: either the external payroll provider or a named individual in France with portal access. Second, confirm the applicable URSSAF office: the employer declares to the URSSAF of the place of work, which for a Paris-based employee means URSSAF Ile-de-France even when the founder lives elsewhere. Third, when the first hire is a foreign national, verify work authorisation separately: the DPAE does not replace the obligation to check the titre de sejour (residence permit) authorising work. Keep a copy of the document presented, because hiring a foreign worker without authorisation triggers separate criminal and administrative sanctions that compound the DPAE risk.<\/p>\n Once the DPAE is filed, the obligations continue on day one itself. Article L. 1221-13 of the Labour Code states: “Un registre unique du personnel est tenu dans tout \u00e9tablissement o\u00f9 sont employ\u00e9s des salari\u00e9s.”<\/a> Every establishment that employs staff must keep a single personnel register, with surnames and first names entered in hiring order, indelibly, at the time of hiring. The provision adds that trainees and civic-service volunteers appear in a specific section. For a foreign founder, this means the Paris office, even a small coworking room that qualifies as the establishment, must hold that register from the first hire. An electronic register is accepted when it guarantees integrity and chronological order, but a simple spreadsheet edited months later is not. Labour inspectors check the register during visits, and its absence or late completion supports broader findings of irregular employment.<\/p>\n Affiliation flows automatically from the DPAE and the first payroll, but the founder must verify that each body has the employee on record. The employee must be affiliated to the primary health insurance fund (CPAM, caisse primaire d’assurance maladie), to the complementary pension scheme (AGIRC-ARRCO), to unemployment insurance, and to the occupational health service (service de prevention et de sante au travail). The DPAE triggers the health affiliation; the pension and unemployment affiliations pass through the payroll provider and the DSN. The founder abroad does not perform these steps personally but must obtain written confirmation from the provider that each affiliation is effective, with dates. A frequent gap concerns the medical visit: every new hire must be directed to occupational health for an information and prevention visit within three months (earlier for specific exposures). Ask the provider to book it in the hiring week and keep the summons.<\/p>\n The information duties toward the employee are equally strict. On hiring, the employer must hand over the written contract or appointment letter, inform the employee of the applicable collective agreement (convention collective, the industry-wide agreement that sets minimum pay, trial rules, and notice periods), display or deliver the mandatory notices, and register the employee for the supplementary health cover described in Part II. The collective agreement deserves emphasis because foreign founders often assume the contract alone governs. In France, the agreement supplements the contract on minimum salary grids, trial renewal, overtime premiums, and termination notice. Applying no agreement, or the wrong one, leads to back-pay claims that surface years later during a dispute. Identify the agreement by the company’s principal activity (for example, Syntec for consulting, Commerce de detail for retail), mention its title in the contract, and ask counsel to confirm the classification before the offer letter goes out.<\/p>\n Record-keeping from abroad should follow a simple rule: every hiring document exists twice, once with the provider and once in the founder’s own files, with dates. The hiring file for employee number one should contain the signed offer, the DPAE receipt with timestamp, the signed contract, the copy of identity and work authorisation, the register entry, the health-cover affiliation certificate, the occupational-health summons, and the first DSN acknowledgement. When URSSAF later sends a control letter or when the labour court asks who proves what, that file decides the outcome. Our companion analysis of URSSAF audits for companies managed from abroad explains the control sequence and the time limits for response, and it should be read alongside this hiring guide once the first payroll is running. The hiring file also protects against the most common employee claim in year one: the assertion that no declaration was made, no register existed, and no information was given. With dated receipts, that claim fails at the first hearing.<\/p>\n With the declarations in place, the founder faces the monthly reality: a contract that must anticipate disputes, a trial period that must be managed to the day, and a payroll cycle that must be exact. French employment contracts are not short offer letters. They carry mandatory content, they interact with the collective agreement, and their trial clauses are interpreted strictly against the employer. The payroll cycle is equally formal: a payslip with regulated entries, a DSN filed each month, contributions paid on time, and health cover funded at least half by the employer. This Part gives the drafting and payroll discipline that keeps a remote-managed hire compliant month after month.<\/p>\n Start with the contract type. Most first hires are on a CDI (contrat a duree indeterminee, the open-ended contract), which is the default form in France. A CDD (contrat a duree determinee, the fixed-term contract) is allowed only for the cases listed by statute, such as temporary replacement or a temporary increase in activity, and it requires a precise end date or minimum duration plus a precariousness bonus. A founder who wants flexibility should use the trial period inside a CDI rather than a short CDD used as a disguised probation. The CDI must still be in writing for the trial clause to be enforceable, and it must state the job title, the qualification level, the place of work, working time, remuneration with its fixed and variable parts, the collective agreement, and the trial period with its duration and renewal terms. An appointment letter that omits the trial clause cannot be corrected afterwards by invoking an oral agreement: without a written stipulation at hiring, there is no trial period.<\/p>\n The trial period itself has a dual purpose stated by statute. Article L. 1221-20 of the Labour Code provides: “La p\u00e9riode d’essai permet \u00e0 l’employeur d’\u00e9valuer les comp\u00e9tences du salari\u00e9 dans son travail, notamment au regard de son exp\u00e9rience, et au salari\u00e9 d’appr\u00e9cier si les fonctions occup\u00e9es lui conviennent.”<\/a> The maximum initial durations are set by Article L. 1221-19: “Le contrat de travail \u00e0 dur\u00e9e ind\u00e9termin\u00e9e peut comporter une p\u00e9riode d’essai dont la dur\u00e9e maximale est : 1\u00b0 Pour les ouvriers et les employ\u00e9s, de deux mois ; 2\u00b0 Pour les agents de ma\u00eetrise et les techniciens, de trois mois ; 3\u00b0 Pour les cadres, de quatre mois.”<\/a> In English: two months for workers and employees, three months for supervisors and technicians, four months for executives. The applicable collective agreement may set shorter periods, and the contract may set an even shorter period, but neither the agreement nor the contract may exceed the statutory ceiling, except for specific negotiated regimes that remain the exception. For a first hire who is an office manager classified as an employee, two months is the ceiling; for a sales executive classified as a cadre (executive), four months is the ceiling.<\/p>\n Renewal is where foreign-managed companies most often fail. Article L. 1221-21 states: “La p\u00e9riode d’essai peut \u00eatre renouvel\u00e9e une fois si un accord de branche \u00e9tendu le pr\u00e9voit. Cet accord fixe les conditions et les dur\u00e9es de renouvellement.”<\/a> Renewal is therefore possible only once and only when an extended industry agreement allows it and sets the terms. Even then, renewal requires the employee’s clear written agreement before the initial period expires. The Court of Cassation enforces this strictly. In a judgment of 11 June 2025 (Social Chamber, appeal No. 23-21.128, official link: Court of Cassation, Social Chamber, 11 June 2025, No. 23-21.128<\/a>), the Court recalled that Ending the trial period also follows a notice scale that many founders discover too late. Article L. 1221-25 of the Labour Code sets minimum warning periods when the employer ends the contract during or at the end of the trial, and it adds: “La p\u00e9riode d’essai, renouvellement inclus, ne peut \u00eatre prolong\u00e9e du fait de la dur\u00e9e du d\u00e9lai de pr\u00e9venance.”<\/a> The trial, including any renewal, cannot be extended by the notice period. When notice is not observed, the employee is entitled to compensatory payment equal to the wages and benefits that would have been received through the notice, including paid-leave compensation. In practice, after one month of presence the employer must give two weeks, after three months one month. A Paris-based employee dismissed on the last day of trial without that notice receives the corresponding payment automatically, and the labour court awards it on documentary proof alone. Manage trial endings from abroad with a calendar that counts presence days, excludes suspensions (illness and certain leaves extend the trial by an equal period), and triggers the notice letter early enough to fit inside the trial.<\/p>\n Two drafting cautions complete the picture. First, align the contract with the collective agreement on renewal: if the agreement requires a written agreement before expiry and caps the renewal at the initial duration, reproduce those terms word for word rather than paraphrasing. Second, never extend the trial informally by email after expiry. Once the trial has ended, the employee is confirmed (titularise) by operation of law, and any later termination must follow dismissal or mutual-separation procedure with its own formalities and costs. Founders who hesitate during the trial should decide early: either renew properly before expiry with the signed agreement, or confirm and manage performance through ordinary means. Waiting until after expiry and then invoking poor fit converts a straightforward trial ending into wrongful-dismissal litigation before the conseil de prud’hommes of the place of work, in Paris the Paris labour court when the employee works there.<\/p>\n The true cost of a French hire is the gross salary plus employer contributions, and foreign founders consistently underestimate the second element. As a working range for budgeting, employer contributions for an executive or employee at ordinary salary levels add roughly forty to forty-five percent on top of gross salary, before the supplementary health, pension, and insurance components that vary by agreement. A gross monthly salary of 3,000 euros therefore costs the company around 4,250 to 4,350 euros per month, while the employee receives around 2,310 to 2,350 euros net before income tax withholding, the difference reflecting employee contributions and the PAS (prelevement a la source, the pay-as-you-earn withholding collected by the employer). Exact figures depend on the contribution rates in force, the AGIRC-ARRCO tranche, the unemployment (assurance chomage) rate, the work-accident rate (taux AT\/MP, set by activity and risk), the transport levy in Paris (versement mobilite), and any agreement-level minima. Ask the payroll provider for a written cost simulation before the offer, showing gross, net before tax, employer cost, and the monthly contribution breakdown, and keep that simulation with the hiring file. Candidates in Paris compare net before tax and supplementary benefits, so the offer letter should state gross, variable terms, and benefits rather than an approximate net.<\/p>\n Each month, the employer must issue a payslip and keep proof of payment. Article L. 3243-2 of the Labour Code states: “Lors du paiement du salaire, l’employeur remet aux personnes mentionn\u00e9es \u00e0 l’article L. 3243-1 une pi\u00e8ce justificative dite bulletin de paie.”<\/a> The payslip must show the employer identity, the employee identity, the job classification, working time, gross, contributions by body and rate, net social (montant net social, the reference net used for benefit calculations), net before tax, withholding, and net paid, with payment date and method. Electronic delivery is allowed unless the employee objects, provided integrity, availability, and confidentiality are guaranteed. For a founder abroad, electronic payslips through the payroll provider are the norm, but the founder must verify each month that the payslip was actually delivered and that the bank transfer matches the net paid. Missing payslips are treated by Article L. 8221-5 as a marker of concealed work when combined with under-declared hours, and inaccurate hours trigger the same classification when they do not result from a working-time agreement. Time records therefore matter even for a single employee: where staff do not share identical collective hours, Article L. 3171-2 requires the employer to keep documents counting working time, available at Article L. 3171-2 of the Labour Code<\/a>, and overtime must appear on the payslip with its premium. Our analysis of overtime claims by first employees explains how courts assess those records and why a remote employer needs reliable time entries from week one.<\/p>\n The DSN is the monthly return that carries payroll data to the administration. Article L. 133-5-3 of the Social Security Code provides that “Tout employeur de personnel salari\u00e9 ou assimil\u00e9 adresse \u00e0 celui des organismes mentionn\u00e9s aux articles L. 213-1 et L. 752-1 du pr\u00e9sent code”<\/a>, establishing through a nominative social declaration, for each employee, the place of activity, employment characteristics, pay-period remuneration, social contributions, working time, and contract start, suspension, and end dates occurring during the month. In practice, the payroll software generates the DSN around the fifth of the following month, URSSAF debits the contributions, and an acknowledgement (compte rendu metier) confirms acceptance or signals anomalies. The founder abroad should receive that acknowledgement every month, not just the payslip. Late or missing DSN entries trigger surcharges and interest, and repeated anomalies trigger a control. When an anomaly appears, correct it through the next DSN with a regularisation rather than leaving the error to accumulate, because URSSAF assesses penalties on the duration and scale of the gap.<\/p>\nI. How to declare and register your first hire from abroad without creating concealed work<\/h2>\n
A. How to file the DPAE on time and open your URSSAF employer account from abroad<\/h3>\n
l’URSSAF a indiqu\u00e9 que l’employeur n’avait proc\u00e9d\u00e9 \u00e0 aucune d\u00e9claration pr\u00e9alable \u00e0 l’embauche la concernant<\/q>. After examining the file, the court stated:
En l’esp\u00e8ce, l’employeur n’a proc\u00e9d\u00e9 \u00e0 aucune d\u00e9claration pr\u00e9alable \u00e0 l’embauche de [Y] [H].<\/q> It concluded:
Ainsi, le d\u00e9lit de travail dissimul\u00e9 est \u00e9tabli.<\/q> and awarded the lump sum of 8,521.50 euros as concealed-work compensation, with the operative part fixing
8521,50 euros au titre d’indemnit\u00e9 forfaitaire pour travail dissimul\u00e9<\/q>. The lesson for a founder abroad is direct: keep the URSSAF receipt, because when the declaration is missing, the employee needs only an URSSAF letter to prove it, and the court draws the consequence mechanically.<\/p>\n
start Monday, paperwork Friday<\/q>. If the start is urgent, file the DPAE immediately and postpone the start by the hours needed to obtain the receipt. The cost of a one-day delay is negligible next to six months of salary.<\/p>\n
B. How to set up the single personnel register, affiliation and mandatory filings after day one<\/h3>\n
II. How to draft the contract, run the trial period and pay the employee every month<\/h2>\n
A. How to write the employment contract and set a valid trial period with renewal<\/h3>\n
Ce renouvellement fait l’objet d’un accord \u00e9crit entre le salari\u00e9 et l’employeur ou son repr\u00e9sentant, avant le terme de la p\u00e9riode d’essai initiale.<\/q> On the facts, the employer relied on a signed letter plus a covering email stating
voici la lettre de renouvellement sign\u00e9e ce jour<\/q>. The Court held:
En se d\u00e9terminant ainsi, par des motifs qui ne suffisent pas \u00e0 caract\u00e9riser l’accord \u00e9crit non \u00e9quivoque du salari\u00e9 au renouvellement de la p\u00e9riode d’essai, la cour d’appel a priv\u00e9 sa d\u00e9cision de base l\u00e9gale.<\/q> A mere acknowledgement of receipt plus a polite covering line is not an unequivocal written agreement. For a founder abroad, the operational rule is simple: send the renewal proposal at least one week before expiry, require a separate signed sentence such as
I expressly agree to renew the trial period for [duration]<\/q> with date and signature, and diary the expiry. Without that document, ending the contract after the initial expiry is treated as a dismissal, with notice, severance, and unfair-dismissal exposure.<\/p>\n
B. How to calculate the monthly cost, issue payslips, file the DSN and fund health cover<\/h3>\n