Payroll and HR
French payroll is decided in the branch agreement.
A French subsidiary applies a branch collective agreement. It sets grading, minimum pay, seniority, notice periods and working hours, and it applies by what the company actually does. We run the payroll, file the “DSN” and keep the deadlines.
What it coversA wrong payslip is fixed. A wrong grade reaches back three years.
In France a good deal is settled before anyone runs a calculation. The branch collective agreement sets how a post is graded, what it costs at minimum, how long people work and how much notice they are owed. Which agreement applies follows from the company’s actual main activity, not from the statistical activity code (“code APE”) issued at registration.
Reporting is lighter than the paperwork suggests. The “DSN” replaces almost every separate social filing. It goes out monthly, per establishment, and feeds URSSAF, the supplementary pension funds, the welfare insurers and the employment service. A correction goes into the following month’s filing.
Income tax works differently too. The employer withholds it at a rate supplied by the tax authorities and never learns anything about the employee’s personal position. We run the payroll, file the returns and keep the calendar. We work in French, German and English.
What it covers
From the monthly payslip to an URSSAF audit.
Payslips
Monthly, with contributions, holiday and absences, plus any variable pay. And the stated net social amount, with the items the simplified payslip prescribes.
The “DSN”
One filing a month, per establishment, to URSSAF, the supplementary pension funds, the welfare insurers and the employment service.
Joiners and leavers
Registering someone before they start. Contract and probation period. On departure, the final account, the certificate of employment and the statement for the employment service.
The branch agreement
Which branch applies, how posts are graded, what minimum pay and seniority increments attach to them, and how long people work — the annual-days arrangement for senior staff included.
Supplementary cover
Compulsory health cover (“mutuelle”), welfare insurance, supplementary pension and occupational health, with the joins and leaves that follow every change of staff.
Posting and mobility
Anyone posting staff to France files a “SIPSI” declaration in advance, names a representative in France and carries the “A1” certificate. When the posting ends, French payroll takes over.
URSSAF audits
Preparing the documents, answering the requests and discussing the points raised, from the notice of audit to the letter of findings.
Payroll entries
The payroll journal, holiday provisions and accrued liabilities go straight into the accounts instead of being keyed twice. See accounting
Frequently asked
On branch agreements, the “DSN” and audits.
The questions foreign groups ask most often when a French subsidiary starts hiring or changes provider.
Obligations
Do we need a French company to employ someone in France?
No. A foreign company can employ people in France without setting up a company there. It registers with the Centre national firmes étrangères and pays the French contributions. French employment law applies as soon as the work is habitually carried out in France.
How do you know which branch agreement applies?
From what the company actually and mainly does. The activity code (“code APE”) issued at registration is only a statistical indicator, and it can be challenged.
Write down why the chosen branch applies. It governs minimum pay and seniority increments, and getting it wrong reaches back over the three-year limitation period for pay claims.
What is the “DSN” and when is it due?
A single monthly filing, made per establishment, which replaces almost every separate social return. When it falls due depends on headcount and on the pay date. Corrections go into the following month.
In practice
Does someone posted to France fall under French payroll?
Not necessarily. A properly documented posting keeps the employee insured in the home system, evidenced by the “A1” certificate, and the “SIPSI” declaration has to be filed before the assignment starts.
A core of French rules still applies, including minimum pay and working time. Once the posting ends or stops being temporary, payroll moves to France.
Can we change payroll provider mid-year?
Yes. The handover is technical rather than legal: year-to-date figures, holiday balances, the previous “DSN” filings and the way the agreement is set up in the system. The checkpoint is the first payroll produced, reconciled against the previous provider’s last one.
What happens in an URSSAF audit?
The audit is announced by notice and covers the last three years. What comes up most often is expense reimbursement, benefits in kind, how bonuses are classified and the status of company officers. We prepare the documents and answer the requests.
What goes with it
What payroll touches directly.
Accounting
The payroll journal and the provisions, taken over without a second keying.
See the serviceSetting up in France
A first employee presupposes a registration and a branch agreement.
See the serviceCross-border advisory
Posting, the “A1” certificate and non-resident company officers.
See the serviceNext
Send us one payslip —
we will tell you what is missing.
One payslip, the contract that goes with it and the branch agreement you apply are enough to see whether the grading holds and whether the “DSN” reflects reality. We work in French, German and English.
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50, Rue Chapon · 75003 Paris
+33 1 40 09 13 77 - FRADECO GmbH · Bonn
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Simrockstr. 92 · 53619 Rheinbreitbach
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