• Salary: in 2025, the minimum wage ( SMIC ) is €1,426.30 net per month (€1,801.80 gross) and €9.40 net per hour (€11.88 gross). There may be differences depending on professional status and contract.
• Working hours: The legal working week is 35 hours. Any additional hours worked must be paid.
  Some contracts are 39 hours per week. In this case, the worker is entitled to half-days or RTT days (reduction in working time).
• Retirement age: between 62 and 67 years old, it depends on the year of birth and the number of years worked.
• Paid holidays: the legal number of holidays is 2.5 days per month worked, 5 weeks of holidays per year. Each company has a special organization for holidays (recommended periods, closed offices, months of high activity, teams, etc.). The conditions for taking paid holidays are different depending on your professional status and employer.
• Working hours: working hours are usually written in the employment contract and must be respected. If you are absent, you must send proof and if you are sick, you must send a medical certificate.
• Pay slips: It is important to keep all your pay slips to have proof of your professional activity and to calculate your pension.

In France, there are several categories of workers and the rules may be different (employment contract, rights and duties of employers and workers).

• Apprentices: they are students and employees at the same time, they alternate between weeks of training in a CFA (apprentice training center) and weeks of work in a company. They have an employment contract (apprenticeship contract) and a salary.
• Craftsmen: they do a manual job and work for themselves (they are their own boss and can have employees). For example: baker, painter, shoemaker, hairdresser... You must have a CAP (professional aptitude certificate) or an equivalent diploma, or have at least 3 years of professional experience in the field.
• Traders: they have a location to set up their business and sell their products (shop, stand in a market, space for a truck, online sales site, etc.). They can also work for a commercial brand that already has several stores, in which case they must purchase a franchise .
• Farmers: they cultivate the land (fruit, vegetables, cereals, etc.) or raise animals (cows, goats, etc.) and work for themselves (they are their own boss and may have employees). They own their land and livestock or rent them.
• Civil servants: they hold a position in the state civil service (prefecture, school, police, etc.), territorial (town hall, social center, etc.) or hospital (hospital, medical-social center, etc.). They are generally recruited by competitive examination and organized into 3 categories: category A (bac +3 level), category B (bac level) and category C (CAP level). They do not have an employment contract, but they must respect commitments, rules and laws.

• Employees: they work for a private employer (company, association). They have an employment contract with the employer which explains the missions, salary, working hours, etc.
• Temporary workers: they work for a temporary employment agency (temporary employment agency) and they do short-term assignments in companies, to replace an absent employee or to respond to an urgent request from the company. They have an employment contract with the temporary employment agency and a salary.
• Seasonal workers: they have a contract for a season of up to 8 months. For example: picking grapes during the grape harvest, waiter in a restaurant in a tourist region, mountain guide, ski instructor, lifeguard on a beach, etc.
• Interns: they have an agreement with the host institution (company, association) and the educational institution (school, university). If the internship is longer than 2 months (consecutive or not during the same year), it is possible to receive a bonus every month.
• Volunteers: they give their time and skills to another person or an association. They do not have a salary, but it is possible to be reimbursed for certain expenses (transport tickets, equipment, etc.). Volunteers have a full-time contract to carry out a mission of general interest and are remunerated.

The employment contract is necessary to have proof of professional activity and a guarantee of rights. It explains the missions, rights, responsibilities in the company.

There are several types of employment contract:

• The apprenticeship or professionalization contract: alternation between training in a school or training center and work in a company. It can be a fixed-term or permanent contract.
• The single integration contract (CUI ): primarily for people who have difficulty finding work, are disabled or have been unemployed for a long time.
• Temporary employment contract (CTT) or interim: mission contract with a temporary employment agency. Another contract is signed between the temporary employment agency and the company where the temporary worker does his mission. There is a new contract for each new mission.
• Fixed-term contract (CDD): 18 months maximum, with an end date. It can be renewed, but the total duration cannot exceed 36 months.
• Seasonal employment contract: Fixed-term contract with missions that are repeated each year at the same time. It is possible to have a seasonal contract in summer and another in winter, for example.
• The permanent contract for a construction site or operation: signed for a construction site or an action, it can be terminated by the employer when the missions are completed. The employee can receive, if he meets the conditions, a severance payment.
• The intermittent employment contract (CDII or CD2I): a permanent contract in certain sectors (entertainment, tourism, etc.) with significant changes in activity. It allows the employee to alternate between periods of activity and periods of non-work.
• The permanent contract (CDI ): without an end date, it is the most stable.

There are different ways to terminate an employment contract (this is called contract termination).

• If the termination is requested by the employer, it is a dismissal: in case of economic or personal reasons, the employee receives compensation (which depends on seniority, salary, status of the employee on the day of departure, employment contract). In case of disciplinary reasons (employee's fault, non-compliance with the contract), the employee does not receive any compensation.
• If the termination is requested by the employee, it is a resignation: he/she decides to leave the company and must respect the notice period. The employee does not receive compensation, but the employer must pay him/her at the end of the notice period his/her last salary, the balance of all accounts, holiday pay and any bonuses.

• If the employee and the employer decide to stop by mutual agreement , it is a mutual termination : they decide together on the conditions (date, notice period, etc.). The employee receives compensation with conditions.
• If the end date of the contract has arrived or the mission or season has ended, it is not a breach of contract.

At the end of each contract , the worker receives:
- a work certificate
- a certificate for France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi)
- the balance of all accounts .