Q.: My company is located in Europe and we intend to hire an employee to start an office in France. I do not intend to incorporate a company upfront. What particularities of the French legislation must I take into account ? A.: as a foreign company, in order to hire a permanent employee in France, you either have to create a legal structure (subsidiary, branch or registered liaison office) or employ an “isolated representative of a foreign company” - French administration calls it a “RFE” or “Représentant isolé de Firme Etrangere”.
Q.: What is so special about the French payroll management ? A.: Social insurance package compulsory. Each insurance must be paid to a different institution. Payments are done at the end of each quarter by the 15th of the month following the quarter. Penalties apply for late payments. Delinquent payments are reported in court.
Q.: If I appoint Inter Trade Service - GITS for the management of our payroll, which tasks are to be carried out by our own payroll department ? A.: If you enter a contract with GITS, you are left with the task of providing us with the setup information and salary details, and transferring in time the amounts calculated by GITS for each the time period. If you chose the full service option, GITS can receive a single payment and then transfer salary to employee and payroll taxes to the appropriate institutions.
Q.: Who is in charge of paying the salaries to my employees and the social security contributions ? A.: You can accomplish the payments yourself or, depending on your needs, transfer some or all payments to GITS. The latter is strongly recommended if your company does not have a bank account in France. We manage on your behalf all transfers (salary, social contributions, and insurances).
Q.: How can I remain in control of all payments after I have entrusted GITS the payroll management ? Furthermore I do not speak French ? A.: GITS offers you the possibility to visualize the payments carried out on your behalf. We can send you regular payroll reporting with the accurate breakdown of payments. Soon this will be possible online on our extranet. You will stay informed of all transactions and in control of your costs. Our priority is complying with your personnel instructions: translation of documents into English and detailed explanations during face-toface or phone conversations.
