Fixed-term employment contract (CDD) — replacement or temporary increase in activity (France)
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This document is in French
The PDF you download is in French — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
A standard full-time fixed-term employment contract (CDD) for mainland France and the overseas departments other than Mayotte, limited to the two commonest grounds: replacing an absent employee or a temporary increase in activity (article L. 1242-2 of the French Labour Code). It contains the particulars of article L. 1242-12 — precise ground, end date, post, probation, pay, collective agreement, supplementary pension and provident bodies — and the 10 % end-of-contract payment. A CDD without a precise and true ground is deemed open-ended. Give it to the employee within two working days of hiring. In French.
- Made for use in France
- Last updated October 13, 2026
When to use this document
- You need to replace an employee in France who is off sick or on maternity leave.
- Your business has a temporary surge in work and you want to hire someone for a fixed period.
- A large one-off order means you need an extra worker for a few months.
- You need a fixed-term contract (CDD) to give the new employee when they start.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Employer
- Employer's registered address
- Employer's SIRET number
- Person signing for the employer
- Employee
- Date of birth
- Place of birth
- Employee's address
- Reason for the fixed-term contract
- Employee replaced: name and qualification (required for a replacement contract)
- Precise nature of the temporary increase in activity (for a contract on that ground)
- Start date
- End date of the contract
- Position
- Place of work
- Duties
- Whether the post is on the list of posts with particular health or safety risks (article L. 4154-2 of the French Labour Code)
- Length of the probation period (e.g. “one month” or “none”)
- Working hours
- Gross base salary
- Other components of pay
- Applicable collective agreement (title and IDCC number, or “none”)
- Supplementary pension fund (name and address)
- Provident and supplementary health cover provider (name and address)
- Additional terms
- City
- Date
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- When is a French fixed-term contract (CDD) reclassified as open-ended?
- In particular when it is not in writing, does not state its ground or, for a replacement, the name and qualification of the employee replaced, durably fills a job linked to the company's normal and permanent activity, or exceeds the permitted length or number of renewals (article L. 1245-1 of the Labour Code). The employee is then awarded at least one month's pay (article L. 1245-2). A contract handed over more than two working days after hiring is no longer reclassified on that ground alone, but gives a right to compensation of at most one month's pay.
- How long can a French CDD last, and how often can it be renewed?
- Unless an extended branch agreement sets other limits, eighteen months at most, renewals included, for these two grounds (article L. 1242-8-1 of the Labour Code), and two renewals at most (article L. 1243-13). Between two CDDs on the same post a waiting period applies as a rule, with exceptions, notably for a new replacement (articles L. 1244-3 et seq.). Probation, if the contract provides for it, is at most one day per week, up to two weeks for a contract of six months or less and one month beyond.
- When is this French CDD form not suitable?
- It covers only replacing an absent employee and a temporary increase in activity, with a fixed end date. It is not suitable for replacing a striking employee, for certain dangerous work, for an increase in activity within six months of an economic dismissal on the same post (articles L. 1242-5 and L. 1242-6 of the Labour Code), nor for seasonal, customary-use, defined-purpose or integration contracts, nor for a replacement with no fixed end date, which follow other rules.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
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