Request for the employment certificate and end-of-contract documents (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 letter for an employee whose contract has ended in mainland France or an overseas department other than Mayotte and who has not received the documents due: the certificat de travail (article L. 1234-19 of the Labour Code), the certificate for France Travail, the public employment service (article R. 1234-9), and the final-settlement receipt (article L. 1234-20). It lists what is missing, sets a deadline and says that, failing that, the employment tribunal's urgent-applications judge will be asked to order it. Send it by registered post with proof of receipt. In French.
- Made for use in France
- Last updated October 13, 2026
When to use this document
- Your job in France has ended and your employer has not given you your employment certificate.
- Your claim with France Travail is stuck because your former employer has not sent the certificate it needs.
- Weeks after leaving, you are still waiting for your final settlement statement and leaving papers.
- You want to demand your end-of-contract documents in writing before going to the employment tribunal.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Employee
- Employee's address
- How the letter is delivered
- Employer
- Employer's postal address (department if any, street, postcode and town)
- City
- Date
- Position
- Date of termination
- Documents not yet received (e.g. employment certificate, France Travail certificate, final settlement, last payslip)
- Deadline
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- When must a French employer hand over the end-of-employment documents?
- When the contract ends — where there is a notice period, when it expires, even if the employer asked you not to work it. The employment certificate, the France Travail certificate and the final settlement are to be collected: the employer must hold them for you and tell you so, but need not post them unless custom or an agreement says otherwise. If you cannot go and collect them, this letter asks the employer to post them or to tell you when to come.
- What does a French employment certificate (certificat de travail) contain?
- Only facts: the start and end dates, and the kind of jobs held with the matching periods (article D. 1234-6 of the Labour Code), and, where it applies, the continued health and provident cover after leaving (article L. 911-8 of the Social Security Code). French law has no qualified reference letter: the certificate contains no assessment of your work, and the employer need not add one. A letter of recommendation is possible, but only if the employer is willing. Check the dates: the end date is the end of the notice period, even if the employer asked you not to work it.
- What if a French employer still does not hand over the end-of-contract documents?
- You can apply to the urgent-applications judge (formation de référé) of the employment tribunal (conseil de prud'hommes), who can order the documents to be handed over, with a daily penalty if need be. Applying costs nothing and you need not be represented. A delay that causes you proven harm, for instance in registering with France Travail, can also lead to damages. Keep the proof of receipt of this letter and a copy of it.
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
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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