France: templates and forms

The French labour ministry's site code.travail.gouv.fr offers a free model resignation letter. This document is a resignation letter for an employee on an open-ended contract (CDI) in mainland France or an overseas department other than Mayotte: it gives notice of resignation, refers to the notice period set by the collective agreement, the contract or custom, can ask to be released from working it, and asks for the end-of-employment documents. French law prescribes no form; send it by registered post with proof of receipt or hand it over against a signed receipt, to prove the day the notice starts. In French.

A rupture conventionnelle is concluded and approved free of charge online, through the French labour ministry's TéléRC service, and the ministry's site code.travail.gouv.fr has a free model request for a meeting; this document is only the letter that proposes one. For an employee on an open-ended contract (CDI) in mainland France or an overseas department other than Mayotte, it asks for a meeting with a view to ending the contract by mutual agreement (articles L. 1237-11 to L. 1237-16 of the Labour Code), without amounting to a resignation, and can give a preferred end date. Send it by registered post with proof of receipt or hand it over against a receipt. In French.

For recording the appointment of a new president of a French SAS or SASU, or manager of an SARL or EURL, the end of the previous one's office (removal, resignation or end of term), or both, by decision of the sole member, the meeting or a deed signed by all. It gives the effective date, term and pay, and the person appointed signs to accept. The change is then declared online on the one-stop business formalities portal, with the legal notice and the new officer's declaration of no conviction. In French.

A request from an employee in mainland France or an overseas department other than Mayotte to suspend the contract without pay: unpaid leave (congé sans solde), which the employer is free to grant, a sabbatical (articles L. 3142-28 et seq. of the French Labour Code) or leave to set up or take over a business (articles L. 3142-105 et seq.). It gives the dates and, where relevant, the reason or the business's activity. For the two statutory leaves, send it at least three months (sabbatical) or two months (start-up) ahead, in a way that proves the date (registered post with proof of receipt, or hand delivery against a receipt), unless a collective agreement says otherwise. In French.

A full-time open-ended employment contract (CDI) for a job in mainland France or an overseas department other than Mayotte: post and category, place of work, probation period and its renewal within articles L. 1221-19 to L. 1221-21 of the French Labour Code, 35 hours a week, pay, paid leave, notice, collective agreement, supplementary pension and provident bodies, and the other information an employee must be given (decree no. 2023-1004 of 30 October 2023). No non-compete or mobility clause. Signed in two originals. In French.

For a subscriber to a gym, magazine, streaming service or club in France who wants to stop. As you choose: cancellation at the end of the term with the contract's notice; free cancellation at any time when the business did not remind you, one to three months before the end of the term, of your right not to renew (the loi Chatel, Article L. 215-1 of the French Consumer Code); or cancellation for a legitimate reason the contract provides for. For a subscription taken out online, the 'cancel' button is often quicker. In French, to send by registered post with proof of receipt.

A letter from an employee in mainland France or an overseas department other than Mayotte to a current or former employer, claiming unpaid wages, bonuses or overtime: it sets out the amounts month by month, refers to the overtime premium (articles L. 3121-28 and L. 3121-36 of the Labour Code) and gives a payment deadline before the employment tribunal (conseil de prud'hommes) is seised. Pay claims become time-barred after three years (article L. 3245-1). Send it by registered post with proof of receipt. In French.

A letter for a former employee in mainland France or an overseas department other than Mayotte who wants to denounce the final-settlement receipt (reçu pour solde de tout compte) signed at the end of the contract. Sent within six months of signing, it stops the receipt from discharging the employer from the amounts listed in it (article L. 1234-20 of the Labour Code), and can name the amounts disputed. The withdrawal goes by registered post (article D. 1234-8 of the Labour Code) and the six months run from signing: use proof of receipt and send it early enough to arrive in time. In French.

The French labour ministry's site code.travail.gouv.fr offers free model letters ending the probation period, for the employee and for the employer. This document is a letter by which the employer or the employee ends the employment contract during the probation period (période d'essai) in mainland France or an overseas department other than Mayotte: it says who is ending it, refers to the notice period of article L. 1221-25 (employer) or L. 1221-26 (employee) of the Labour Code and gives the end date. No reason has to be given. Hand it over against a signed receipt or send it by registered post with proof of receipt, before the probation period ends. In French.

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.

For letting a furnished home in France for one to ten months to someone in training, higher education, an apprenticeship, an internship, civic service, a job transfer or a temporary assignment (art. 25-12 of the French law of 6 July 1989). The French bail mobilité carries its compulsory statements: the name of the lease and the reason, without which it becomes an ordinary furnished lease, and the term and the ban on a deposit. Not renewable, one month's notice for the tenant, a flat sum for charges. Signed by each party.