Our memos on operating in France
Running a team in France means understanding how things actually work in practice — how decisions are made, how managers operate, how employees are managed, how working practices are organised, and how all of this affects your costs, your organisation and your ability to move forward.
Updated: 13 August 2026
The main challenge is often a multicultural one. A management practice, decision-making process or HR approach that feels natural at headquarters may be understood very differently in France. The issue is not simply to comply with local rules, but to understand those differences and translate the group's way of working into a French environment without losing its business purpose.
Our memos focus on what you need to understand before you decide: how the French system works in practice, what may be different from what headquarters expects, what needs to be anticipated, where the real constraints are, and what options remain open.
They are not intended to be exhaustive. They are designed to surface what matters and connect the organisational, managerial, people, financial, cultural and legal dimensions of a decision — early enough to ask the right questions while there is still room to choose.
What headquarters sees, and what is actually happening
| What headquarters sees | What is actually happening |
|---|---|
| Managers keep talking about performance but seem reluctant to act | Performance needs to be managed and documented over time — not reconstructed when the company decides to exit1 |
| "We just need to end the relationship" becomes a lengthy discussion | France has different routes for ending employment, and choosing the right one affects timing, cost and risk2 |
| The French team will not confirm a group decision immediately | A group decision affecting the French business may require a local consultation process before it becomes final3 |
| HR questions a bonus or benefit that headquarters sees as discretionary | What the company repeatedly does can become as important as what it has formally agreed in writing |
| A senior employee is managed on results, yet working time still matters | Managing by results is possible, but autonomy over working time has to be properly organised rather than assumed4 |
| A global "Manager" or "Senior Manager" title does not produce the expected status | Titles do not determine classification, working-time status or authority in France — the actual role does5 |
| The subsidiary is too small to hire HR, so headquarters expects managers to handle it | HR exists from the first employee: managers still need support and employees still need day-to-day follow-up, even before an in-house HR role makes sense |
Our memos
01 · Managing underperformance: why conversations are not enough
How to manage performance over time, what managers should document, how support and performance management fit together, and why waiting until an exit is considered is usually too late.
02 · Dismissal or negotiated exit?
The different ways an employment relationship can end in France, how to choose the right route, and what each option means for timing, cost, management and risk.
03 · Why the French consultation process must come first
Why a decision made at group level may still require a process in France before it becomes final — and how to reconcile headquarters' decision-making timetable with the French subsidiary's obligations.
04 · Why a discretionary benefit may become an entitlement
Why repeated company practices matter, how informal generosity can become a continuing commitment, and how to design benefits without unintentionally making them permanent.
05 · Managing by results without ignoring working time
How to give employees genuine autonomy while remaining within the French working-time framework, why a day-count arrangement is not simply an "exempt" status, and what managers need to monitor in practice.
06 · "Manager": a job title with no legal meaning
Why global titles do not automatically translate into French classifications, working-time status or management authority — and how to map the actual role correctly when building the French organisation.
07 · Outsourced HR: who runs HR before you have an in-house team
Why HR starts with the first employee, what day-to-day employee and manager support actually involves, and how an outsourced HR function can bridge the gap between headquarters and the French team until — or unless — an in-house function makes sense.
A note on what these memos avoid
You will not find national stereotypes here. Not because they are impolite, but because they are useless: they describe a symptom and give you nothing to act on. Knowing that French employees value process tells you nothing. Knowing that a dismissal letter cannot be sent less than two working days after the preliminary meeting6 tells you exactly what to do on Monday.
Every explanation in these memos is anchored to a specific rule, cited in the footnotes. Where a point rests on case law rather than statute, it is stated as such.
Who wrote this
my-people is the HR service offered by Convergent, a French employment law firm. These memos are written by an Avocat admitted to the Toulouse Bar who also runs outsourced HR functions for foreign companies operating in France — which is why they are written from both sides: the rule, and what it does to a manager's week.
If you are operating in France without a local HR function, the practical consequences of everything described here land on you.
References
- French Labour Code, art. L. 1235-1.
- French Labour Code, art. L. 1237-11 and following.
- French Labour Code, art. L. 2312-14.
- French Labour Code, art. L. 3121-55.
- French Labour Code, art. L. 3111-2.
- French Labour Code, art. L. 1232-6.
These memos set out the applicable legal framework for general information purposes. They do not constitute legal advice and cannot replace the review of a specific situation.