French URSSAF DPAE Pre-Hiring Declaration — Checklist

Under Article L1221-10 of the French Labour Code (Code du travail), the DPAE must be submitted no earlier than 8 calendar days before the planned start date and no later than the instant immediately before the employee begins work. URSSAF returns a timestamped receipt (récépissé) that serves as your legal proof of compliance. The rule applies to every contract type — including fixed-term contracts (CDD) lasting a single day and seasonal arrangements. There is zero tolerance: no grace period exists, even if the start date is changed at the last minute.

Log in to net-entreprises.fr with your employer credentials (SIRET number and password). Select the DPAE form, enter your establishment details (SIRET, address), then the employee's data: surname, given name, date and place of birth, social-security number (NIR) if available, planned start date and time, and contract type. For fixed-term contracts (CDD), include the expected duration. URSSAF immediately returns an electronic acknowledgement of receipt — download and save it. Online filing is mandatory for employers who filed 50 or more DPAEs in the previous calendar year.

A valid DPAE must include: the employer's legal name and SIRET number; the address of the employing establishment; the employee's surname, given name, date and place of birth; the NIR (numéro d'inscription au répertoire — the 13-digit French social-security number), or the place of birth if no NIR is yet available; the exact start date and time; and the contract type (CDI = open-ended, CDD = fixed-term, interim, etc.) with the expected duration for CDD contracts. The occupational-health service is automatically notified to schedule the mandatory medical appointment.

Failing to file a DPAE constitutes undeclared work (travail dissimulé) under Article L8221-5 of the Code du travail, punishable under Article L8224-1 by up to 3 years' imprisonment and a €45,000 fine for an individual employer, or €225,000 for a company. On top of criminal sanctions, URSSAF can impose a flat-rate social-contributions surcharge equal to 25% of the annual social-security ceiling (plafond annuel de la Sécurité sociale) per undeclared employee. Additional penalties include exclusion from public contracts and State employment subsidies, and a ban on holding a directorship.

Yes for casual (extras) and seasonal workers: any employment contract, regardless of duration — even a single hour — triggers the DPAE obligation before work begins. Hospitality employers in the HCR sector (hotels, cafés, restaurants) may use the simplified staff register under the TESE or CEA schemes, but the DPAE remains compulsory. Interns working under a convention de stage (internship agreement) are not employees and are therefore exempt. Likewise, self-employed contractors — micro-entrepreneurs, freelancers — are not covered, as no employment relationship exists.

Keep the timestamped URSSAF acknowledgement for at least 6 years. The minimum statutory retention period is 5 years (the extended URSSAF audit limitation under Article L244-3 of the Code de la Sécurité sociale in concealment cases), but the criminal limitation period for offences — including undeclared work — is 6 years under Article 8 of the Code de procédure pénale, as amended by Law no. 2017-242 of 27 February 2017. File the receipt in each employee's individual record or a secure archiving system, noting the exact date and time of submission.