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You are employing for the first time

Hiring my first employee

Before you commit: choose between an open-ended and a fixed-term contract — the fixed term is an exception that must be justified —, price the real cost of hiring and the general relief that lowers it, check gross-to-net on exact brackets, simulate the payslip. Then, within the 8-day window before the first working day: the DPAE — 12 steps, in the order they actually happen.

Start here: Hiring your first employee in France

Understand: type of contract, real employer cost, mandatory formalities

  1. Step 1 of 12
    CoursePaid individually25 min

    Hiring your first employee in France

    Real employer cost before the offer, the formalities that cannot be fixed later, then the first payslip line by line: three worked modules following Yanis's workshop. All the prose is free to read; only the quizzes are sold.
  2. Step 2 of 12
    CoursePaid individually25 min

    Choosing between open-ended and fixed-term

    Why the fixed-term contract is an exception that must be justified, the two trial-period ceilings not to be confused, and the end-of-contract indemnity many forget to budget for. Three modules following a production workshop. All the prose is free to read; only the quizzes are sold.
  3. Step 3 of 12
    CoursePaid individually26 min

    Declaring a new hire

    The rule of order in article L1221-10 and the eight-day window, the five particulars and six formalities the declaration discharges, then what its absence costs depending on whether the omission was inadvertent or intentional. Three modules on a bakery hiring its first employee. All the prose is free to read; the case study and quizzes are sold.
  4. Step 4 of 12
    CoursePaid individually26 min

    Taking on an apprentice

    A contract of employment of a particular kind and its reciprocal undertakings, the six-month to three-year term and the wage schedule as a percentage of the minimum wage, then the forty-five-day termination window that is not counted in calendar days. Three modules on a garage. All the prose is free to read; the case study and quizzes are sold.
  5. Step 5 of 12
    CoursePaid individually25 min

    Lightening the cost of labour

    A coefficient to four decimals that takes 6 462.72 € off contributions on a 26 400 € salary, an eleventh employee who moves the training contribution from 1 320 € to 2 400 €, and an association paying nothing at nine employees and 3 225.94 € at ten. Three costed modules. All the prose is free to read; the case study and quizzes are sold.
  6. Step 6 of 12
    CoursePaid individually54 min

    Reading a French payslip

    The anatomy of a payslip, the gross-to-net calculation rebuilt line by line, then how to check it and get it corrected: three worked modules following Léa on 2 600 € gross. Pilot course for the four-window structure. All the prose is free to read; the case studies and quizzes are sold.
  7. Step 7 of 12
    CoursePaid individually25 min

    Covering staff with health insurance

    The duty with no headcount threshold and half the funding on the employer, the minimum basket of care and its flat amounts, then free portability bounded by three cumulative limits. Three modules on a six-person firm. All the prose is free to read; the case study and quizzes are sold.

Price it before committing: cost, general relief, gross-to-net, payslip

  1. Step 8 of 12
    CalculatorFree result

    Cost of hiring an employee in France

    Price the real cost of hiring: salary, employer contributions, 13th month and benefits, first year included.
  2. Step 9 of 12
    CalculatorFree result

    General employer contribution reduction

    Enter the annual gross pay and the headcount band: the calculator returns the statutory coefficient rounded to four decimals, the annual reduction in employer contributions, its monthly average and, if you enter an employer rate, the employer cost left after the reduction.
  3. Step 10 of 12
    CalculatorFree result

    French employee contributions: gross to net

    Go from gross to net salary with the exact 2026 brackets (social security ceiling, AGIRC-ARRCO, CSG-CRDS) — not a flat-rate estimate.
  4. Step 11 of 12
    CalculatorFree result

    French payroll simulator: gross, net and employer cost

    Simulate a payslip: gross pay, overtime at 25%, health cover, withholding tax and employer cost.

File before day one: the DPAE

  1. Step 12 of 12
    FormFree10 min

    DPAE — pre-hiring declaration

    The mandatory formality before any hire: the 8-day window, Urssaf or MSA, information to prepare, the receipt — and the real cost of hiring with the linked calculators.

The other paths

A different procedure, the same principle: the three pillars in order.

Read in French