Internal promotion in the public service

Verified 01 October 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

The internal promotion allows you toaccess to functions and to a employment of a top level and on a scale of higher remuneration. It consists in the passage of a body or framework of employment to another body or framework of employment within the same public service. It's happening at your choice or after professional examination. The rules differ depending on whether your public service of State - EPF, territorial - EPF or hospital (PHF).

EPF

Internal promotion is a device that allows you to access, during your career, a body higher than your home body.

Internal promotion provides access to higher-level jobs and employment and a higher pay scale.

The change of body through internal promotion can only take place within the same public service.

The special status of each body shall define which officials may be granted access by internal promotion.

Internal promotion is reserved for civil servants holders.

Example :

The Clerks of the Judicial Services, category B, are accessible by internal promotion to officials belonging to the category C administrative assistants of the Ministry of Justice.

Conditions to be fulfilled

To qualify for an internal promotion, you must meet the conditions laid down in special status of the body to which you are entitled by internal promotion.

Conditions may include:

  • Age requirements
  • And/or seniority requirements: in your hierarchical category (A, B or C) and/or in your body and/or grade
  • And/or conditions of employment (e.g. having held such a job for a specified period, a managerial job)
  • And/or training conditions (having completed a minimum period of vocational training).

You must meet the requirements to 1er January of the year in which the promotion occurs.

Example :

The Registrars of the Judicial Services are open to administrative assistants under the Ministry of Justice who justify, at 1er January of the year of the examination, of at least 11 years of public services.

Promotion Modes

Internal promotion into a new body can be done at your choice or after professional examination.

The particular status of a body may provide for one or both of these internal promotion procedures.

Example :

The Judicial Service Clerks' Corps shall be accessible only by internal promotion after professional examination.

Where the two internal promotion procedures are provided for, they are addressed to officials who fulfill different conditions.

When internal promotion is made at the choice, your employer administration shall select the officials it wishes to promote from among those who fulfill the conditions laid down in the special staff regulations of the host institution.

The choice is made in view of professional value and acquired from professional experience public servants.

The employer's administration shall specify, within the framework of its management guidelines, the conditions for taking into account professional value and the acquired professional experience, in particular by means of the following criteria:

  • Diversity of background and functions performed
  • Trainings taken
  • Specific conditions of exercise attesting to professional commitment, adaptability and, where appropriate, the ability to supervise teams.

When internal promotion takes place after professional examinationHowever, officials promoted shall be those who are admitted to the examinations for a professional examination.

Events can be organized remotely by videoconference. In this case, the order initiating the examination shall state whether the use of videoconferencing may be requested:

  • Or, only by candidates residing in a French overseas territory or abroad, with a disability, in a pregnancy situation or whose state of health so requires
  • Either by any candidate.

Applicants wishing to use videoconferencing shall be informed by the organizing authority of the examination, by post or by electronic means, of the material conditions for organizing the test.

The number of internal promotions that can be made is limited.

This number of possible promotions is determined by the particular status of the body concerned.

It is recalculated every year.

Example :

The number of officials who may access the Judicial Service Clerks by internal promotion shall be limited to 2/5es of the number of officials appointed to that body following competition (external, internal, 3rd competition), direct integration and secondment of more than 6 months.

Depending on the special status of your host body, you may be subject to a period of internship or directly established.

The conditions of classification in your new body are also determined by the special status.

FPT

Internal promotion is a device that allows you to access, during your career, a employment framework higher than your home-based employment framework.

Internal promotion provides access to higher-level jobs and employment and a higher pay scale.

The special status of each post office shall define which officials may be granted access by internal promotion.

Internal promotion is reserved for civil servants holders.

Example :

The Category A Territorial Engineer Job Framework is available by internal promotion to officials within the Category B Territorial Technician Job Framework.

Conditions to be fulfilled

To qualify for an internal promotion, you must meet the conditions laid down in special status of the employment framework to which you are entitled by internal promotion.

Conditions may include:

  • Age requirements
  • And/or seniority conditions: in your hierarchical category (A, B or C) and/or in your job and/or grade
  • And/or conditions of employment (e.g. having held such a job for a specified period, a managerial job)
  • And/or training conditions (having completed a minimum period of vocational training).

You must meet the requirements to 1er January of the year in which the promotion occurs.

Promotion Modes

Internal promotion within a new job framework can be carried out at your choice or after professional examination.

The special status of a job manager may provide for one or both of these internal promotion procedures.

Where the two internal promotion procedures are provided for, they are addressed to officials who fulfill different conditions.

Example :

The Engineers' Framework of Employment is accessible by internal promotion at the elections to officials holding the grade of Senior Technician of 1re class and with at least 8 years of effective service as a 2-year senior techniciane or 1re class.

It is also accessible by internal promotion after professional examination to territorial technicians, whatever their grade, who have 8 years of actual service in a category B technical job and to territorial technicians who, only of their grade, have been managing for at least 2 years the technical services of a municipality or a EPCI: titleContent of less than 20 000 inhabitants in the absence of a territorial engineer.

Public servants promoted are designated differently depending on whether they are promoted on a voluntary basis or on a professional examination.

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Promotion of choice

When internal promotion is made at the choice, your employing community (or the management center if your community is affiliated to the management center) selects the officials who may be promoted from among those who meet the conditions laid down in the special status of the host employment framework.

The choice is made in view of professional value and acquired from professional experience public servants.

Your employer community (or the management center) specifies, as part of its management guidelines, the conditions for taking into account professional value and professional experience, in particular by means of the following criteria:

  • Diversity of background and functions performed
  • Trainings taken
  • Specific conditions of exercise attesting to professional commitment, adaptability and, where appropriate, the ability to supervise teams.

Promotion after professional examination

When internal promotion takes place after professional examinationHowever, the officials who may be promoted are those who are admitted to the professional examination.

You may take the examination no sooner than 1 year before the date on which you qualify for internal promotion.

The events can be organized remotely by videoconference. In this case, the order initiating the examination shall state whether the use of videoconferencing may be requested:

  • Or, only by candidates residing in a French overseas territory or abroad, with a disability, in a pregnancy situation or whose state of health so requires
  • Either by any candidate.

Applicants wishing to use videoconferencing shall be informed by the organizing authority of the examination, by post or by electronic means, of the material conditions for organizing the test.

Eligibility and Job Search

Whether the promotion is made at the choice or after professional examination, the officials selected or admitted to the examination shall be placed on a list of suitable candidates.

The eligibility list is established by your employer community or by the management center (if your community is affiliated with the management center) or by the CNFPT: titleContent (in the case of internal promotion after professional examination for managers of directors and chief engineers).

Entry on the list of suitable candidates shall not be considered as recruitment.

Your employer community is not obliged to recruit you.

You must to apply for a vacancy corresponding to the grade to which you are promoted.

The list of suitable candidates is national: you can apply for and be recruited on a job throughout France.

You remain on the list of suitable candidates for 2 years.

When a community decides to recruit you, it sends you its offer by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt.

If you do not respond within 2 months, you are considered to be refusing the job offer.

If you refuse 2 job offers, you are removed from the list of suitable candidates.

If at the end of the 2 years following your entry on the list of suitable candidates you have not found a job, you may ask in writing to the administrative authority which drew up the list of suitable candidates for re-entry for a period of 3 yearse year.

And if at the end of the 3 years you have not found a job, you can apply to be re-enrolled for a 4e year.

If at the end of the 4 years you have not found a job, you lose the benefit of your promotion.

You must formulate your application for reinstatement on the list of suitable candidates at least 1 month before the end date of your current registration.

The period of up to 4 years of entry on the list of suitable candidates shall be suspended for the following periods:

  • Parental, maternity, adoption, parental and family solidarity leave
  • Long-term leave
  • Fulfillment of local elected office
  • Recruitment on a temporary basis as a contractor in the territorial civil service to replace an employee or contractor who is temporarily unavailable on a job within the job framework for which you are promoted
  • Civic service engagement.

The number of internal promotions that can be made is limited.

All job managers provide thatan internal promotion pronounced for 2 recruitment in the context of the posts concerned.

Recruitment for internal promotions shall be recruitment by admission to a competition, by transfer, detachment, direct integration or by establishment of a disabled person at the end of a fixed term.

The number of possible internal promotions is recalculated each year at the level of your employer community or management center or the NCTF.

The number of officials on the lists of suitable candidates may not exceed the number of possible promotions.

Where no internal promotion could be made in the context of employment for at least 2 years, 1 internal promotion is possible if at least 1 recruitment has taken part in the relevant posts during those two years.

In addition, for most category A and B job managers, an alternative rule for calculating the number of possible promotions may be applied if more favorable the rule of 1 promotion for 2 recruitments.

The number of possible appointments by internal promotion (at the choice and after professional examination) can thus be calculated by applying the proportion of 1 promotion for 2 recruitments to  8% the number of contract staff on permanent contracts and officials in active employment or on secondment to the posts concerned.

Depending on the special status of your host employment framework, you may be subject to a period of internship or directly established.

The conditions of classification in your new job framework are also determined by the special status.

You are removed from the list of suitable candidates from the date of your appointment as an intern or your tenure (if you are exempt from internship).

FPH

Internal promotion is a device that allows you to access, during your career, a body higher than your home body.

Internal promotion provides access to higher-level jobs and employment and a higher pay scale.

The change of body through internal promotion can only take place within the same public service.

The special status of each body shall define which officials may be granted access by internal promotion.

Internal promotion is reserved for civil servants holders.

Example :

The group of hospital technicians and technicians, category B, is accessible by internal promotion to officials belonging to the groups of workers' masters, workers' staff and draftsmen of category C.

Conditions to be fulfilled

To qualify for an internal promotion, you must meet the conditions laid down in special statusof the body to which you are entitled by internal promotion.

Conditions may include:

  • Age requirements
  • And/or seniority requirements: in your hierarchical category (A, B or C) and/or in your body and/or grade
  • And/or conditions of employment (e.g. having held such a job for a specified period, a managerial job)
  • And/or training conditions (having completed a minimum period of vocational training).

You must meet the requirements to 1er January of the year in which the promotion occurs.

Promotion Modes

Internal promotion into a new body can be done at your choice or after professional examination.

The particular status of a body may provide for one or both of these internal promotion procedures.

Where the two internal promotion procedures are provided for, they are addressed to officials who fulfill different conditions.

Example :

The hospital technicians and senior technicians corps is accessible to officials of the workers' master corps, workers' staff and draftsmen by internal promotion at their choice if they justify 9 years of public services and by internal promotion after professional examination if they justify 7 years of public services.

When internal promotion is made at the choice, your employer administration shall select the officials it wishes to promote from among those who fulfill the conditions laid down in the special staff regulations of the host institution.

The choice is made in view of professional value and acquired from professional experience public servants.

The employer's administration shall specify, within the framework of its management guidelines, the conditions for taking into account professional value and the acquired professional experience, in particular through the following criteria :

  • Diversity of background and functions performed
  • Trainings taken
  • Specific conditions of exercise attesting to professional commitment, adaptability and, where appropriate, the ability to supervise teams.

When internal promotion takes place after professional examinationHowever, officials promoted shall be those who are admitted to the examinations for a professional examination.

The events can be organized remotely by videoconference. In that case, the order for the opening of the examination shall state whether the use of videoconferencing may be requested either by candidates residing in a French overseas territory or abroad, who are disabled, who are pregnant or whose state of health so requires, or by any candidate.

Applicants wishing to use videoconferencing shall be informed by the organizing authority of the examination, by post or by electronic means, of the material conditions for organizing the test.

Whether the promotion is made at the choice or after professional examination, the officials selected or admitted to the examination shall be placed on a list of suitable candidates.

Entry on the list of suitable candidates shall not be considered as recruitment.

You must apply for a vacancy corresponding to the grade to which you are promoted.

The number of internal promotions that can be made is limited.

This number of possible promotions is determined by the particular status of the body concerned.

It is recalculated every year.

Example :

The number of officials who may access the hospital technicians and technicians corps by internal promotion shall be limited to one third of the officials appointed to that corps following competition (external, internal, 3rd competition), direct integration and secondment of more than 6 months.

Depending on the special status of your host body, you may be subject to a period of internship or directly established.

The conditions of classification in your new body are also determined by the special status.

You are removed from the list of suitable candidates from the date of your appointment as an intern or your tenure (if you are exempt from internship).