Expatriate employee abroad

Verified 10 August 2022 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

An expatriate employee is a person who works abroad and is no longer attached to the French social security system.

You can benefit from expatriate status either by responding to a job offer abroad or by accepting a job offer made by your French employer on behalf of a foreign business. In this case, if you agree, you will no longer have subordinate relationship with the latter.

The status of expatriate employee concerns any employee who has to work outside French territory for a mission of at least 3 months.

As an expatriate employee, you no longer have to comply with the requirements of your company of origin and no longer have to report your work to your employer. You're no longer part of their workforce.

No employee can be sanctioned, licensee or discriminated against for refusing, because of his sexual orientation, a geographical transfer to a country where homosexuality is a crime or a offense.

Warning  

the status of the expatriate employee differs from status of posted employee and the employee made available of a foreign subsidiary.

The contractual framework differs depending on whether you are in one of the following situations:

  • You were recruited directly by a foreign business. In this case, a local law contract shall then be concluded in accordance with the law applicable in the host country. This is the case, for example, with some judicial experts recruited in the field of communication.
  • Your employer has offered you expatriate status or you have been recruited by a French business on behalf of a business abroad. In these two cases, the initial employment contract with the employer located in France may be either suspended, or broken. A new contract of employment was then concluded with the employer located abroad. This is the case, for example, for certain employment contracts in the field of education.

Your employment contract or the addendum Expatriation must specify the following information:

  • Expatriation Contract Start Date and End Date
  • Currency used to pay compensation
  • Benefits of Expatriation
  • Working conditions (workplace, duration of leave, amount of salary...)
  • Conditions for repatriation

Security obligation

Your original company is responsible for your health and safety.

As a result, they may choose to purchase insurance that will cover your support needs and health care costs.

If they fail to comply with their safety obligation, your employer is liable and can be sanctioned. Civil and/or criminal liability may be incurred.

France Travail Insurance (formerly Pôle emploi)

Your employer, established in France, must be a member of the French expatriate unemployment insurance scheme.

Affiliation must occur within 8 days of the date you were expatriated abroad. It shall take effect from 1er day of expatriation.

You can continue to be taxed in one or more of the following cases:

  • Your family stays in France
  • You continue to collect resources in France despite your departure. In this case, you must inform the taxes (via your Special area on the website impots.gouv.fr) or your public finance center of your change of address.

You may also be subject to tax (e.g., residential tax) if you are a non-resident.

You have to contribute for your retirement in the country where you work.

However, you can voluntarily contribute for your French pension to the Pension and Occupational Health Insurance Fund (Carsat) and for a supplementary pension to the Expatriate Pension Fund (CRE).

Who shall I contact

You are affiliated with the social welfare system of the country where you go to work.

However, you can choose to contribute to the French sickness insurance by joining the Caisse des français de l'foreigner (CFE) for sickness, maternity, disability, industrial accidents and occupational disease. The same is true for your employer of origin: he can choose to enroll you in the (CFE) so that you continue to benefit from French social protection.

You can subscribe to the register of French nationals established outside France at the consulate of your destination country.

That's what we call it consular registration.

The latter makes it easier for you to apply abroad, for example by registering to vote.

This registration also allows consular services to contact you and your loved ones in case of emergency.

Yeah. Yeah. The law in force abroad (visa, residence permit, work permit) may be different from that in France.

It is advisable to ask the consulate of the country of your destination to know the local law.

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