✎ EN English entrepreneur working in france

elagueur · 2. August 2011

i have an english Tree Surgery business (sole trader - entreprise individuelle) and I have the possibility of a few small contracts in France but there is a problem with the Societe who would pay the bill because they are unsure of the legality of my business in France. I am fully qualified and insured to work in europe but I have no SIRET.I am VAT registered in the UK

It is the first time I have the chance to work in France but i have more possibilities opening up and my wife is a French National.

What are the legal issues I may face and what may prevent a Societe employing me? Any advice sought please.

Thankyou.

EasyExpat · 3. August 2011

The general rule is that it is mandatory for all businesses in France to be registered at either the 'Chambre des Metiers' (Chamber of Trades) or 'Chambre de Commerce et Industrie' (Chamber of Commerce and Industry). Without such registration the business is trading illegally (and therefore the employer does not have any insurance on the work and covering the employee either).

However, employees carrying out a disassembly in France on their own account do not have to register. This is also the case when an employer sends abroad (in France) an employee for a specific and temporary assignment (often used in the contracting industry).

You will find all the information on the government's website:
http://www.travail-emploi-sante.gouv.fr ... ,8988.html

The transnational posting of workers, in the meaning of the Code du travail (articles L.1261-1 to L.1263-2 and R.1261-1 to R. 1264-3), applies in scenarios where an employer, usually based outside of France, gives a specific assignment to its employees that has to be carried out in France, with the intention that, once the assignment has been completed, the employees will resume their work within their home company.

The rules for the “transnational posting of workers” thus apply to employers based outside of France who have work to do in France in the following four contexts :

* provision of services : “services” are understood to be activities of a commercial, industrial or agricultural nature, by craftsmen or the professions, provided under a contract drawn up between a service provider and a beneficiary in return for a price agreed upon between them. All subcontracting operations apply in particular (construction sector for example).
* intra-company mobility : for example, provision of staff for non-profitable purposes between subsidiaries of the same company or departments within the same company, for carrying out an assignment or for a training period for example.
* provision of employees for temporary work : a temporary employment agency usually set up abroad may post employees to a user company in France.
* work on their own behalf : for example, a company set up abroad that owns plantations in France temporarily posts its employees for tree felling.

Employers based outside of France must conduct significant business in their home country to be able to post their employees to France as seconded workers. If it turns out that the service provider conducts regular, stable and ongoing business in France, it must set itself up there and subject its employees to all of the rules of the Code du travail.
Moreover, even if the duration of the service can vary depending on the scale of the assignment, from one day to several months, the secondment must remain temporary.
Klicke in dieses Feld, um es in vollständiger Größe anzuzeigen.

You will have to make some formalities prior to secondment:
- Compulsory pre-declaration
- Work authorisation application

If you are insured to take work within the EU it must be ok for you to take a temporary contract in France. However this must be temporary and you main activity must be based in the UK. If it becomes long-term (183 days/year is the critical period)/permanent you must get your company registered in France.

elagueur · 3. August 2011

Many thanks for the comprehensive answer. i think the best plan is to register here and get a Siret as we plan to move eventually and I know it can take several months so better get started. Ideally i would like to sub contract as a tree climber and win contracts with the Mairies locally (I have just negotiated my first).
I have a million more questions but will visit the chambre de metiers and post again if/when I am lost.

Thanks again.
Paul

EasyExpat · 3. August 2011

Yes, especially dealing with Mairies, it will certainly be better with a SIRET.
In theory you could start working with your UK company providing that you pay yourself as a UK employee and not permanently living in France. While you settle you will have to get a registration anyway to be able to work there. Indeed the best thing is to get more information with the "Chambre des Metiers".

Please let us know how it goes

elagueur · 6. Oktober 2011

Ok here is how it went...hold tight. Visited the chambre de Metiers who very nicely told me I was not a metier and sent me to Chambre de Commerce. The CC thought it might be something to do with the SIE and we should ask at the tax office. Luckily we have an 'aunt' who works at a local tax office but having asked her bosses they were none the wiser and neither were we. I filled in and sent a Declaration Prealable de Detachement but have had no response or contact if indeed one is due.
I need to start work soon as I have no work in the UK and a family to support but having tried hard to sort it all out I'm being told by one company that they cannot pay me for the work I have done because I am not immatriculated in France.

Its become a nightmare and I am being told one thing by one department and one thing by another. Perhaps I'm not the first!

All I want to do is register and go and do a few days work collecting TVA or VAT if necesary.
Seems I cannot get a definative answer wherever I go.

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