Posting construction, installation and service workers to France from outside the EU
Your company is based outside the EU, or in an EU country with staff who are third-country nationals, and it sends its own employees to work on a contract in France. Before they start, France expects an online declaration on SIPSI and a representative on French territory for the whole job. Outside a list of exempt cases, which covers employers established in the EU, the EEA and Switzerland, a foreign posted worker also needs a work authorisation, and every posted worker on a construction site needs a BTP card.
What an employer posting staff to France must do
Seven obligations, who carries them and when they apply.
| Obligation | Rule | Who | When or how long | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Posting declaration | Online declaration on SIPSI to the labour inspectorate of the place where the service starts | The employer posting the staff | Before the posting | Labour Code L1262-2-1 I |
| Representative in France | A representative on French territory who liaises with the inspection officers | Designated by the employer | The whole duration of the service | Labour Code L1262-2-1 II |
| Documents | Payslips, working time records, the A1 and the other listed documents, translated into French; proof of social security cover for a non-EU employer | The employer | To present to the labour inspectorate | Labour Code R1263-1 |
| Work authorisation | Required for a foreign posted worker, except in the listed cases, which include an employer established in the EU, the EEA or Switzerland | Each foreign worker outside the exempt cases | To work in France | Labour Code R5221-2 |
| BTP card | Professional identification card issued by the Union des caisses de France CIBTP | Every posted worker on a construction site | Ordered after the SIPSI declaration, by the day the site starts; valid 5 years | Labour Code R8291-1, CIBTP |
| Construction holiday fund | No affiliation to a French holiday fund if equivalent holiday rights are proven in the home country | Employers established in the EU or the EEA | Exemption only with that proof | Labour Code D3141-26 |
| Minimum wage | SMIC of EUR 12.31 gross per hour | The employer | Since 1 June 2026 | Order of 22 May 2026 |
The rest of this page takes each line in turn. These French steps sit on top of the EU posting rules that every member state shares. We could not re-read those EU texts at their official source for this edition, so the EU base, its time limits and its open points are set out on our hub for posted workers in Europe.
The SIPSI declaration and your representative in France
Two duties under article L1262-2-1 of the Labour Code: one before the posting, one for its whole duration.
Filed on SIPSI before the posting
The employer declares the posting to the labour inspectorate (inspection du travail) of the place where the service starts. The declaration is made online, through the SIPSI portal, and it must be in before the posting begins (L1262-2-1 I).
A contact on French territory
The employer designates a representative in France. This person is the link with the inspection officers (agents de contrôle) for the whole duration of the service, from the first day to the last (L1262-2-1 II).
A company with no office or staff of its own in France therefore needs someone on French territory who accepts the role for the full length of the job. Settle who that is early, so the person is in place when the first worker arrives.
The sources we could read do not give the amounts of the sanctions when the declaration or the representative is missing, and the SIPSI portal itself could not be opened. Both points are listed under the open points below.
Third-country nationals: who needs a French work authorisation
The answer turns on where the employer is established.
Exempt from work authorisation
A worker posted to France by an employer established in the EU, the EEA or Switzerland does not need a French work authorisation (R5221-2 2°). The United Kingdom also appears among the cases the same article lists, in its point 22.
Authorisation required
Outside the cases listed in article R5221-2, a foreign worker posted to France must obtain a work authorisation. This follows from the same article, read the other way round (R5221-2).
The step that can hold up a non-EU employer
A company established outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland cannot use the exemption for its third-country staff. Unless another case listed in article R5221-2 applies, each of them needs a work authorisation to work in France, on top of the SIPSI declaration. The sources read for this guide do not describe how to apply or how long it takes, so ask the French authorities or a licensed adviser about both before you commit to a start date.
On a building site: the BTP card and the holiday fund
Two rules for the building and public works sector (BTP).
One card for each posted worker
Every worker posted to a BTP site must hold a professional identification card, issued by the Union des caisses de France CIBTP (R8291-1 and R8291-2). The card is ordered after the SIPSI declaration and at the latest on the day the site starts. It stays valid for 5 years (CIBTP).
Exemption for EU and EEA employers
An employer established in the EU or the EEA does not have to affiliate its posted workers to a French holiday pay fund (caisse de congés), provided it proves that they hold equivalent holiday rights in its own country (D3141-26).
The card order depends on the SIPSI declaration, so file the declaration early enough for every card to be ordered by the start day. The holiday fund exemption is written for employers in the EU or the EEA. We have not found official guidance on how an employer established outside the EU is treated; confirm it with the authority before the site opens.
Minimum pay and the documents to keep in French
The pay floor in France and the file the labour inspectorate can ask to see.
The SMIC in 2026
The French minimum wage, the SMIC, stood at EUR 12.02 gross per hour on 1 January 2026 under decree 2025-1228. An order of 22 May 2026 raised it to EUR 12.31 gross per hour from 1 June 2026 (Order of 22 May 2026, Légifrance). Budget the hours your staff work in France at the current rate. The minimum rates set by construction collective agreements were not checked for this guide; confirm them before you price a job.
Documents in French
Article R1263-1 of the Labour Code lists the documents an employer must present to the labour inspectorate. They include payslips, working time records and the A1 certificate, and they must be translated into French. An employer established outside the EU must also produce proof of its workers' social security cover (R1263-1).
A file kept only in another language does not meet the rule, so have the translations ready before the job starts.
From signed contract to the first day in France
In the order a newcomer meets them. Dates come from the texts; steps without a legal deadline say when they apply.
Check who needs a work authorisation
If your company is established outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland, each foreign worker outside the exempt cases of article R5221-2 needs one.
Designate a representative in France
A person on French territory who deals with the inspection officers until the job ends.
Declare the posting on SIPSI
To the labour inspectorate of the place where the service starts.
Order the BTP cards
Construction sites only. One card per posted worker, issued by the Union des caisses de France CIBTP and valid for 5 years.
Hold proof of equivalent holiday rights
That proof is the condition for not joining a French holiday pay fund.
Pay at least the SMIC and keep the file in French
EUR 12.31 gross per hour since 1 June 2026. Payslips, working time records, the A1 and, for a non-EU employer, proof of social security cover, all translated into French.
What the official sources do not settle
Several points could not be confirmed in an official source for this guide: the practical steps on the SIPSI portal and the ministry's own guidance, which could not be opened; the amounts of the administrative fines when a step is missed; the minimum rates in construction collective agreements; the fee charged for each BTP card; how the holiday fund rules treat an employer established outside the EU; how to apply for a work authorisation and how long it takes; and the EU texts themselves, including a proposed single EU posting declaration for which we found no adoption. Confirm each of these with the labour inspectorate, the CIBTP or a licensed adviser in France before you rely on it.
What Balt Partners coordinates
One contact in Riga for the paperwork around your French jobs.
Obligation map for France
The SIPSI declaration, the representative, the BTP cards, the holiday fund question and the work authorisations for your job, with their dates in one calendar.
French filings by a licensed adviser
For the SIPSI declaration and any work authorisation file, we bring in a licensed adviser in France, who handles the filing.
The document file
The list of documents required by article R1263-1 for your crew, with the translations into French tracked before the start date.
A Latvian SIA when an EU base fits
A Latvian company with its bank account and accounting set-up. It does not replace the French steps above, and whether staff of an EU company fall under the French exemption depends on the facts, to be reviewed with a licensed adviser.
Sending crews to more than one country? Our country-by-country guide to posting workers in Europe compares the formalities. If you are weighing an EU company for your contracts, our page on setting up a Latvian subsidiary of a foreign company explains that route.
Questions about posting workers to France
Yes. The employer declares the posting online on SIPSI to the labour inspectorate of the place where the service starts, before the posting begins. It must also designate a representative in France for the whole duration of the service.
Yes, outside the cases listed in article R5221-2 of the Labour Code. The exemption relevant here covers workers posted by an employer established in the EU, the EEA or Switzerland. A company based elsewhere should plan a work authorisation for each foreign worker it posts, unless another case in that article applies.
It is a professional identification card that every worker posted to a construction site in France must hold. The Union des caisses de France CIBTP issues it. It is ordered after the SIPSI declaration and at the latest on the day the site starts, and it is valid for 5 years.
The SMIC is EUR 12.31 gross per hour since 1 June 2026, up from EUR 12.02 on 1 January 2026. Minimum rates in construction collective agreements were not checked for this guide, so confirm them before pricing a job.
An employer established in the EU or the EEA is exempt if it proves that its posted workers hold equivalent holiday rights in its own country. We have not found official guidance on an employer established outside the EU, so confirm that case with the authority or a licensed adviser.
The documents listed in article R1263-1 of the Labour Code, including payslips, working time records and the A1 certificate, translated into French. An employer established outside the EU must also produce proof of social security cover for its workers.
Yes. The employer designates a representative on French territory who liaises with the inspection officers for the whole duration of the service.