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Practical guide
A probation period is never automatic, its length is capped by job category and ending it follows precise notice rules. This guide gives the maximum lengths, the conditions for renewal, the notice periods and what you are paid, from the first day to the last.
The probation period lets the employer check your skills, and lets you see whether the job suits you. During it, either side can leave without giving a reason and without severance pay, by respecting a short notice period. This guide gives the maximum lengths set by law, the strict conditions for renewal, the notice periods, what you are paid and what you can negotiate before signing.
A probation period is never automatic: it must be written in the contract or offer letter. On a permanent contract (CDI), the law sets a cap by job category, and an overall cap if the probation is renewed. Your collective agreement or contract can provide for less, never more; older sector agreements that went further no longer apply. Probation is counted in calendar days, weekends included, unless the collective agreement or the contract says otherwise.
| Category (permanent contract) | Maximum initial length | Including renewal |
|---|---|---|
| Workers and clerical staff | 2 months | 4 months |
| Supervisors and technicians | 3 months | 6 months |
| Cadres (managers and professionals) | 4 months | 8 months |
On a fixed-term contract (CDD), probation is worked out at 1 day per week of contract, capped at 2 weeks for a contract of 6 months or less and 1 month beyond; it can never be renewed, even by mutual agreement. A contract of 10 weeks thus allows at most 10 days of probation. For part-time staff, the calendar length is the same as for full-timers (see the guide to part-time work).
A permanent contract can have its probation renewed only once, and only if all three of the following conditions are met. One is missing? The renewal has no effect, and ending the contract after the initial probation becomes a dismissal.
Nor can the employer announce the total length from the outset: the initial probation is first the basic length, then it is renewed, or not. If you are asked to sign a renewal, nothing obliges you to accept; refusing is not misconduct, but the employer can then end the probation before it finishes.
Either side can end it without a reason and without a dismissal procedure. But if the employer ends it for a reason unrelated to your skills, or a discriminatory one, a tribunal can find it abusive. The employer must give notice as soon as the probation lasts at least 1 week, depending on how long you have been there:
| Time on the job | Employer's notice |
|---|---|
| Less than 8 days | 24 hours |
| From 8 days to 1 month | 48 hours |
| From 1 month to 3 months | 2 weeks |
| More than 3 months | 1 month |
On your side, notice is 24 hours if you have been there for less than 8 days, and 48 hours after that. Notice never extends the probation: a termination announced too late obliges the employer to pay the part of the notice not worked, except for gross misconduct. Example: for pay of €2,500 gross a month, 2 weeks of notice represent about €1,154 gross, plus the related holiday pay.
During probation you are a full employee: you receive the pay set in the contract from day one, bonuses, overtime and benefits included, and you build up leave. For €2,500 gross a month, the site's engine gives €1,957 net before tax, from the first payslip. If the probation ends, you are paid up to your last day plus an allowance for untaken leave, but no severance pay: it does not apply to the end of a probation, and in any case requires 8 months' service.
If you are hired within 3 months of an end-of-studies internship done in the company, its length is deducted from the probation: in full if the job matches the internship's activities, and up to half of the probation otherwise, unless an agreement is more favourable. A cadre whose probation lasts 4 months, hired after an internship of 3 months, therefore keeps 1 month of probation in the same job, and 2 months in a different one. An internship of more than two months also counts towards your length of service. Likewise, a CDD that turns into a CDI in the same company has its length deducted from the CDI's probation.
The salary itself is negotiated before the probation, not after: the guide to negotiating a job offer says how, the one on the employment contract lists the other clauses to reread, and the gross-to-net converter turns the offer into net pay. To find out whether the figure offered is in line with the market, start with the estimate of what your CV is worth.
No. It only exists if your employment contract or offer letter provides for it, with its length. With nothing in writing, you are hired for good from day one, and a quick termination by the employer would be a dismissal, with its procedure.
Yes, but the notice period does not extend the probation: if it cannot be served before the end, the employer owes you, except for gross misconduct, compensation equal to the pay and benefits you would have received until the end of the notice, holiday pay included. After 3 months on the job, that notice is 1 month.
The law imposes no particular form, on you or on the employer, and no reason has to be given. To avoid a dispute about the date, put it in writing anyway: recorded-delivery letter or email with acknowledgement of receipt, stating your last day once the notice period is taken into account.
Yes: leave built up and not taken is paid at the end of the contract as a compensatory allowance, whatever the reason for ending it. You also receive your pay up to your last day, your certificate of employment and the certificate for France Travail.
This guide gives you a method, not legal advice: the official rules and amounts are those of the sources above, as at their date.
The site's tools and features that go with this guide: the figures there are calculated by the code, never by the AI.