Payroll Services in France

Already have a French entity, or running payroll across several countries? We place you with a vetted French payroll partner who keeps income tax, social charges, and filings exactly right, while you stay the legal employer and we stay on your side.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners
  • Multi-country ready

What running payroll in France involves

If you already employ people through your own French entity, you stay the legal employer, but you still have to run French payroll correctly every month, with social charges of 40% to 45%, a binding convention collective, and monthly filings to URSSAF. The system is detailed and errors are visible and penalised. This is where a specialist payroll partner earns its place: you keep the employment relationship, they keep the mechanics right.

01

You stay the employer

You stay the legal employer of your French staff. The payroll partner runs the monthly mechanics; you keep the employment relationship.

02

Accurate every cycle

Income tax and social charges calculated and withheld correctly, payslips issued, and filings made to URSSAF on schedule, every month.

03

Multi-country consolidation

Run payroll across several markets under one partner and one process, rather than a different vendor and standard in every country.

How managed French payroll works, step by step

From onboarding your employee data to filing and reconciliation.

01 — Scope & onboard

We map your entity, headcount, and pay structure, place you with the right vetted French payroll partner, and onboard your employee data.

02 — Set up calculations

Income tax rates, social-charge bands, and the convention collective configured correctly to current French law, so every payslip is right from the first run.

03 — Run monthly payroll

Salaries calculated, income tax and social charges withheld, payslips issued, and people paid on schedule, every cycle.

04 — File & reconcile

Filings to URSSAF made on time, with year-end reconciliation handled for you.

What payroll in France costs

Your statutory employer costs, plus a payroll partner fee. France’s employer burden is high and the rules are detailed; the value of the partner is accuracy and time, in a system where mistakes are visible and penalised.

Employer charges

40% to 45% of gross salary (health, family allowances, old-age, unemployment, AGIRC-ARRCO, and training levies), substantially lower near the minimum wage under the 2026 RGDU reform and phasing back up to this range by around three times SMIC, configured correctly to the applicable convention collective from the first payroll run.

Minimum wage (2026)

SMIC is EUR 1,867.02 gross per month (EUR 12.31/hour) on the 35-hour week, effective 1 June 2026. Many roles sit above this under the convention collective.

Income tax (employee)

Progressive from 0% to 45% by fiscal household, withheld at source (prélèvement à la source). Borne by the employee, calculated and filed correctly each month.

Payroll partner fee

A transparent per-employee or per-payslip fee. We benchmark across our vetted network, typically 15 to 25% below going direct.

Why run it through Bradford Jacobs

One partner, many countries

If you run payroll across several markets, we consolidate it through vetted partners under one point of contact, not a different vendor and a different standard in every country.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners only
  • On your side at renewal

Pricing you can’t get direct

France replaced its layered employer-contribution relief system with a single unified mechanism (the Reduction Generale Degressive Unique) from 1 January 2026, extending relief up to 3x the minimum wage under a new formula. Most in-house payroll teams have not yet correctly implemented the transition. We benchmark across our payroll network for rates typically 15 to 25% below going direct, and renegotiate for you at renewal.

  • 15-25% below direct
  • Network benchmarking
  • Renegotiated for you

French regulations that expose risk

The convention collective rules, the URSSAF declarations, the social-charge bands, the year-end. We place you with partners who get the specifics right, and we stay on your side if anything needs escalating.

  • Direct escalation
  • No support queues
  • Named account contact

20+ years and the local detail

Two decades running compliant payroll across Europe. French statutory leave does not accrue on the calendar year: it runs June to May, at 2.5 days per month worked, and getting a new hire’s leave balance right from day one means tracking the correct reference period, not the calendar one most payroll systems default to.

  • Two decades of payroll
  • Deadlines & filings
  • Year-end handled

Built to scale across markets

Run payroll in one country or twenty through one partner and one process. As you add markets, the standard does not fragment, you keep a single point of contact and consistent compliance everywhere.

  • One process everywhere
  • Single point of contact
  • Consistent compliance

The mistakes URSSAF is built to find

These are the ones that catch foreign employers, and the reason a specialist partner pays for itself.

Tax & charge bands

Applying the wrong convention collective. Misjudging the employer social-charge bands. Missing a statutory benefit like the mutuelle or AGIRC-ARRCO enrolment. Each is easy to get wrong alone and visible to URSSAF when you do.

Filings, deadlines & reporting

Late URSSAF remittance, where penalties and interest apply automatically. None of these are hard for a specialist; all are easy to get wrong alone. That is the whole case for getting your French payroll partner right.

What managed payroll covers

One transparent fee covers the full monthly payroll cycle. No hidden extras.

Tax & social charges

Compliant French payroll processed monthly, with income tax and social charges correct every run.

Payroll & filings

Monthly payroll run, with income tax and social charges calculated, withheld, and filed correctly each month.

Statutory benefits

All statutory benefits administered: five weeks’ leave, the mutuelle, AGIRC-ARRCO pension, sick and parental leave.

Compliance & support

Ongoing HR compliance and a single point of contact, for the life of the engagement.

Your questions answered

Straight answers on running compliant payroll in France.

Do I need a French entity to use payroll services?

Yes. Payroll outsourcing assumes you are the legal employer, which means you have a French entity. If you have no entity and do not want one yet, you need an EOR instead, where the partner is the legal employer. We will confirm which applies to you.

Income tax calculation and remittance, employer and employee social charges, statutory benefits and leave, payslips, and all filings to URSSAF, with year-end reconciliation. You keep the employment relationship; they keep it compliant and on time.

Most French sectors are covered by a binding convention collective that can set minimum pay, bonuses, leave and notice above the statutory floor. A good payroll partner applies the correct one from the first run. Getting it wrong is one of the most common foreign-employer mistakes.

Employer social charges run roughly 40% to 45% of gross salary. The smaller 21-23% social contribution is borne by the employee. Add the transparent payroll partner fee and you have your all-in cost.

Yes, and it is one of the main reasons companies come to us. One point of contact and a consistent process across markets, rather than a separate provider and a different standard in every country.

Yes. When you incorporate and become the legal employer, we move your people from the EOR arrangement onto your own compliant French payroll, and manage the handover so nothing is missed.

Need compliant payroll in France?

Tell us your entity setup and headcount and we will come back with the right partner and pricing you will not get direct, usually within a day. One process, every country you operate in.

Tax and labour data verified June 2026 (URSSAF, DGFiP, OECD). Figures change; we confirm the current position when we scope your payroll.