Many Dutch people have traditionally moved to France, but living in France also means working in France. Emigrating abroad is of course already very exciting, but when you also have to look for a job, this will make the whole process much more exciting.
But how exactly does working in France work and what do you need to arrange when you go? moving to France? We will discuss these questions and more in this article so that we can help you a little with your new adventure. Read on quickly!
Do you need a work permit?
Because France, like the Netherlands, is also a member state of the European Union (EU), this means that you do not need any special visas or permits to live or work there. This is of course easily arranged in all countries in Europe (that are members of the EU).
How do you find a suitable vacancy?
There are many websites online with vacancies abroad. There are also websites such as Indeed with a 'menu vacancies' for France. Here you can find a nice job when you are looking for jobs in France.
Different types of employment contracts
When you start working in France, you will soon see that there are two types of contracts in the country. One is called the 'contract durée déterminé' (CDD) and the other is called the 'contrat durée indetérminé' (CDI). The CDD is comparable to a 6-month or yearly contract in the Netherlands. The CDI is comparable to a permanent contract in the Netherlands.
Getting to know the French pay slip
When you start living and working in France, you will soon notice that your pay slip looks different. Your French employer will deduct certain social contributions from your salary. These contributions are for things like your pension, health insurance and possible unemployment. This is about a quarter of your taxable income. You are also required to pay income tax on top of this. However, this is not arranged through your employer as in our little country, but you have to set this aside yourself.
French culture in the workplace
In France, they still like hierarchy to this day. The difference between management and the rest of the staff is still made clear with 'cadre' and 'non-cadre'. In the Netherlands, we like to polder and are not really used to this anymore. You will have to get used to this in France, because there it is not appreciated by the manager when staff interferes with important decisions.
If you belong to the group of managers, so the 'cadre' then you can count on a higher salary and for example a telephone or laptop from the company. French employers do expect you to work the necessary overtime.
Greetings
In the Netherlands, you really shouldn't think about it. That you walk past all your colleagues every morning at work to shake their hands and greet them with kisses. And imagine that you also have to ask how these colleagues are doing. No, we don't do that in the Netherlands.
In France, unlike in the Netherlands, this is expected of employees. The French have a ritual every morning to go around all colleagues and greet them with a kiss and also ask 'ca va'. Don't forget colleagues during this round, because this will certainly cause the necessary drama.
Furthermore, it is especially important these days that you look closely at what your colleagues do. In a small company in the countryside in Provence, this will certainly still be done every day and in the larger cities too, but there are also international companies where this is perhaps done a little less often. If you work in Paris or Marseille at a hip international company, this may be expected of you as a Dutch person less quickly.
Working hours in France
Since the year 2000, the French have had a 35-hour working week.
Days off
France, like other countries in Southern Europe, has many public holidays. When public holidays fall on a Tuesday or Thursday, it is customary to take an extra Friday or Monday off to have a nice extra long holiday. This is called a 'fait le pont' or 'making a bridge'.
Lunch breaks in France
In the Netherlands we don't really have complicated rules when it comes to lunch breaks. In many companies the lunch break starts around 12:30 and lasts half an hour. Sometimes you get paid during your break and sometimes you don't. Also, the Dutch easily eat a sandwich with cheese and then quickly get back to work.
In France you will not encounter this and the French will look at you strangely if you do. Food is sacred, so is your lunch break. A lunch can and may often last 2 hours and a full meal is also consumed. This means that you cannot reach many companies in France between approximately 12:00 and 15:00 in the afternoon, because everyone is on lunch break.
The French language
It is wise to be able to speak a little French, because you will not get very far with English. In a big city like Paris or Lyon, you will come across more and more people who can speak English, but this is still really sporadic.
The best thing you can do is therefore to improve your French by taking an extensive language course. Of course, do this at a good address so that you will be able to speak French quickly.
Finally..
As you have read, France and the Netherlands have many cultural differences when it comes to work. It would be wise and certainly worthwhile to delve into this in advance so that you know what you will be dealing with later.
Do you have any questions?
Do you have any other questions regarding emigration to France? Would you like to know more about the climate or the landscape? Then you can always have a look at our other articles on the website. Who knows, your question might be answered there.
