Recruitment of a contractor in the State Civil Service (FPE)

Verified 26 August 2025 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Wondering how contract staff are recruited in the state civil service? The cases in which State administrations may recruit contract staff are listed by law. The duration of the contract (fixed or indefinite) depends on the reason for recruitment. We present these conditions.

Accessible Jobs

You can be recruited as a contractor on a permanent job when the nature of the duties or the needs of the service justify it.

This is particularly the case in the following situations:

  • Functions requiring specialized or new technical skills
  • Failure to nominate an official with the appropriate expertise or professional experience to carry out the tasks.

The use may be of category A, B or C.

The job offer is published on the website Choosing the public service. It states that employment is open to contract workers.

Duration of contract

You can be recruited in FIXED-TERM CONTRACT: titleContent or in DTA: titleContent.

If you are recruited on a fixed-term contract, the duration of your contract is at maximum of 3 years, renewable by decision of your administration within the limit of 6 years.

If your contract is renewed beyond 6 years, it can only be renewed on a permanent contract.

Renewal of your contract is possible only if no candidate civil servant can hold your job.

When you recruit, if you already have 6 years of public service in functions falling within the same hierarchical category as the job you are recruited from, you are directly recruited on permanent contracts.

If you prove, before the end of your fixed-term contract, 6 years of public services in functions of the same hierarchical category, your contract is considered concluded in permanent contract.

Your employer administration sends you a proposal for an amendment to your contract confirming its indefinite duration.

If you refuse to conclude this amendment, you remain in office until the end of your fixed-term contract.

If, at the time of your recruitment, you are bound by a permanent contract with a public administration or institution of the State or with a public hospital, on functions of the same hierarchical category, your contract may be concluded for an indefinite period.

Counting of services for a permanent contract

The 6-year period is accounted for by taking into account all services performed in the following jobs or occupied for the following reasons :

  • Jobs of State public institutions
  • Absence of State officials to perform the functions sought
  • Recruitment justified by the nature of the functions or the needs of the services
  • Employment under a body of which status does not provide for compulsory initial training prior to tenure
  • Employment in incomplete time
  • Replacement of a member of staff temporarily absent due to leave regularly granted or authorized to perform part-time duties
  • To deal with a temporary vacancy pending the recruitment of a staff member.

The duration of 6 years must have been completed in full within the same ministry, public authority or public institution.

Services performed on a part-time and incomplete-time basis are treated as services performed on a full-time basis.

Services performed on a discontinuous basis are taken into account, if the duration of the interruption between 2 contracts does not exceed 4 months.

For the calculation of the duration of interruption between 2 contracts, any period of health emergency is not taken into account.

You can be recruited as a contractor on a permanent job for temporarily replace an agent (civil servant or contractor) part-time or on leave.

The use may be of category A, B or C.

The contract is concluded for a fixed period. It is renewable until the date of return of the agent to be replaced.

You can also be recruited as a contractor to deal with a temporary vacancy pending the recruitment of a staff member.

The use may be of category A, B or C.

The contract is concluded for a fixed period of up to one year. It may be extended, up to a maximum of 2 years, if the recruitment procedure has not been completed before its end date.

Job offers are published on the website Choosing the public service.

You can be recruited as a contract on a fixed-term contract on a non-permanent job to face a temporary or seasonal increase of activity.

The total duration of the contract and any renewals may not exceed 6 months in a period of 12 consecutive months to cope with a seasonal increase in activities.

The total duration of the contract and any renewals may not exceed 12 months in a period of 18 consecutive months to cope with a temporary increase in activities.

The job offer is published on the website Choosing the public service. It states that employment is open to contract workers.

Accessible Jobs

You can be recruited as a contractor on a permanent job when there is no body civil servants to perform the functions sought.

The use may be of category A, B or C.

The job offer is published on the website Choosing the public service. It states that employment is open to contract workers.

Duration of contract

You can be recruited in FIXED-TERM CONTRACT: titleContent or in DTA: titleContent.

If you are recruited on a fixed-term contract, the duration of your contract is at maximum of 3 years, renewable by decision of your administration within the limit of 6 years.

If your contract is renewed beyond 6 years, it can only be renewed on a permanent contract.

When you recruit, if you already have 6 years of public service in functions falling within the same hierarchical category as the job you are recruited from, you are directly recruited on permanent contracts.

If you prove, before the end of your fixed-term contract, 6 years of public services in functions of the same hierarchical category, your contract is considered concluded in permanent contract.

Your employer administration sends you a proposal for an amendment to your contract confirming its indefinite duration.

If you refuse to conclude this amendment, you remain in office until the end of your fixed-term contract.

If, at the time of your recruitment, you are bound by a permanent contract with a public administration or institution of the State or with a public hospital, on functions of the same hierarchical category, your contract may be concluded for an indefinite period.

Counting of services for a permanent contract

The 6-year period is accounted for by taking into account all the services performed in the following jobs or occupied for the following reasons:

  • Jobs of State public institutions
  • Absence of State officials to perform the functions sought
  • Recruitment justified by the nature of the functions or the needs of the services
  • Employment under a body of which status does not provide for compulsory initial training prior to tenure
  • Employment in incomplete time
  • Replacement of a member of staff temporarily absent due to leave regularly granted or authorized to perform part-time duties
  • To deal with a temporary vacancy pending the recruitment of a staff member.

The duration of 6 years must have been completed in full within the same ministry, public authority or public institution.

Services performed on a part-time and incomplete-time basis are treated as services performed on a full-time basis.

Services performed on a discontinuous basis are taken into account, if the duration of the interruption between 2 contracts does not exceed 4 months.

For the calculation of the duration of interruption between 2 contracts, any period of health emergency is not taken into account.

Accessible Jobs

You can be recruited as a contractor on a permanent job when the job falls under a corps whose status does not provide for compulsory initial training prior to tenure.

This applies to recruitment in occupations for which a period of training leading to tenure is not required.

The use may be of category A, B or C.

The job offer is published on the website Choosing the public service. It states that employment is open to contract workers.

Duration of contract

You can be recruited in FIXED-TERM CONTRACT: titleContent or in DTA: titleContent.

If you are recruited on a fixed-term contract, the duration of your contract is at maximum of 3 years, renewable by decision of your administration within the limit of 6 years.

If your contract is renewed beyond 6 years, it can only be renewed on a permanent contract.

Renewal of your contract is possible only if no candidate civil servant can hold your job.

When you recruit, if you already have 6 years of public service in functions falling within the same hierarchical category as the job you are recruited from, you are directly recruited on permanent contracts.

If you prove, before the end of your fixed-term contract, 6 years of public services in functions of the same hierarchical category, your contract is considered concluded in permanent contract.

Your employer administration sends you a proposal for an amendment to your contract confirming its indefinite duration.

If you refuse to conclude this amendment, you remain in office until the end of your fixed-term contract.

If, at the time of your recruitment, you are bound by a permanent contract with a public administration or institution of the State or with a public hospital, on functions of the same hierarchical category, your contract may be concluded for an indefinite period.

Counting of services for a permanent contract

The 6-year period is accounted for by taking into account all services performed in the following jobs or occupied for the following reasons :

  • Jobs of State public institutions
  • Absence of State officials to perform the functions sought
  • Recruitment justified by the nature of the functions or the needs of the services
  • Employment under a body of which status does not provide for compulsory initial training prior to tenure
  • Employment in incomplete time
  • Replacement of a member of staff temporarily absent due to leave regularly granted or authorized to perform part-time duties
  • To deal with a temporary vacancy pending the recruitment of a staff member.

The duration of 6 years must have been completed in full within the same ministry, public authority or public institution.

Services performed on a part-time and incomplete-time basis are treated as services performed on a full-time basis.

Services performed on a discontinuous basis are taken into account, if the duration of the interruption between 2 contracts does not exceed 4 months.

For the calculation of the duration of interruption between 2 contracts, any period of health emergency is not taken into account.

Accessible Jobs

Permanent incomplete-time posts with a maximum weekly working time of 24 hours 30 may only be filled by contract staff.

The use may be of category A, B or C.

The job offer is published on the website Choosing the public service. It states that employment is open to contract workers.

Duration of contract

You can be recruited in FIXED-TERM CONTRACT: titleContent or in DTA: titleContent.

If you are recruited on a fixed-term contract, the duration of your contract is at maximum of 3 years, renewable by decision of your administration within the limit of 6 years.

If your contract is renewed beyond 6 years, it can only be renewed on a permanent contract.

Renewal of your contract is possible only if no candidate civil servant can hold your job.

When you recruit, if you already have 6 years of public service in functions falling within the same hierarchical category as the job you are recruited from, you are directly recruited on permanent contracts.

If you prove, before the end of your fixed-term contract, 6 years of public services in functions of the same hierarchical category, your contract is considered concluded in permanent contract.

Your employer administration sends you a proposal for an amendment to your contract confirming its indefinite duration.

If you refuse to conclude this amendment, you remain in office until the end of your fixed-term contract.

If, at the time of your recruitment, you are bound by a permanent contract with a public administration or institution of the State or with a public hospital, on functions of the same hierarchical category, your contract may be concluded for an indefinite period.

Counting of services for a permanent contract

The 6-year period is accounted for by taking into account all services performed in the following jobs or occupied for the following reasons :

  • Jobs of State public institutions
  • Absence of State officials to perform the functions sought
  • Recruitment justified by the nature of the functions or the needs of the services
  • Employment under a body of which status does not provide for compulsory initial training prior to tenure
  • Employment in incomplete time
  • Replacement of a member of staff temporarily absent due to leave regularly granted or authorized to perform part-time duties
  • To deal with a temporary vacancy pending the recruitment of a staff member.

The duration of 6 years must have been completed in full within the same ministry, public authority or public institution.

Services performed on a part-time and incomplete-time basis are treated as services performed on a full-time basis.

Services performed on a discontinuous basis are taken into account, if the duration of the interruption between 2 contracts does not exceed 4 months.

For the calculation of the duration of interruption between 2 contracts, any period of health emergency is not taken into account.

You can be recruited in project contract to carry out an identified project or operation.

The project contract is concluded for a minimum duration of one year and one maximum duration of 6 years.

It may be renewed to carry out the project or operation, up to a total duration of 6 years.

Where the contract is concluded for a period of less than 6 years and the planned project or operation is not completed at the end of the contract, the contract may be renewed for a maximum of 6 years.

The project contract ends with the completion of the object for which it was concluded, after a period of notice.

It may, however, be terminated by decision of the employer's administration after a minimum period of one year if the project or operation for which it was concluded cannot be carried out.

If you have a disability, you can, under certain conditions, be recruited on a permanent job such as contract holder on a fixed-term contract, then tenured.

The use may be of category A, B or C.

You can be recruited as a contractor on a permanent job under the Path to careers in the civil service (Pact) if you are in one of the following 2 situations:

The Pact provides access to a Category C use, i.e. a job usually open to persons holding a BEP, CAP or college certificate.

The purpose of the Pact is to enable you to acquire, through training in alternation with your professional activity, a qualification related to your job or the diploma required to access the body to which your job belongs.

The duration of your contract cannot be less than 12 months, or greater than 2 years.

Your contract can be renewed for a maximum of one year if you fail the evaluation tests of your training and do not obtain the qualification, title or diploma provided for in your contract.

At the end of your contract, you are eligible to become a permanent employee and become a public servant.

A higher education and research institution can recruit a university professor or a senior lecturer as associated personnel or guest staff.

Associated Staff

A full-time lecturer or associate professor is recruited in FIXED-TERM CONTRACT: titleContent from 6 months to 3 years maximum.

The fixed-term contract is renewable for a maximum of 3 years.

A half-time associate lecturer is recruited on a fixed-term contract of 3 years renewable for a maximum of 3 years.

A part-time associate professor is recruited on a fixed-term contract from 3 to 9 years old.

The fixed-term contract is renewable for a maximum of 9 years.

FYI  

The contract of a senior lecturer or associate professor who has refugee status may be renewed without a time limit.

Guest Staff

Full-time or part-time guest teachers are recruited on fixed-term contracts from 1 week to 1 year.

The following posts may be filled by contract staff:

  • State leadership jobs
  • Jobs of State public institutions
  • University Lecturer-Hospital Practitioner and University Professor-Hospital Practitioner Jobs
  • Jobs as an education assistant, boarding school supervisor and day school supervisor of middle and high schools.

The job offer is published on the website Choosing the public service. It states that employment is open to contract workers.

Senior posts for which the appointment is left to the Government's decision may also be filled by contract staff. These include the positions of Director of Central Administration, Prefect, Rector of Academy, etc.