Conclusion of a fixed-term employment contract (CDD)
Verified 21 August 2026 - Public Service / (Prime Minister)
The employer may recruit an employee by CDD: titleContent. However, the employer must follow certain rules. In addition, the CDD must include mandatory information. We present you the regulations to know.
A CDD, whatever its motive, must not have the purpose or effect of permanently filling a job linked to the company's normal and permanent activity.
A CDD can only be concluded for the performance of a specific and temporary task.
The CDD must include a precise indication of its reason.
A CDD may be concluded in the following situations:
Replacement of an absent employee
A CDD may be entered into to replace an employee who is in one of the following cases:
- Employee temporarily absent or whose contract is suspended (sick leave, maternity leave,, parental leave, for example)
- Employee temporarily moved to part-time (parental leave, leave to create or resume a company, for example)
- Employee who has left the company permanently and pending the abolition of the position he held.
He is forbidden to conclude a CDD in the following cases :
- To fill a position linked to the regular and permanent activity of the company (intended to be insured in CDI)
- To replace one or more striking employees
- For particularly dangerous works subject to special medical supervision (e.g. exposure to asbestos), unless exceptionally exempted.
Warning
If the CDD is concluded for a reason not provided for by law, it may be requalified in CDI by a judge.
Replacement of an absent self-employed person
A CDD may be concluded to replace one of the following:
- Head of company
- Self-employed person
- Farm manager
- Spouse (spouse, partner of Civil partnerships: titleContent, cohabiting partner or cohabiting partner) absent provided that he takes an active part in the activity of the company or operation.
Waiting for a new employee hired in CDI to take office
A CDD may be concluded to replace an employee who has left the company and is waiting for his replacement hired in CDI: titleContent.
Replacement of an employee who has been temporarily part-time
A CDD may be entered into to replace an employee by CDI: titleContent temporarily part-time (due to parental education leave, for example).
Temporary increase in activity
A CDD may be concluded in the event of a temporary increase in company activity.
Urgent works
A CDD may be concluded in the event of urgent works whose immediate execution is necessary to prevent imminent accidents, organize rescue measures or repair deficiencies in the company's equipment, facilities or facilities presenting a danger to persons.
CDD of use
A CDD says of use or contract of extra may be concluded in the sectors of activity for which the CDI: titleContent is not a traditionally used recruitment method: hotels, catering or entertainment trades, for example.
Seasonal employment
A CDD may be concluded in the case of seasonal employment, such as a harvest contract.
Single insertion contract
A CDD may be concluded in Single insertion contract (CUI) in the case of a person who has difficulty finding a job.
Period of professional retraining
A CDD providing for a retraining may be concluded. This CDD allows the employee to benefit from internal or external professional mobility within the company for his training.
Written required
All fixed-term employment contracts must be obligatory concluded in writing :
- Fixed-term employment contract (e.g. replacement of an employee, temporary increase in company activity)
- Temporary employment contract
- Intermittent employment contract
- Apprenticeship contract
- Professionalization contract
- Single insertion contract (CUI)
- Contract with a group of employers
- Employment contract in employee portage of fixed or indefinite duration.
If the CDD has not been concluded in writing, the employee may request the requalification from CDD (i.e. its transformation) to full-time CDI under conditions.
The employer faces a fine of €3,750 (€7,500 in case of recidivism) if he uses CDD or temporary work without a written contract.
The written employment contract must be drawn up in French.
The foreigners employee may request the translation of his contract into his original language.
The electronic signature of a CDD (digital handwritten signature) is legally recognized as valid.
FYI
If the employee is a non-emancipated minor, the authorization of the legal representative is necessary.
One template from CDD is available:
Template for a fixed-term employment contract (CDD) of an employee
Reason for Recruitment
The CDD shall include obligatory the precise indication of the reason for recruitment.
FYI
If the reason is not stated in the employment contract, the employee may request the requalification of its CDD to CDI.
Duration
The CDD shall include obligatory all the following information on the duration of the contract:
- Contract End Date
- Clause of renewal if the CDD is to be extended
- Minimum duration if the contract does not include precise term
- Duration of the trial period if there is one.
Please note
The mention of the weekly duration work is compulsory if the employee works at part-time.
Type of CDD | Maximum duration |
|---|---|
General scenario | 18 months |
Employment contract concluded in place of an employee who is absent or whose employment contract is suspended | End of absence of the replaced employee. The CDD may be terminated until the day after the day on which the replaced employee is taken back and within 18 months. |
Employment contract concluded in place of a head of craft, industrial or commercial company, a person exercising a liberal activity | End of absence. The CDD may be terminated until the day after the day on which the replaced employee is taken back and within 18 months. |
Contract concluded while waiting for an employee recruited in CDI: titleContent | 9 months |
Contract concluded in the context of the permanent departure of an employee before the abolition of his position | 24 months |
Contract in case of temporary increase of activity of the company | 18 months |
Contract concluded as part of an exceptional export order | 24 months |
Contract concluded in the context of urgent works necessitated by security measures | 9 months |
Contract concluded in the context of seasonal employment | End of the season |
Contract performed abroad | Achievement of the object of the contract and within the limit of 24 months |
Contract to promote the employment of unemployed persons (CUI-CIE and CUI-CAE) | Duration fixed by law or regulation for each type of contract |
Contract to provide additional vocational training | Duration fixed by law or regulation for each type of contract |
Contract concluded in the context of an employment for which it is not customary to resort to CDI: titleContent | 18 months |
Contract concluded within the framework of professional retraining in order to acquire a qualification or one or more blocks of skills for internal or external professional mobility | Minimum 6 months and maximum 36 months |
One collective agreement or a company collective agreement may provide for different durations.
The applicable collective agreement is the one to which the main activity of the company falls.
A simulator allows you to search for the collective agreement with the name of the company or its number Siret :
Qualification or position held by the employee
The CDD shall include obligatory all of the following:
- Designating the workstation
- Name and professional qualification of the replaced employee in case of replacement.
Detail of the employee's remuneration
The CDD shall include obligatory all of the following:
- Amount (which may not be less than that which another replaced employee of the company would receive in CDI, with equivalent qualification and position)
- Composition of remuneration (salary, bonuses, possible increases, allowances, benefits in kind, etc.).
Collective rights enjoyed by employees in the company
The CDD shall include obligatory the list of collective rights applicable to company employees:
- Title of the collective agreement applicable
- Name and address of the supplementary pension fund
- Name and address of the provident if the company is affiliated
- Title, references of the collective agreement establishing the contract, descriptive clause of the project and mention of its foreseeable duration, event or objective result determining the end of the contractual relationship and notice period from the arrival to the end of the contract and possible proposal for continuation of the employment relationship in CDI: titleContent, if it is a Object-Defined CDD.
The CDD must be transmitted to the employee no later than 2 working days after he was hired.
Failure to comply with this transmission deadline does not in itself lead to the reclassification of the CDD as a CDI.
However, in the absence of compliance with this provision, the employee is entitled to an indemnity, payable by the employer, equal, at most, to 1 month of salary.
The employer faces a fine of €3,750 (€7,500 in case of recidivism and 6 months imprisonment) if he does not give the CDD to the employee.
Template for a fixed-term employment contract (CDD) of an employee
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