France offers a distinctive way to end an employment contract that sits entirely outside the usual dismissal-or-resignation binary: the rupture conventionnelle, or mutual termination agreement. For foreign companies managing employee termination in France, understanding this mechanism is essential, it is widely used, legally robust, and considerably less contentious than a dismissal.
This guide covers everything you need to know as an employer: eligibility conditions, the six-step procedure, severance calculation, the tax and social security treatment of the payment, protected employee rules, and, crucially for international employers, the impact on work authorisation and residence permits.
What is a rupture conventionnelle (mutual termination)?
A rupture conventionnelle is a contractual termination mechanism introduced by French law in 2008 (articles L.1237-11 to L.1237-16 of the Code du travail). It allows an employer and an employee to terminate a CDI (permanent employment contract) by mutual agreement, under a supervised process that ends with approval from the French labour authority.
Three features define it: both parties must genuinely agree, neither side needs to justify the decision, and the employee retains the right to unemployment benefits, a right that would be lost in the event of a resignation.
It is fundamentally different from dismissal in France, which requires a documented cause (personal or economic) and follows a distinct procedure. It is equally distinct from resignation, which is unilateral and forfeits unemployment entitlements. The rupture conventionnelle occupies its own legal category.
One important constraint: it only applies to CDI contracts. It cannot be used for CDD (fixed-term contracts), temporary agency workers, or employees still in their trial period (période d'essai).
Who can initiate a rupture conventionnelle?
Either party can propose a mutual termination, there is no restriction on who raises it first. In practice, it is often the employer who initiates the conversation, but a request from the employee is equally valid.
That said, the mechanism cannot be used to circumvent other legal obligations. Courts and the DREETS (Direction Régionale de l'Économie, de l'Emploi, du Travail et des Solidarités, the regional labour authority) will invalidate a rupture conventionnelle if it appears designed to avoid a collective redundancy plan (PSE), if consent was obtained under pressure or duress, or if it is used to mask an economic dismissal affecting multiple employees.
Several situations that are sometimes assumed to block a mutual termination are in fact permitted under French law. An employee on long-term sick leave, maternity leave, or parental leave can validly sign a rupture conventionnelle, provided consent is freely given. This is a common misconception among foreign HR teams.
Step-by-step procedure
The procedure is supervised and consists of six mandatory steps. Skipping or shortening any of them renders the agreement void.
Step 1: Initiating the process
There is no prescribed form for the initial request. Either party may raise the possibility verbally or in writing, and in many cases an oral conversation is the better starting point before anything is formalised in writing.
Critically, the other party has no obligation to respond. A refusal to engage is entirely lawful, and an employer cannot apply any form of pressure to force the process forward.
Step 2: The negotiation meeting
At least one formal meeting must take place between the employer and the employee to discuss the terms of the mutual termination. (Note: in French employment law, the term entretien préalable is reserved for dismissal or disciplinary procedures. The negotiation meeting under a rupture conventionnelle is not an entretien préalable, and should not be labelled as such in any written communication.) Additional meetings are permitted if needed.
Both parties have the right to be assisted during this meeting. The employee may be accompanied by a representative from the works council (CSE, Comité Social et Économique), or, if no works council exists, by an external adviser (conseiller du salarié, a designated employee adviser from an official list maintained by the labour administration). The employer may be accompanied by a member of their own staff or a representative of an employers' organisation. Neither party is required to use this right, but both must be informed of it before the meeting takes place.
Step 3: Signing the termination agreement (convention de rupture)
Once the terms are agreed, the parties sign the convention de rupture (the mutual termination agreement). The document must include two mandatory items: the agreed termination date and the amount of the severance payment (which must meet the statutory minimum, see below).
Since 1 April 2022, the agreement must be submitted electronically via TéléRC (the dedicated online portal for mutual termination filings, operated by the Ministry of Labour). Three copies are generated: one for the employer, one for the employee, and one for the administration. The paper-based CERFA 14598 form is still valid in exceptional circumstances where digital access is not possible.
Protected employees follow a different process using CERFA 14599, this is covered in a dedicated section below.
Practical tip. Always build a buffer into the timeline. The TéléRC platform can experience outages, and the paper CERFA fallback is no longer systematically accepted in 2026. To meet the termination date set in the convention de rupture, leave a few extra days between the end of the theoretical homologation window and the contract end date.
Step 4: The 15-day cooling-off period (délai de rétractation)
After signing, both parties enter a 15-calendar-day cooling-off period. Either side may withdraw from the agreement during this time, with no obligation to give reasons. Withdrawal must be sent by registered letter.
The 15-day window starts the day after signing, not on the day of signature itself. If the final day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or public holiday, the deadline is pushed to the next working day.
Step 5: DREETS homologation (approval)
Once the cooling-off period has expired, the employer submits the agreement to the DREETS via TéléRC for approval (homologation). The administration then has 15 working days to review the agreement.
Silence from the DREETS after this deadline constitutes tacit approval, the agreement is deemed homologated. If the DREETS refuses, it must provide a written justification. The employer and employee may then correct the identified issue and resubmit, or challenge the refusal before the Conseil de prud'hommes (employment tribunal) within 12 months.
Step 6: End of contract
The employment contract ends on the date agreed in the convention de rupture. There is no additional notice period to serve after homologation. The employer must provide the standard end-of-contract documents: a certificat de travail (work certificate), an attestation France Travail (unemployment registration document), a solde de tout compte (final settlement statement), the final payslip (bulletin de salaire), and a summary of any employee savings schemes (épargne salariale).
How is the severance payment calculated?
The rupture conventionnelle indemnity (indemnité spécifique de rupture conventionnelle) must be at least equal to the statutory redundancy payment (indemnité légale de licenciement). The statutory minimum is calculated as follows:
- Up to 10 years of service: 1/4 of one month's gross salary per year of service
- Beyond 10 years: 1/3 of one month's gross salary per year of service
The reference salary used is the most favourable of: the average gross monthly salary over the last 12 months, or the average over the last 3 months (with any bonuses or variable pay pro-rated).
Example: An employee with 7 years of service and a gross monthly salary of €3,000 is entitled to a minimum severance of: 7 × (€3,000 × 1/4) = €5,250.
If the applicable collective bargaining agreement (convention collective) provides for a more generous calculation, that higher amount takes precedence. The parties may also freely negotiate a payment above the statutory minimum.
The Ministry of Labour provides an official simulator at code.travail.gouv.fr for checking the exact minimum amount.
Tax and social security treatment of the severance pay
This section is particularly relevant for international HR teams, as it is rarely covered in English-language guides on the rupture conventionnelle.
Income tax (IR) exemption
The severance payment is exempt from income tax up to the highest of the following three thresholds:
- The statutory or collectively agreed minimum amount
- 50% of the total severance payment
- 2× the employee's gross annual salary for the previous year
In all cases, the exemption is capped at 6× the PASS (Plafond Annuel de la Sécurité Sociale, the annual social security ceiling). For 2026, the PASS is €48,060, making the cap €288,360. Any amount above this threshold is subject to income tax in full.
Social security contribution exemption
The same three-threshold logic applies for social security contributions, but with a lower cap: 2× the PASS, i.e. €96,120 in 2026. Note that if the total severance payment exceeds 10× the PASS (€480,600 in 2026), the entire amount becomes subject to social security contributions.
Employer flat-rate contribution (forfait social)
The forfait social was raised from 20% to 30% in September 2023, and further increased to 40% from January 2026 on the portion of the severance payment that is exempt from social security contributions. This cost has a material impact on the total employer burden of a rupture conventionnelle and must be factored into severance negotiations and payroll planning.
Protected employees (salariés protégés)
Employees holding certain representative mandates, union delegates (délégués syndicaux), members of the works council (CSE), employee representatives (représentants de proximité), and several other protected categories, are subject to a different procedure.
The reversal of the silence rule is a critical difference: for protected employees, if the labour inspector does not respond within 2 months, the request is deemed rejected. Employers who proceed without explicit authorisation expose themselves to the nullity of the termination and potential reinstatement claims.
Unemployment benefits after a rupture conventionnelle
An employee who leaves under a rupture conventionnelle is entitled to the ARE (allocation d'aide au retour à l'emploi), unemployment benefit, under the same conditions as a dismissed employee. This is one of the key advantages of the mechanism over resignation.
Following the 2026 unemployment insurance reform (avenant protocole of 25 February 2026), maximum benefit durations have been reduced:
- Employees under 55: maximum 15 months of benefits
- Employees aged 55 and over: maximum 20.5 months of benefits
These new durations apply to beneficiaries whose entitlement period starts from 1 April 2026 onwards.
There is also a waiting period (différé d'indemnisation, a deferred compensation period) before benefits begin, which is calculated in part based on the amount of the severance payment received. A higher severance means a longer wait before France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi) starts paying benefits. This mechanism is unchanged by the 2026 reform.
France Travail now also offers enhanced support for former employees, including a structured check-in at the one-year mark for those who have not returned to employment.
Impact on work authorisation and residence permit
This is an angle that virtually no general-purpose guide covers in English, and it is a critical one for international employers managing foreign nationals in France.
A rupture conventionnelle is treated as an involuntary loss of employment for the purposes of residence permit law. This has different implications depending on the type of title held.
Carte de séjour "Salarié" (temporary work permit)
If the employee holds a temporary "Salarié" permit and has not found a new job before their renewal date, the permit can be extended for up to one year to allow time to seek employment. When a new employer is found, that employer must apply for a new work authorisation through ANEF (Administration Numérique pour les Étrangers en France, the online portal for foreign nationals in France) before the employee can start work.
"Passeport talent" permit
If the employee's new role meets the conditions attached to their passeport talent (e.g. salary thresholds, qualified occupation), no additional steps are required on the employee's side. If the new role does not meet those conditions, the employee must apply for a change of status, which takes time and should be factored into any transition planning.
"Vie privée et familiale", "Résident", and "Passeport talent (famille)" permits
These permits are not tied to employment. A rupture conventionnelle has no impact on their validity or renewal conditions.
For foreign companies employing talent on work-linked permits in France, it is strongly advisable to verify the permit type and flag any renewal timeline before finalising the termination date in the convention de rupture. Getting this wrong can leave the employee without valid status, and the employer in a difficult legal position.
Managing a rupture conventionnelle involves payroll adjustments, social declaration obligations, and careful coordination with the DREETS timeline. If your company does not have an in-house French HR function, working with a specialist in HR and payroll compliance in France ensures the process runs smoothly from first meeting to final settlement.
