Benefits for employees in France can sound too good to be true for many expat workers and in some cases they are. So The Local asked an expert in labour law to give us the lowdown on which perks should be yours under law and which others you might have to ask your boss for.
The French would call them benefits, and Anglos would probably call them perks of the job.
But whatever the name, working for a company in France can have its advantages, whether its helping you to afford a proper lunch or the journey to and from work.
But as France has mountains of special programs, complex labour agreements and perplexing regulations and rules, it can be tough to understand which benefits (avantagessociaux) you are actually entitled to.
The good news is most workers in France are promised, by law, an array of advantages that make typical Anglo benefits like "flexi-time" or working from home seem entirely inadequate.
"We have many clients from the UK or United States, English-speaking countries, and they do feel that in France we have really good employee benefits," legal associate Jessica Ip, from Parisian law firm Triplet Associés told The Local. "We are, in a lot of ways, really well protected."
But exactly what are you entitled to by law, what can you hope your company provides and what do you have no chance of getting? Here Ip, a specialist in labour law has helped us bring you a breakdown of French benefits. See how many you get.
1. RTT days
Bosses must compensate you, in most jobs, for working more than 35 hours per week. In the late 1990s France decided a shorter working week would reduce unemployment, so it cut the week to 35 hours. Accordingly if you work over that limit you should be entitled to something most workers call RTT days (Réduction du Temps de Travail).
These are in addition to your usual paid holidays and are part of the reason why French workers are often able to take the whole of August off. In theory employers who don’t give you this time off should have to pay you overtime.
2. Subsidized travel
If you take public transport to and from work your employer has to help cover the cost.