How to Hire a Salesperson in France Without a French Entity: EOR, Portage or Subsidiary

Yes. A foreign company can employ a salesperson in France without creating a French entity, by registering directly with French social security as a foreign employer. Employer of Record (EOR) services and portage salarial are faster to start, but French law restricts both, and they rarely fit a full-time salesperson who works only for you. Whatever the setup, a salesperson who negotiates and closes deals in France can create a taxable permanent establishment, so review that point with a tax adviser before the first hire.

Key takeaways

• You do not need a French company to employ someone in France: a foreign company can register as a "foreign employer without establishment" and run French payroll.
• France has no specific legal status for Employer of Record. EOR providers rely on portage salarial or temporary work, and both come with strict conditions.
• Portage salarial is designed for occasional, expert missions, capped at 36 months with the same client. Selling your product every day is rarely occasional.
• An independent commercial agent is paid on commission, but you may owe a significant indemnity when the contract ends.
• Employment setup and corporate tax are separate questions: no setup, EOR included, removes permanent establishment risk on its own.

The five ways to hire a salesperson in France at a glance

Option 1 — Hire directly as a foreign employer (the option most guides forget)

French law does not require a local company to employ someone in France. A company established abroad, with no establishment in France, can hire a salesperson directly. The employee is then covered by the French social security system, and the company pays French social contributions itself.

How it works

• Register with Urssaf Alsace, which acts as the single national collection body for companies without an establishment in France (the Centre national des firmes étrangères). Registration is done with form EE0 on net-entreprises.fr.
• Run French payroll and file the monthly social declaration (DSN), usually through a French payroll provider or accounting firm. Companies with fewer than 20 employees in France can instead use the optional TFE service (Titre Firmes Étrangères), which simplifies declarations.
• Set up the complementary pension scheme (Agirc-Arrco), the mandatory complementary health insurance (mutuelle) and an occupational health service.
• Sign an employment contract that complies with French law. Mandatory French labour rules apply to an employee who habitually works in France, whatever law the contract names, and the contract must be written in French.

Why it fits a sales hire

You are the real employer, so there is no intermediary margin and no labour-lending risk. Your salesperson gets a standard French permanent contract (CDI), which is what most experienced candidates expect. It is also the cleanest setup to run a commission plan that you design yourself.

What to watch

You carry all employer obligations: French termination rules, working-time rules, and the question of which collective agreement applies. This setup does not remove permanent establishment risk (see below).

Option 2 — Employer of Record (EOR): what it really means in France

Employer of Record is a familiar model in the US and the UK: a provider employs your salesperson on paper, runs payroll, and invoices you. In France, there is no specific legal status for EOR. The French Labour Code prohibits any for-profit operation whose sole purpose is to lend workers (Article L8241-1), outside authorised frameworks such as temporary work agencies and portage salarial. In practice, EOR providers operating in France therefore rely on one of these frameworks, most often portage salarial, and inherit its conditions.

Where the risk comes from

The problem appears when the salesperson was selected by your company, works only for you, follows your sales leader's instructions and stays for years. Several French law firms point out that these situations rarely meet the conditions of portage salarial. The exposure is real:

• Illegal labour lending and the related offence of "marchandage" can lead to fines of up to €30,000 for individuals and €150,000 for companies, and up to two years' imprisonment.
• The salesperson can claim to be recognised as your employee, with the seniority, collective agreement benefits and severance that go with it.
• Both the client company and the provider can be held liable.

When EOR can make sense

EOR can be acceptable for a clearly temporary need, for example a short market test with an independent expert who also works for other clients. Before signing, ask the provider three questions: which French legal framework it uses, how it manages the 36-month limit of portage salarial, and what happens to the employee if you decide to keep them.

Option 3 — Portage salarial: the French "umbrella" model

Portage salarial is a three-way relationship: a portage company employs an independent professional, who performs a service for a client company. It is governed by the ordinance of 2 April 2015 (French Labour Code, Article L1254-1 and following) and by the national collective agreement of 22 March 2017.

The conditions

• The professional must have expertise and qualifications, and be autonomous: they find their own clients and negotiate the terms and price of their service (Article L1254-2).
• The client can use portage only for an occasional task that is not part of its normal and permanent activity, or for a one-off service that requires expertise it does not have (Article L1254-3).
• An assignment with the same client cannot exceed 36 months (Article L1254-4).
• Minimum pay is set by the collective agreement as a share of the annual social security ceiling (PASS, €48,060 in 2026) for a full-time equivalent: 70% for professionals with less than three years' experience, 75% above three years, and 85% for day-rate contracts.

Why it rarely fits a salesperson

Selling your product is, by definition, part of your normal and permanent activity. If you recruited the person, set their quota and manage their pipeline, the autonomy and occasional-task conditions are hard to defend.

Where it can fit

Short, expert missions: a French market study, a go-to-market audit, or interim sales leadership by an independent consultant who works with several clients.

Option 4 — Independent commercial agent (agent commercial)

A commercial agent is an independent professional who negotiates, and sometimes concludes, sales on behalf of one or several companies, and is paid by commission (French Commercial Code, Article L134-1 and following). The model is common for multi-brand representation in industry and distribution, less so in SaaS.

What to watch

• When the contract ends, the agent is entitled to compensation for the loss suffered (Article L134-12). There is no statutory scale, but French courts commonly use two years of gross commissions as a reference. No indemnity is due only in three cases listed by law (Article L134-13): serious misconduct by the agent, termination at the agent's own initiative, or assignment of the contract.
• If you impose targets, schedules and reporting like an employer, the relationship can be requalified as employment.
• An agent who works exclusively for you and habitually concludes contracts on your behalf can also create a permanent establishment.

Option 5 — Set up a subsidiary (SAS) or a branch

• A subsidiary, usually a simplified joint-stock company (SAS), is a separate French legal entity that employs your team directly. There is no minimum share capital, and registration is done online through France's single company-formalities portal (guichet unique), run by INPI. You then need a bank account, accounting, payroll and a registered address.
• A branch (succursale) is not a separate legal entity, but it is registered in the French trade register. By definition, it is a permanent establishment taxed in France on the profits attributable to it.
• A liaison or representative office can only carry out preparatory or auxiliary activities, such as market research or promotion. It cannot host a salesperson who negotiates deals.

A subsidiary becomes the natural choice once you plan a local team, a local manager, or equity incentives for French employees.

The risk nobody mentions: your salesperson can create a permanent establishment

How you employ a salesperson and how your company is taxed are two different questions. Under tax treaties based on the OECD Model, a person who habitually concludes contracts on behalf of a foreign company can create a permanent establishment (PE) in that country. Treaties updated by the OECD Multilateral Instrument go further and also cover a person who habitually plays the principal role leading to the conclusion of contracts. A PE means part of your profits becomes taxable in France.

French courts look at substance, not signatures. In its Conversant decision of 11 December 2020 (n° 420174), the Conseil d'État held that a French company could be a dependent agent of its Irish affiliate when it habitually decided on transactions that the Irish company merely approved, with a signature described as "automatic".

This risk exists whether your salesperson is employed directly, through an EOR, or as an agent. Before the first hire, review with a tax adviser who approves prices, discounts and contracts, where signatures happen, and whether that approval is real. The exact test depends on the tax treaty between France and your country.

What a salesperson in France really costs the employer

On top of gross salary, employer social contributions in France are high. For an executive-level salary above three times the minimum wage, they typically represent around 42% to 45% of gross pay in 2026, depending on the company.

Illustrative example: a gross base salary of €70,000 means roughly €29,400 to €31,500 in employer contributions, for a total of about €99,400 to €101,500 before variable pay, benefits and provider fees. Then add the employer's share of the mutuelle, payroll or accounting fees, any EOR or portage fees, and recruitment costs.

For salary levels by role and seniority, see our guide to sales salaries in France.

Which setup fits your situation?

Checklist before your first French sales hire

1. Define the role you actually need: a closer, a hunter or a country manager. Our comparison of country manager and sales leader profiles can help.
2. Choose the employment setup with a French employment lawyer.
3. Check your permanent establishment exposure with a tax adviser before the contract is signed.
4. Set up payroll, complementary health insurance and occupational health.
5. Draft a French-language employment contract and a commission plan that complies with French rules.
6. Recruit a French-speaking salesperson with proven results in a sales motion like yours.

How Rocket4Sales can help

Rocket4Sales has been a sales recruitment agency specialised in Tech and SaaS since 2018, with offices in Paris and Lyon. We do not act as an Employer of Record or a payroll provider: we recruit the salesperson, and we help you define the profile and the hiring sequence that fit your setup. First profiles within 7 days.

For the full picture of building a team, read our step-by-step guide to building a sales team in France.

Talk to us about your first French hire

International expansion into France

FAQ

Can a foreign company hire an employee in France without a French entity?

Yes. A company with no establishment in France can register as a foreign employer with Urssaf Alsace, run French payroll and pay French social contributions. Companies with fewer than 20 employees in France can use the simplified TFE service.

Is Employer of Record legal in France?

There is no specific legal status for EOR in France. Providers rely on portage salarial or temporary work, and the arrangement is lawful only if the conditions of those frameworks are met. For a full-time salesperson who works only for you, they rarely are.

Can I use portage salarial to hire a full-time salesperson?

Rarely. Portage salarial is reserved for occasional tasks outside the client's normal and permanent activity, or for one-off expert services, and the professional must find their own clients. A salesperson selling your product every day does not usually meet these conditions.

What is the maximum duration of a portage salarial assignment?

36 months with the same client, under Article L1254-4 of the French Labour Code.

Does hiring through an EOR remove permanent establishment risk?

No. Permanent establishment is a corporate tax question. A salesperson who habitually concludes contracts, or plays the principal role leading to them, can create a permanent establishment whatever the employment setup.

Does the employment contract have to be in French?

Yes. For work performed in France, the employment contract must be written in French. A translation into the employee's language can be attached.

How much does a salesperson cost in France on top of salary?

For an executive-level salary above three times the minimum wage, employer social contributions typically represent around 42% to 45% of gross pay in 2026, before benefits, provider fees and recruitment costs.

When should I create a French subsidiary?

Usually once you plan a local team, a local manager or equity incentives for French employees. Until then, hiring directly as a foreign employer is often the simplest compliant option.

This article provides general information as of November 2026 and is not legal or tax advice. Rules depend on your situation and on the tax treaty between France and your country. Have your setup reviewed by a French employment lawyer and a tax adviser.

Sources

• CLEISS — Employeur établi à l'étranger : vous embauchez un salarié en France
• Légifrance — Ordonnance n° 2015-380 du 2 avril 2015 relative au portage salarial
• Deloitte Société d'Avocats — L'essor du recours au portage salarial en France par des entreprises étrangères
• Addleshaw Goddard — Portage salarial and EOR in France: key considerations for foreign companies
• CMS — Établissement stable, agent dépendant et pouvoir d'engager (Conseil d'État, 11 December 2020, n° 420174)