Proposal for a permanent contract at the end of a fixed-term contract: The employer’s new obligations?

When an employer proposes that the employment relationship continue after the end of the term of a fixed-term contract (CDD) in the form of a permanent contract (CDI) to occupy the same job or a similar job , accompanied by at least equivalent remuneration for an equivalent period of work, falling within the same classification and without change of place of work, he notifies this proposal in writing to the employee. 

If the employee refuses, the employer informs France Travail, which replaces Pôle emploi, justifying the similar nature of the proposed employment (C. trav., art. L. 1243-11-1).

A decree of December 28, 2023 sets out the notification procedures:

• to the employee concerned by the proposal made by the employer;

• to the operator France Travail, by the employer, of the refusal of an employee to continue contractual relations under a permanent contract upon the expiration of a fixed-term contract.

These new provisions come into force on January 1, 2024. Permanent contract proposal Notification of the proposal. – The employer who offers, at the end of a fixed-term contract, to an employee to continue employment relations in the form of a permanent contract must notify him of this proposal by:

• registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt;

• letter delivered by hand against discharge;

• any other means giving a certain date to its receipt.

Notification must take place before the end of the fixed-term contract. Employee response time. – The employer grants the employee a reasonable period of time to decide on the permanent contract proposal and indicates to him that at the end of this reflection period, a lack of response from him constitutes rejection of this proposal. Information from France Travail Information within one month. – If the employee objects to a refusal (express or tacit) to the employer's proposal, the latter must inform the France Travail operator within one month by electronic means, according to terms which will be specified by decree of the ministerial. Information content. –

The information from France Travail is accompanied by a description of the job proposed and elements making it possible to justify to what extent:

• The job offered is identical or similar to the one held;

• The remuneration offered is at least equivalent;

• The proposed working time is equivalent;

• The classification of the proposed job and the place of work are identical. The information is also accompanied by the statement:

• The time given to the employee to decide on the permanent contract proposal;

• The date of the employee's express refusal, or in the event of no response, the date of expiry of the period at the end of which the employee's refusal is deemed acquired.

If the France Travail operator finds that the information provided is incomplete, it sends a request for additional information to the employer, who has 15 days from this request to respond. Information to the employee on the consequences of his refusal Upon receipt of the complete information, the France Travail operator informs the employee of this receipt and of the consequences of the refusal of a permanent contract on the entitlement to the insurance allowance. Remember that for a job seeker who has twice refused, during the previous 12 months, a permanent contract offer under the conditions previously set out, the benefit of unemployment insurance benefit can only be granted if he was employed under a permanent contract during the same period (C. trav., art. L. 5422-1).

NB: Similar provisions are provided for in the event that, at the end of a mission, the user company offers the employee to conclude a permanent contract to occupy the same job or a similar job, without changing the place of work. Only the content of the information from France Travail is different since the user company does not have to inform this operator of the equivalence of the remuneration and working hours offered, nor of the identical nature of the classification of the job offered.