SaligoBay Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 Well, I really thought I'd be able to avoid this for ever, but maybe the time has come. Got a call from an agency lady today, who said that if I want to accept short-term contracts (as opposed to full-time forever employee status), I'd have to set myself up as.......... as what?????HELP!!!!!!!!Artisan? Sole trader? I don't know where to start!!! If I got one 3-month contract a year I'd be happy, but I'd like to actually earn some money from it. I get the impression from other threads that this just isn't possible, because I'd be paying cotisations etc even if I wasn't working, so could end up out of pocket. Is that right?Is this a Chambre de Métiers moment? I know from experience that you have to ask the right questions in France, because nobody will actually volunteer anything, so what are the right questions?Thank you,A Mongolian Thick Surprised Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo53 Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 Are you sure you'd be self-employed? Or would they be short-term contracts of employment (the CDD in French). If you are taken on as an employee for a fixed term of even a few weeks, you're not self-employed, so no need to bother with any of that stuff.If you are going to be a self-employed supplier of services, rather than a temporary employee, you will be a professionale liberale if your activity is intellectual in nature ie doesn't involve building things or selling things. For this you register with the URSSAF (Chambre des metiers is for manual and artisanal occupations). The anpe website is pretty good at explaining it all; also www.lentreprise.com is a mine of information. They are up to date; make sure any information you read takes into account the legal changes of 2004, which made life a bit easier.The cotisations question is thorny if you're only working on and off. You do now have the right to have cotisations calculated on your real income from year one, which I assume means you only pay on what you've actually earned. Also there are provisions for people who work less than 90 days per year.You could try 'portage salarial'. Societes de portage are umbrella companies that employ you. Your client pays them and they pay you, minus both employee's and employer's social security contributions and their commission of 5-10%. But they do all your paperwork for you. You are not self-employed so no ongoing cotisations. HTH.Jo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaligoBay Posted February 7, 2005 Author Share Posted February 7, 2005 Thank you, Jo.I spoke to her again today, and she seems sure I need to be something, although she's not sure what, either a travailleur indépendent or a EURL/SARL.I'll screw my courage to the sticking place and look at the ANPE site you mentioned. I'm scared, I want someone to hold my hand and tell me it'll all be okay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La Doretie Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Hi,We are about to launch into this too!!!!!!! Daunting stuff!!I am an electrician, and after 6 months of "settling in" and deciding what to do, I have decided to stick with what I know for a while!!Any pointers greatly appreciated.Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Head Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Saligo, it won't all be OK! As a forum Guru I'm sure you are all too well aware that the system can be a nightmare! Unless you know exactly what it is you are (I never did know!), what it is you want to do and have pretty sound financial forecasts and business experience you're in for a rocky ride mate! No doubt I'll be contradicted!Good luck!Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 SB, from my own experiences of doing this I'd say avoid the EURL/SARL route unless your profession demands it (as with estate agency), or you intend to rake in a fortune, or will have thousands of clients making your book keeping very complicated. Otherwise what you make will all be swallowed up by the accountants even before URSSAF, health insurance, retirement funds, professional bodies and all the other people who want to grab their cotisations get a look in. Travailleur independante seemed, for me, to be a comparatively smooth process, helped by the fact that as my first year was eight months rather than the full 12 I just scraped in as a micro-bic. The hôtel des impôts still don't know what category to put me in though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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