Report into French hiring policies published
The Directorate for Research, Studies and Statistics (DARES) has just published a study on the reasons for choosing an employer to hire on a fixed-term contract (fixed-term contract) rather than in term indeterminate (CDI).
DARES supports its analysis of the 2016 Employment and Recruitment (Ofer) survey covering all establishments of at least one non-agricultural competitive sector employee who had at least one day of activity. Ofer 2016 is the only nationwide survey to accurately describe the different stages of recruitment, from the formulation of the human resource need to the employer’s satisfaction with the recruitment process.
It appears that 45% of the employers questioned on the criteria taken into account in the recruitment affirmed that their choice of a contract of fixed term rather than of indefinite duration is motivated by the desire to avoid the constraints that they consider inherent at the school library.
Criteria mentioned by employers
Of the criteria cited by the employers, 69% indicate that their need for recruitment is limited in time, which is a logical criterion in view of the CDD legislation.
The second criterion cited by 65% of companies is the desire to carry out an evaluation of the employee’s skills before opting for sustainable recruitment on permanent contracts. This is a reason for using the fixed-term contract which is not provided for by the Labor Code and which is very similar to an extended trial period.
Finally, 56% of the establishments mention as a reason for recruitment in fixed-term contracts the desire to reduce risks if their activity slows down and the habit of recruiting on a fixed-term contract for this type of job.
Terminating CDI contracts, a barrier to hiring staff
45% of the employers interviewed by Dares chose the fixed-term contract in order to avoid the weight of the regulation associated with the CDI, in particular as regards the costs potentially generated by a dismissal, but also the formalities in case of breakage or uncertainties related to legal remedies.
It is the VSEs (-10 employees) who most often mention recruiting on fixed-term contracts to avoid the weight of the CDI regulations. They are 55% to declare it against only 33% for companies with more than 10 employees. The Dares notes that companies with an HR department consider regulatory constraints less as a cause of their use of the CDD.
Since 2001, the share of fixed-term contracts excluding temporary work among hirings of more than one month has increased slightly from 50.6% to 53.4%. At the same time, hiring on fixed-term contracts that were very short (less than 1 month) almost tripled, which led to an increase in the share of fixed-term contracts in all hires combined (74.2% at 85.3%).