Summary
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CDD contract: exceptional contract, why?
Unlike the CDI contract which is the contract called “common law contract”, that is to say the one that it applies by default to employees, the CDD contract (Fixed Term Contract) is a contract of ‘exception.
The CDD contract is by definition a contract whose end has been fixed (we speak of a “term”).
CDD, only one authorized form
Unlike the CDI contract which may possibly be oral, the CDD contract must be written.
If an employee is hired on a fixed-term contract and no contract is established, he will be considered as being on a permanent contract!
The mandatory clauses of a CDD
The following clauses must appear on the CDD employment contract:
- Name, contact details of the company with indication of its representative;
- Name and contact details of the employee;
- Precise definition of the reason for the contract (for example replacement fixed-term contract, fixed-term contract for increased activity, etc.), care must be taken to indicate only one reason (otherwise requalification as a permanent contract);
- Expiry date of the term of the contract when there is a specific term
- Minimum duration if it is a CDD without a specific term (for example the CDD concluded for replacement);
- Designation of workstation to be occupied by the employee;
- Title of the collective agreement;
- Amount of remuneration and the various components such as bonuses, benefits in kind, meal vouchers;
- Name and address of the supplementary pension fund;
- Any trial period;
- Rate of the precariousness allowance (10% or 6% if an extended branch, company or establishment collective agreement or agreement envisages compensation for the employee, in particular by favoring access to vocational training).
In case of absence of one of the obligatory mentions, the CDD will be automatically requalified in CDI.
Replacement CDD: an additional clause
In the case of a CDD concluded for a replacement, it must indicate the name and the qualification of the replaced employee, the absence of one of the two mentions leads obligatorily to the requalification in contract CDI.
The optional clauses of a fixed-term contract
Here is a list which is not exhaustive.
It is according to its needs that the company may have to draft additional clauses.
Take, for example, the following clauses:
- Contract renewal clause;
- Contact details of a provident fund.
Deadline to submit the contract
The CDD contract must be returned within 2 business days following hiring (article L 1242-13 Labor Code).
The day of hiring is not counted.
Example :
- The employee is hired on Monday;
- The contract must be submitted on Wednesday at the latest;
- If the contract is delivered on Thursday, the employee can consider himself on a permanent contract.
Business days are every day of the week except Sunday.
Mandatory signatures
The CDD contract must be signed by both parties (employer and employee).
The absence of one of the two signatures transforms the CDD contract into a CDI contract (article L 1242-12 Labor Code).
If the employee is sick during his CDD
For example: an employee is recruited under a fixed-term contract from March 1, 2011 to June 30, 2011. He is on sick leave from June 20, 2011 to July 10, 2011. The contract will still end on June 30, 2011.
Illness does not postpone the end of the contract!
Content updated on 06/30/2012