Are you proactive, intuitive, relationship orientated, experienced in cross-cultural virtual communication, comfortable with Microsoft Office and online collaborative platforms, and motivated to supercharge people’s communication skills, minimise conflict and promote peace in the world?
40 hours per month working virtually within a dynamic and effective team in English and some French.
Contact: nicola@carrollcoaching.com / info@carrollcoaching.com for more information.
French contract? CDI or CDD?
Hi Simon. It would be freelance, working with a Swiss-based coach
Thanks Kim - just to clarify, the work is physically carried out in France right?
@anon27586881 - how does that work?
A “freelance” working 40 hours a week for the same person? I don’t think that would wash well with DIRECCTE, do you? (What scope is there for the “freelancer” to choose their clients, choose their projects, choose their working hours, choose how to carry out the work without supervision, build up their business and be responsible for its financial success or failure…)
Peace in the world is an excellent objective, but there won’t be much peace in your own life if you get across with the works inspectorate.
It’s actually 40 hours per month Anna but your questions/points are still valid.
Hi Simon, yes correct. We would aim to meet up once or twice a year as well.
Hi Anna, thanks for your reply. As Simon mentioned, it’s around 40 hours per month. We already have two people who work with us, they are registered in France I believe as “micro-entrepreneurs” or something similar, which works very successfully. It would be up to the person to choose their working hours, which they may wish to fit around another job or family, etc.
I would be very interested in learning about the French rules around this. Do you have a link with info?
Sorry, only just seen your post!
might be useful.
Two of the main criteria France uses when deciding if a person is an employee or an independent worker are the lien de subordination, ie is the person given instructions on what to do and how to do it and is their performance measured and is the order-giver taking all the business decisions, or do they have a particular service that they are qualified to provide, they take their own business decisions and they find clients for this service by advertising / putting in tenders etc. Also the financial criteria, ie does the worker fix their own fees at a level that will ensure a profit for their business, are they responsible for the success and failure of their business, advertising for new clients, developing their range of servicesn and again taking their own business decisions; or are they paid at a rate per hour decided by the order giver.
Basically it comes down to, is the person working for themself and if they are successful their own business reaps the profit, or are they working for someone else and if they peform well, it’s someone else’s business that reaps the profit.
Sorry, I misread your initial post as 40 hours per week which obviously would have been a very strong lien de subordination. 40 per hours a month, it would depend on the nature of the work and the relationship.
Trouble is in France that it’s left to the auto entrepreneur to be clear about it, no checks are carried out when they set up the business, it’s only if a contrôle is carried out and URSSAF or DIRECCTE feels that the work should be requalified, that it becomes an issue because the requalification is backdated.
Hi Anna, thanks for your reply and the link, all very useful. This position would be for someone who has experience in the field and who is probably already working with other clients virtually or otherwise. There are some tasks to be performed which have “rules” to follow, such as creating proposals for our clients based on requests for training or coaching services, which we have templates for and which may be adapted to suit a client request which is non-standard, for example. Another would be to help with a quarterly webinar. There are also many other things to do which the person would use their own initiative and ideally bring their own expertise and advice on how to mange and promote the business effectively. Working virtually would mean using one’s own common sense and being able to work autonomously, with help and support always on hand from the other team members whenever needed. I do feel that the position would be classed as “independent” worker.
As long as you’re confident you can justify it as such to the works inspectorate, that’s fine, you just need to be aware of the rules and what is potentially at stake for your company if it were to be requalified as an employer. (However I suggest you avoid referring to it as a “position” because a “position” strongly suggests a role within an organisation. If you were asking an electrician to rewire your premises or a translator to translate a document for you, would you call it a “position”? I’m entirely not sure this is a good argument either
because, whose business is that person promoting - yours or theirs? - which really is the crux of the matter: is the person working to make their own enterprise a success, ie managing and promoting and raising the profile of their own business, or are they working to make someone else’s enterprise a success, ie helping to manage and promote and raise the profile of your business?)
TBH most cases that do arise, arise not because the inspector happens to pick up on them but because a worker develops a grudge against their client/employer and approaches the inspector off their own bat. If the position is requalified, obviously the employee stands to do well out of it because they get awarded holiday pay, ss contributions etc going back to the start of the relationship.
Thanks, Anna. All good points and we will indeed take note. The person would be working to promote our business, and be free to do so for their own at the same time, should they so choose, of course, as well as working with their own other clients.
From a communication coaching background, we work very hard to avoid conflict and to be sure that everyone is happy and and feels respected in the relationship. With that in mind I would trust that no one would not get to a point where they could harbour a grudge.