The gaugeTemp work · end of assignment
Temp work in France: the end-of-assignment allowance, holiday pay, the waiting period and a permanent contract
When each French temp assignment ends, the agency pays an end-of-assignment allowance (indemnité de fin de mission, IFM) of 10% of gross pay, unless a permanent contract (CDI) with the host company starts immediately, the worker ends it early, or for serious misconduct or force majeure (Labour Code, articles L1251-32 and L1251-33). Holiday pay of at least 10% comes on top, IFM included: 21% of gross at least.
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Give the assignment’s gross pay, its end date, how it ended and what the agency paid.
Example questions
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Did your agency pay you the minimum?
Enter the assignment’s gross pay, renewals included, how it ended and the allowances paid on the final statement (solde de tout compte): the gauge places that amount against the legal minimum. The example: €2,400 gross and €480 paid, i.e. 10% + 10% without counting the IFM in holiday pay.
Fictional example · end-of-assignment allowances gauge
€24.00 missing: the legal minimum is €504.00.
- End-of-assignment allowance
- €240.00
- Holiday pay, minimum
- €264.00
- Minimum of both allowances
- €504.00
- Left to claim
- €24.00
- €240.00IFM alone
- €504.00Legal minimum of €504.00
Legal minimum, holiday pay computed including the IFM as in fiche F11215; a collective agreement or a more favourable rule may provide more.
What do you receive when a temp assignment ends in France?
The end-of-assignment allowance, known as the precariousness bonus (prime de précarité), is 10% of the total gross pay due, renewals included; the agency pays it with the last salary of the assignment and it appears on the payslip (article L1251-32).
The payment in lieu of paid leave (indemnité compensatrice de congés payés) is due for every assignment, whatever its length, and cannot be less than a tenth of the total gross pay (article L1251-19); service-public fiche F11215 computes it including the IFM. For €2,400 gross: €240 of IFM, then €264 of holiday pay, so €504.
Sources: C. trav. L1251-32 · C. trav. L1251-19 · Service-public F11215
When is the end-of-assignment allowance not due?
When the temp worker immediately gets a permanent contract (CDI) with the host company (article L1251-32), after an early termination at their own initiative, serious misconduct or force majeure, and for an assignment concluded as part of training under article L1251-57 (article L1251-33).
For a seasonal or customary job, the Code only excludes the IFM if an agreement of the temporary-work branch provides for it; fiche F11215 presents the exclusion as the rule and payment as the exception: the applicable agreement decides. Holiday pay remains due in every case.
Sources: C. trav. L1251-32 · C. trav. L1251-33 · Service-public F11215
Does the waiting period stop you taking another assignment?
No: it bars the host company from filling the same post with a new fixed-term or assignment contract before it expires (article L1251-36), not the temp worker from working elsewhere.
Without a branch agreement, it is one third of the assignment’s length, renewals included, if it lasted 14 days or more, and half below that, counted in the company’s opening days (article L1251-36-1). It does not apply, among other cases, if the worker ended the assignment or refused its renewal (article L1251-37-1).
Sources: C. trav. L1251-36 · C. trav. L1251-36-1 · C. trav. L1251-37-1
When does a temp assignment become a permanent contract?
If the host company keeps the temp worker working after the assignment ends without a contract, they are deemed bound to it by a CDI, with seniority dating back to the first day of the assignment (article L1251-39).
They can also claim the rights of a CDI when the use of temp work breaks its rules, for example to fill on a lasting basis a job linked to the normal and permanent activity (articles L1251-5 and L1251-40); the labour court (conseil de prud’hommes) rules within a month and awards at least 1 month’s salary (article L1251-41).
Sources: C. trav. L1251-39 · C. trav. L1251-5 · C. trav. L1251-40 · C. trav. L1251-41
Which figures govern a temp assignment in France?
The legal minimums and the Labour Code rules that apply when no branch agreement sets others.
| Rule | Figure | Article |
|---|---|---|
| End-of-assignment allowance (IFM) | 10% of total gross pay | L1251-32 |
| Holiday pay | At least 10% of total gross pay | L1251-19 |
| Waiting period, assignment of 14 days or more | One third of its length, renewals included | L1251-36-1 |
| Waiting period, assignment under 14 days | Half of its length | L1251-36-1 |
| Maximum length, general case | 18 months, renewals included | L1251-12-1 |
| Renewals | 2 at most, within the maximum length | L1251-35-1 |
| Trial period | 2 days up to a 1-month contract, 3 days up to 2 months, 5 days beyond | L1251-14 |
| Reclassification as a CDI | At least 1 month’s salary | L1251-41 |
Maximum length of 9 months while awaiting an employee hired on a CDI or for urgent safety work, 24 months for an assignment abroad, a final departure before the post is abolished or an exceptional export order, 36 months for an apprenticeship cycle (article L1251-12-1).
Sources: C. trav. L1251-32 · C. trav. L1251-19 · C. trav. L1251-36-1 · C. trav. L1251-12-1 · C. trav. L1251-35-1 · C. trav. L1251-14 · C. trav. L1251-41
What has changed for temp workers since 2024?
Three recent texts affect the CDI offer, holiday pay and unemployment benefit.
A host company that offers a CDI at the end of an assignment notifies it before the end date, by a means giving a certain date, allows reasonable time to answer, silence counting as refusal, and informs France Travail of a refusal within 1 month (article R1251-3-1, decree of 28 December 2023).
Source: C. trav. R1251-3-1
Paternity and childcare leave and sick leave for a work accident, an occupational disease or a non-occupational illness count as assignment time for paid-leave rights (article L1251-19, law of 22 April 2024).
Source: C. trav. L1251-19
After 2 refused CDI offers in 12 months, unemployment benefit after a contract ends is only opened if the worker held a CDI in that period; the exception is now assessed against the commitment contract (contrat d’engagement) signed with France Travail (article L5422-1, law of 18 December 2023).
Source: C. trav. L5422-1
Which documents should you receive when the assignment ends?
The papers the temp agency hands over when the contract expires, to keep for checking the allowances and claiming unemployment benefit.
- Document 1
Last payslip
It shows the end-of-assignment allowance, paid with the last salary of the assignment (article L1251-32).
- Document 2
Final statement receipt (reçu pour solde de tout compte)
It lists the sums paid, including holiday pay, and can be challenged within 6 months of signing (article L1234-20).
- Document 3
Certificate of employment (certificat de travail)
Given when the employment contract expires (article L1234-19).
- Document 4
France Travail certificate (attestation France Travail)
Given when the contract expires and sent to France Travail without delay for unemployment rights (article R1234-9).
What does article L1251-32 of the Labour Code say?
The text that creates the end-of-assignment allowance and sets its rate.
Lorsque, à l’issue d’une mission, le salarié ne bénéficie pas immédiatement d’un contrat de travail à durée indéterminée avec l’entreprise utilisatrice, il a droit, à titre de complément de salaire, à une indemnité de fin de mission destinée à compenser la précarité de sa situation. Cette indemnité est égale à 10 % de la rémunération totale brute due au salarié. L’indemnité s’ajoute à la rémunération totale brute due au salarié. Elle est versée par l’entreprise de travail temporaire à l’issue de chaque mission effectivement accomplie, en même temps que le dernier salaire dû au titre de celle-ci, et figure sur le bulletin de salaire correspondant.
In English, briefly (our summary, not an official translation): When an assignment ends and the worker does not immediately get an open-ended contract with the host company, they are entitled, as a salary supplement, to an end-of-assignment allowance compensating their precarious situation, equal to 10% of the total gross pay due. It comes on top of that pay, is paid by the agency at the end of each assignment actually completed, with the last salary, and appears on the matching payslip. Article L1251-33 lists the other exclusions; holiday pay stays due for every assignment (article L1251-19).
What do temp workers ask at the end of an assignment?
Does refusing an offered CDI cost you the end-of-assignment allowance?
No: the IFM is only excluded if a CDI with the host company starts immediately, and article L1251-33 does not mention refusal. After 2 refusals in 12 months, however, unemployment benefit can be closed (article L5422-1).
Is holiday pay due for a one-week assignment?
Yes: the payment in lieu is due for every assignment, whatever its length, and paid when the assignment ends (article L1251-19).
How soon must the assignment contract be handed over?
Within 2 working days of the placement at the latest (article L1251-17). A delay alone does not win a CDI, but gives a right to compensation of 1 month’s salary at most (article L1251-40).
Can the agency end the assignment early?
Except for serious misconduct or force majeure, it offers a new assignment contract starting within 3 working days, without changing the qualification, pay, working hours or travel time; otherwise, or if it is shorter, it pays the salary up to the end date, IFM included (article L1251-26).
Can a temp worker leave early for a CDI elsewhere?
Yes: if they prove a CDI, they owe no damages, but unless agreed otherwise give notice of 1 day per week of contract, between 1 day and 2 weeks (article L1251-28). No IFM is then due (article L1251-33).
Which texts is this end-of-assignment gauge based on?
- Labour Code, article L1251-32 (end-of-assignment allowance)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L1251-33 (cases without the allowance)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L1251-19 (holiday pay)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L1251-36-1 (waiting period calculation)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L1251-37-1 (cases without a waiting period)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L1251-39 (work continued after the assignment)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L1251-40 (rights of a CDI)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L1251-41 (reclassification before the labour court)Légifrance, in French
- Temporary work contract (fiche F11215)Service-public.fr, in French · checked by the publisher on 19 June 2026
- Labour Code, article L1251-12-1 (maximum length)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L1251-35-1 (renewals)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L1251-14 (trial period)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article R1251-3-1 (CDI offer at the end of an assignment)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L5422-1 (unemployment benefit, refused CDI offers)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L1251-36 (waiting period)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L1251-17 (handing over the assignment contract)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L1251-26 (termination by the agency)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L1251-28 (termination by the worker)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L1234-20 (final statement)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L1234-19 (certificate of employment)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article R1234-9 (France Travail certificate)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L1251-5 (no permanent job through temp work)Légifrance, in French
Texts cited last checked: 26 September 2026