2. Permanent Contract

This is the standard form of contract, which may be written or verbal. It is intended to fill posts relating to the employer’s ‘normal and permanent’ business activities. It may be written or verbal.

 The written form is to the employer’s advantage, as it allows them to specify all the terms and conditions of employment (job title, duties, obligations, remuneration, etc.), whereas a verbal agreement gives rise to doubts which the employer will be responsible for proving in the event of a dispute.

The permanent contract comes into effect after a contractual probationary period of

• 1 month for manual workers and operational staff (with qualifications below CAP level),
• 2 months for supervisors and technicians (from CAP to Bac+3),
• 3 months for executives and managerial staff (Bac+4 and above).

 The permanent contract is renewed only in the event of changes to substantial clauses or where there is no consensus between the parties.

• Term;
• Remuneration;
• Subordination (reclassification, promotion, change of role).

In such cases, an amendment or written notification is sufficient to formalise the changes without the need to renew the contract.

Should one party disagree with the partial notification, the amendments may be incorporated into a new, fully drafted contract.

The terms ‘indefinite’ and ‘unlimited’ or ‘infinite’ should not be confused.

An indefinite term implies that the parties have not set a fixed term due to the normal and permanent nature of the role’s activities.

Contrary to popular belief, a permanent contract is easier to terminate than a fixed-term contract because the grounds for unilateral termination of a permanent contract are unlimited, provided only that they are ‘valid and sufficient’ ’, whereas those for a fixed-term contract are limited to three (mutual agreement between the contracting parties, gross misconduct on the part of the employee (at the discretion of the court) and force majeure).