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WORKING IN FRANCE

How to get the government to pay for your French classes

Learning French is pretty crucial if you live in France, and French classes can be expensive - but you could get the government to pay. Here's how.

Published: 18 November 2021 10:15 CET
Updated: 8 February 2023 13:21 CET
French language class
French classes can be expensive. Photo: Patrick Baz/AFP

If you are working in France, then you are entitled to Mon Compte Formation – which is an annual budget for training and professional development.

It was introduced back in 2015 under François Hollande’s government but in 2019 an app was created. The online application process was simplified and the scheme’s popularity soared. 

It is open to salaried employees who work at least half a week, and since 2018 has also been open to self-employed people who are registered in France.

The money is credited to your own training account (not your bank account, so you can’t spend it on wine instead) and it’s up to you to decide what course you want to spend it on.

You could do courses to improve your workplace skills or courses on becoming an entrepreneur or running a business, but if you’re not French you can also take French language courses.

How to register

First you need to set up an account on the Mon Compte Formation website here or on the app – Mon CPF. Do make sure you’re on the official government site, as there have been quite a few scams linked to this scheme.

The account asks for basic personal info, plus your work and education history. You will need your social security number, which if you are working, you can find on your payslip.

Once registered, head to the ‘Droits’ section on the app or website to check how much money is in your training budget. 

Unskilled full-time workers get €800 a year while skilled full-time workers get €500 a year, with pro-rota allowances for part-timers. You can carry your allowance over for one year if you have your eye on an expensive course.

When you know how much you have to spend, head to the ‘Recherche’ section to find a course. You can search by subject (français étranger for French classes for foreigners) and set your location to find courses near you.

You can only use this budget for approved providers, so you will have to pick a language class from the list on the website, but in the big cities there is plenty of choice and quite a few language schools are now signed up to the scheme.

If you find a course that is slightly more expensive than your allowance then there is the option to use your CPF budget and pay the rest yourself.

Once you find a course that looks right for you, and is within your budget, then click on ‘submit dossier’ – this bit is surprisingly easy, just fill out the online form with your details and click submit. 

The next stage is that CPF contacts the language school that you have chosen so you will hear from them, either by phone or email, asking you to confirm the course.

Once you have confirmed this with the school, the status of your dossier on the CPF website moves from ‘pending’ to ‘approved’ and your total available training budget reduces by however much you have spent.

After that it’s between you and the language school to arrange times, dates etc for classes.

Other ways to learn for free

The training budget is only open to people who are working, but there are some other ways to learn French for free.

Unemployed

If you’re unemployed and registered with the Pôle emploi (French unemployment office) then you could be entitled to French courses if it would improve your prospects of getting a job. Ask your Pôle emploi agent what is available to you.

Language exchange

If you can’t afford professional classes there are other ways to learn, and one of the best is through language exchange. As a native English speaker you have a valuable skill to offer, and there are lots of exchange programmes where you buddy up with a French person and help them with their English, while they do the same for your French.

Search online for language exchanges near you, or try the app Meetup. Exchange sessions are usually free, but if you’re meeting in a café you will be expected to order something to eat or drink. 

If there are no exchanges near you, why not set up your own informal exchange with French friends or neighbours who want to improve their English?

Cheaper classes

If none of these work for you, there are options to get classes that are not free, but are still cheaper than language schools.

Once of these is classes through your local mairie. These tend to be during the day, so are often not suitable if you are working, but offer cut-price classes.

Ask at your local mairie if this on on offer and when the next sign-up date is – in big cities places go fast so be poised to sign up as soon as the next enrolment session opens.

The other option is the Université Pour Tous programme, which offers classes in the community in a variety of subjects, including French as a foreign language. Search online for your local Université Pour Tous and see what classes it offers.

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WORKING IN FRANCE

The rules on working from home in France

Working from home is increasingly common in France and Paris residents are being urged to consider it during the Olympics - so what rules and protections are in place for employees and employers?

Published: 26 April 2024 13:03 CEST
The rules on working from home in France

The pros and cons of homeworking were thrown into sharp relief during the Covid-19 pandemic – and it seems there are more pros than cons for many employees, who avoid having to commute to work one or more times per week.

For employers, the advantages are sometimes less clear, if articles about the benefits of going into the office are accurate. However, the fashion in France seems to be for a form of hybrid working, with those workers able to do so spending part of the week in the office and the rest working remotely.

Meanwhile some people just do it as needed – for example to avoid transport disruption during a strike or during the Paris Olympics for people who work in areas close to Games venues.

If you do want to work remotely in France – or if your employer has asked you to – are as follows:

Negotiate

Private sector employees can negotiate an agreement to work remotely full- or part-time. If you ask to work from home for any number of days per week on a long-term basis, your boss has the right to refuse, but must give a reason. 

Your boss can also ask you to work from home. In normal circumstances, you can refuse and don’t have to provide a reason. However, in the event of exceptional circumstances (such as, for example, a pandemic), remote working may be imposed on employees without their agreement.

Either way, it’s considered sensible to have the agreement down in writing so that everyone knows where they stand. It also means that no one will get shouted at during any health and safety inspection.

It’s a good idea to check any conventions collectifs – collective agreements – that exist in your profession or workplace. They may well have covered remote working already, so it is well worth checking out what this covers before beginning negotiations – as well as working time, the agreements may also cover things like whether your company will buy you a special chair and whether you can put in an expenses claim for extra electricity used on your work-from-home days.

The remote-working rules for public sector workers are different and slightly more complex.

Contract conditions

Assuming you are not a self-employed contractor, you remain an employee of the company with the same rights and responsibilities you have when working in the office. But if you switch to home-working permanently, your employers must provide written conditions of your working practices.

Among these must be a protocol for working hours and workflow regulation.

Employer and employee must also agree – before you start remote working – times when your boss can contact you at home, in order to preserve your right to a private life. This will usually be during office hours, obviously. But it also means your boss can’t assume you’ll be tied to your desk permanently just because you don’t have a commute.

READ ALSO URSSAF: What is it, how it works, and how it affects you

In all other aspects, the employee is under the same obligations as if they worked in the office full-time. You must respect your employer’s instructions, working hours and rules on using office equipment or systems.

Work equipment

Speaking of which… when an employee is working from home, the employer must provide, install and maintain any necessary equipment.

If the employed remote worker uses their own equipment, the employer has to ensure it is appropriate for the job and is maintained. Be aware, self-employed contractors, such as remote-working freelances, will often be expected to have and use their own equipment.

For employees who work from home, however, setting up home-working should not entail any personal additional costs. Employers must supply and maintain equipment that you reasonably need. How that equipment is supplied – whether it’s direct from the employer, or by reimbursement of the cost of setting up a work-station at home, can be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Rules on the use of company equipment at home – including, for example, limits on personal use – will likely remain the same as those in the office, but you should get this in writing before you start any shifts at home.

READ ALSO Micro-entrepreneur: How to set up as a small business in France

Allowances and expenses

Working from home will mean that personal electricity bills rise as workers use their own electricity for lights, coffee machines/kettles and computers.

Any fixed expenses – such as stationary, phone calls, printer cartridges, for example – can be claimed back from your employer on the production of receipts.

You are also entitled to ask your employer to share some of the cost of utilities like electricity, internet and heating.

If you work in a job where you receive restaurant vouchers, these cannot be withdrawn if you switch to home-working.

Data protection

The employer has an obligation to protect any customer and company data used and processed by its employees, including remote workers, whether the worker uses the employer’s equipment or their own.

Health and safety

If you are working at home, your residence becomes your workplace for that day, with all that implies legally. For example, if you fall down your own stairs on a day you are working from home, that could count as a workplace accident and your employer could be liable.

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