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WORKING IN FRANCE

France plans special residency permits for workers in under-staffed sectors

The French government's new Immigration bill proposes, among other things, a special residency permit for people working in sectors where there is a labour shortage.

Published: 3 November 2022 16:31 CET
France plans special residency permits for workers in under-staffed sectors
(Photo by ROMAIN PERROCHEAU / AFP)

Under proposals put forward by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and Employment Minister Olivier Dussopt, the special residence permit is intended to ease the worker shortage in a number of under-pressure areas of the economy, including construction, hospitality, and healthcare.

It is part of a wide-ranging immigration bill that also includes compulsory language exams for certain groups and a tougher regime for people served with a notice to quit France.

READ ALSO French language tests for residency: What we know so far about proposal

The bill is at this stage only a proposal and still needs to be formally drafted and then debated on both houses of parliament. The Ministers say the bill will come before parliament in early 2023.

Who does it affect?

The proposal is to allow undocumented immigrants already living and working in in France sans papiers (illegally) to gain a residency permit and become legal workers – if they work in certain sectors that are experiencing a labour shortage.

It also includes ending, in certain cases and in particular industries, the six-month period during which asylum seekers cannot work.

So this really only affects people who are already in France – either working illegally or having applied for asylum. There is no suggestion at present of providing an easier visa route for foreigners entering the country to work in specific sectors.

“A majority of foreigners [in France] live from the fruits of their labour and try to integrate,” Darmanin said, while Dussopt pointed out the proposal would reduce the abuse of undocumented immigrants by some employers.

READ ALSO Talent passport: The little-known French visa that could make moving to France a lot easier

“The future Asylum and Immigration bill, which is to be presented in early January, will include a major section on work, as a way of responding, at the very least, to the labour shortage, which can be counted in the tens of thousands in certain sectors. It is a form of absurdity of the system,” Dussopt told Le Monde. “We lock some foreigners into inactivity and others into illegality.”

The working population of France is around 30 million and of those 3 million – roughly 10 percent – are foreign workers, according to Ministry of Interior figures. These include people who have come to live and work in France from other EU Member States.

READ ALSO How non-EU citizens can move to France (and stay here)

The true figure is probably higher, because there are also undocumented foreign workers. Neither the Interior Ministry or Employment Ministry has been able to provide estimates of the number of illegal foreign workers in France.

The government spokesman rejected suggestions that the scheme represents an ‘amnesty’ for undocumented workers, but that’s really what it is, albeit only in certain sectors. 

What does it mean for businesses?

The measures only affect sectors that are officially designated as “under stress” by the government – that means those that are having serious and ongoing difficulty in recruiting enough people.

As well as giving workers a residency card, meaning that businesses no longer have to run the risk of hiring illegal workers, there is also a suggestion that businesses in certain sectors would no longer need to provide work permits for non-EU workers.

The work permit system puts non-EU workers at a disadvantage compared to EU staff, since it involves more complicated paperwork for the employers to complete, making non-EU staff less attractive to hire.

In tandem with these methods, sanctions will apparently be stepped up on businesses that are found to be using illegal workers.

Which sectors are ‘under stress’

That’s the big question, but there is no detail yet on which sectors will be involved.

The list of sectors under pressure varies from region to region and will be defined “after consultation with the regions and social partners” say the ministers.

The construction and hospitality sectors have loon been struggling to recruit, and are notorious for employing undocumented workers. France is also struggling to find healthcare workers. 

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READER QUESTION

Can I work on a laptop in a French café?

As cafés in Spain launch a crackdown on remote workers who hog tables for hours without buying anything, what's the etiquette over working from a café in France?

Published: 16 May 2024 16:30 CEST
Can I work on a laptop in a French café?

Reader question: I’m visiting France shortly and I will need to do some work while I’m there – is it socially acceptable to go to a café and use my laptop there?

Over the border in Spain, cafés in Valencia, Barcelona and Santiago are reportedly ‘on a war footing’ against laptop-users, with some cutting the wifi during peak hours or just banning them altogether.

Fortunately in France, things are a little more relaxed – although this will depend on exactly where you are and how busy the café is. 

First things first – there are no local or national laws about laptop use in cafés (which you might think is a given but France does love to legislate) so the rules are up to the individual café owner and their staff. 

Culturally, however, there is something of a tradition of working in French cafés – famous writers from Victor Hugo to Ernest Hemmingway wrote novels while loitering in cafés, philosophers from Voltaire to Jean-Paul Sartre held discussion groups in Paris cafés and poverty-stricken artists have attempted to pay for their drinks with paintings (usually unsuccessfully).

In more modern times it’s completely normal for work-related meetings to be held in cafés while in cities where people tend to live in small apartments it’s common for social groups such as book clubs to meet in cafés.

But how does this all relate to opening up your laptop and getting down to work?

Well is varies, but there are a few things to think about;

Location – working on a laptop is undoubtedly more common in cities than it is in smaller places and in areas like the Paris or Bordeaux businesses districts it is a common site to see people typing away, perhaps in between business meetings that they have lined up in the café. 

Café size/occupation – take a look around you, is the café busy with people waiting for tables? Is it a tiny place with only space for a few tables? In these cases you’re less likely to be welcome to loiter for hours. If, however, things are quiet and there are plenty of tables it probably won’t be a problem to spend a few hours catching up with work 

Time of day – while this may vary in smaller towns, most city cafés are open all day – catering for the breakfast crowd, then into morning coffee, lunch and leading into the apéro hour and dinner.

Naturally cafés get busier at lunchtime (12 noon to 2pm) and when apéro starts (usually about 6pm) so you’re likely to be less welcome to take up a table for long periods during these times. If you’ve been there all morning and the server pointedly starts adding cutlery to your table, it’s probably a sign that they want the table back for the lunch-time busy period. You could of course order lunch yourself. 

Type of café – not all cafés are created equal and there are many different types. While most places have no problem with people working there, in recent years some Paris cafés have decided to impose limits on laptop use.

One of those is the Fringe café in the trendy Marais district. Owner Jeff told The Local: “I’m not against laptops, but I am against the minority of users who will sit down for four or five hours, with the cheapest drink. That’s not respectful to the space, so the decision came about because of those few who do that. We call them squatters.”

However this view is far from universal. Nix Audon, a server at Café de la Poste, said: “We evolve with the times, we even offer wifi for free. People can come, relax, and do what they need to.”

Before Nix worked at Café de la Poste, he was a customer. “I would come here every day after work just to relax. For me, café culture is about being able to chill, and sit for however long you want. Cafés are a huge part of social life for Parisians and café culture is intended to be inclusive of everyone, including those who want to sit and work on their laptops.”

While this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, we’ve noticed that most of the places that do have laptop bans are more ‘coffee shops’ in the American style (think loads of different coffee types with elaborate alternative milk options and big slabs of cake) than traditional French cafés (oat milk is for baby oats but the wine selection is excellent).

Do you need to order something? Yes, absolutely, it is only polite to order something if you intend to take up a table for long periods and no that thing cannot be tap water (which is free in French bars, restaurants and cafés).

How much you need to order depends on how long you want to stay – but staying all day and ordering a single espresso (roughly €2) would definitely be regarded as pushing your luck.

That said, French cafés mostly have a ‘no hurry’ policy and you’re unlikely to be rushed out as soon as you have finished your drink unless the café is very busy and you’re in a very touristy area. Lingering over a single coffee while you people-watch and/or think great thoughts is definitely part of France’s traditional culture.

Just ask – of course, you can just ask if it’s OK to work there. The places that don’t appreciate laptop users usually have a sign up to that effect, sometimes just covering a specific time like asking people not to use laptops at weekends or in the evening.

But if you’re unsure, just ask your server 

J’aimerais travailler sur mon ordinateur pendant quelques heures, si c’est possible ? – I’d like to work on my laptop for a couple of hours, if that’s OK?

Je peux utiliser un ordinateur portable ici ? – Is it OK to use a laptop here?

Alternatives – if you want to do more than a couple of hours of work, you might look for a more formal solution. France has a variety of options for people who need a work space, with the most popular being ‘un co-working‘ – a shared workspace where you pay for your time by the hour or the day.

Many of the larger and more business-orientated hotels also offer work spaces and meeting spaces.

Meanwhile in the larger cities there is the trend of ‘un co-homing‘ where people open up their apartments – for a fee – to people who need a space to work, plus a little social interaction.

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