Section 2: Payments.

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L3332-10L3332-11L3332-12L3332-13L3332-14

Article L3332-11

French Labour CodeIn force
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Updated 6 Nov 2023

The sums paid annually by one or more companies for an employee or a person mentioned in article L. 3332-2 constitute the employer's contribution and may not exceed a ceiling set by regulation for payments into a company savings plan, without being able to exceed three times the beneficiary's contribution. This contribution may be made up of sums from profit-sharing, company profit-sharing and voluntary payments by beneficiaries.

The company may increase the contribution mentioned in the first paragraph by the amount spent by the employee or the person mentioned in article L. 3332-2 to acquire shares or investment certificates issued by the company or by a company included in the same scope of consolidation or combination of accounts within the meaning of the second paragraph of article L. 3344-1, without this increase exceeding 80%.

In addition, companies may, even in the absence of a contribution from the employee:

1° If the plan rules so provide, make payments into the plan, subject to uniform allocation to all employees, for the acquisition of shares or investment certificates issued by the company or by a company included in the same scope of consolidation or combination of accounts within the meaning of the second paragraph of Article L. 3344-1. The shares or investment certificates thus acquired by the employee are only available on expiry of a minimum period of five years from the date of this payment;

2° Make payments into this plan under the conditions laid down in Chapter XI of Title III of Book II of the Commercial Code, up to a limit of 30% of the annual amount of the ceiling mentioned inArticle L. 241-3 of the Social Security Code. These payments are not taken into account when assessing the ceiling mentioned in the first paragraph of this article;

A decree determines the conditions of application of 1° and 2° of this article. The payments referred to in the same 1° and 2° are subject to the same social and tax rules as the company payments referred to in the first paragraph. The sums exceeding the ceiling mentioned in 2° are paid directly to the beneficiary employee and constitute business income within the meaning ofarticle L. 136-1-1 of the Social Security Code, subject to income tax under the conditions laid down in article 80 sexdecies of the General Tax Code.

Mariela Petrova

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Working with a corporate lawyer in France — Q&A

Any time a strategic decision changes how the company is owned, governed or contractually bound — incorporation, fundraising, M&A, restructuring, shareholder agreements, or major commercial contracts. Earlier engagement always costs less than later remediation.

A notary (notaire) is a public officer who authenticates specific deeds (mainly real-estate transfers and certain family-law acts). A corporate lawyer (avocat) advises on strategy, negotiates and drafts company documents, and represents you in disputes. The two roles complement rather than overlap.

Yes — most of our clients are foreign suppliers, investors or holding entities. We bridge the gap between French law and your home jurisdiction's expectations and deliver everything bilingually.

The SAS (Société par Actions Simplifiée) is the default choice for most international structures: flexible governance, single shareholder allowed, no minimum capital, and works cleanly with foreign holding entities. We assess SARL, SA, SCI on the merits when the situation calls for it.

Yes — communications with a French avocat are protected by the secret professionnel (Article 66-5 of the Law of 31 December 1971). This protection is broader than the common-law attorney-client privilege and applies to written and oral exchanges.

We work on fixed fees for clearly scoped engagements (incorporation, contract drafting, audits) and on monthly retainers for ongoing advisory. Hourly billing is the exception, not the default. You always know the cost before work starts.

Typical timeline is 2–3 weeks from KYC kick-off to RCS registration, assuming standard documentation. Holding-company structures, foreign-shareholder identification or in-kind contributions can extend this — we flag the gating items at the first meeting.

Absolutely. We routinely coordinate with your in-house counsel, expert-comptable or notaire — pragmatic collaboration is the norm, not the exception. We send them everything they need to do their part without duplicating work.

Mariela Petrova

Mariela Petrova

Avocate au Barreau de Paris

Toque #C2396

15+ Years In Corporate Practice

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Communications protected by professional secrecy — secret professionnel de l'avocat, Article 66-5 of the Law of 31 December 1971.

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