This legal representative liaises between the foreign company and the French authorities (labour inspectorate, gendarmerie and police, as well as the tax and customs authorities), throughout the period of secondment and in particular during regular checks by the authorities.
The representative must be appointed in writing and signed by both parties (the company and the legal representative). This appointment must be translated into French if it is to be valid. It gives rise to a representation contract containing the following information
- The effective date (start and end) ;
- The duration of the appointment (not exceeding the period of secondment);
- The place where the documents required for the secondment are kept (which must be sent in the event of an inspection).
Obligation to retain documents relating to the posting of employees
In addition to the compulsory retention of secondment declarations (SIPSI declaration), there are a number of other compulsory documents that must be kept, such as documents attesting to the actual payment of wages to employees or the record of hours worked by the worker.
These documents are needed when the French authorities carry out an inspection, which means that the representative must keep the documents in computer or paper format, accessible at all times so that they can be presented to the authorities if necessary.
The legal representative is appointed for the secondment and takes on the regulatory responsibility assigned to him by the foreign company in order to carry out all the compulsory formalities on French territory on its behalf.
Find out about all the obligations involved in seconding employees to France on this page.
