This decree applies the "labor" aspect of the immigration law entered into force on 28 january 2024.

Issuance of work authorization: new conditions as of 1 September 2024

From 1^er september 2024, new provisions on applications and the issuing of work authorizations will enter into force.

Firstly, the conditions for issuing a work authorization will henceforth concern both the employer and the principal, the user company or the host company.

The decree adds that the employer must not have been subject to criminal convictions or administrative sanctions:

• for entry aid and the irregular stay in France;
• for injury to human beings ;
• for forgery and use of forgery.

In addition, work authorization will be refused where the recruitment project is ‘manifestly disproportionate’ to the economic activity of the employer, the principal, the user company or the host company.

Renewal of the work authorization shall also be subject to compliance with these conditions.

Details on the implementation of the administrative fine and financial solidarity of the payer

Application of the administrative fine

As a reminder, the Immigration Law of 26 January 2024 imposed an administrative fine of up to €20,750 per foreigner worker for employers employing a foreigner worker who is not authorized to work. This fine replaces the special contribution and the flat-rate contribution paid to the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII).

The decree of 9 July 2024 states that administrative fine shall apply in the following cases:

• employment or retention of a foreigner worker without a work permit entitling him to practice an activity as an employed person in France;
• use or preservation at the service of a foreigner worker in a occupational category means a profession or a geographical area other than those mentioned on the work permit ;
• appeal to the services of a employer of a foreigner worker not entitled to work.

The maximum amount of the administrative fine is reduced to €8,300 (2,000 times the minimum hourly rate) instead of €20,750 when the employer has paid the wages and allowances due to the foreigner employee (wages and accessories, compensation equal to 3 months' pay in case of breakdown of the employment relationship, costs of sending unpaid wages to the employee's country of departure if applicable).

Finally, the decree states that:

• the repetition is characterized where the employer has been subject to an administrative fine within 5 years before the finding of the new infringement;
• the administrative court within the jurisdiction of which the infringement was established shall have jurisdiction in disputes relating to that fine.

Procedure for financial solidarity of the payer

Financial solidarity is applicable when a correctional court has issued a final decision condemning a client (a person who knowingly used the services of an employer of a foreigner not authorized to work).

It shall correspond to the payment by the payer and by the employer of the foreigner worker not entitled to work:

• the foreigner worker's wages and accessories;
• where appropriate, compensation paid in respect of the termination of the employment relationship;
• the costs of sending unpaid remuneration to the country to which the foreigner has left voluntarily or has been redeployed;
• a criminal fine for the employment or retention of a foreigner worker who is not permitted to work.

The distribution of amounts jointly and severally payable by the payer and the employer of the foreigner worker not entitled to work is determined according to the proportion of the extent of their professional relationship (value of the work carried out, services provided, remuneration in force in the profession, etc.).

The Ministry responsible for immigration, which implements financial solidarity, must first inform the principal concerned that he is likely to be subject to financial solidarity and that he may submit his observations within 15 days.

When financial solidarity is implemented, the Ministry must notify the client of its reasoned decision and the sums due. It is also responsible for the liquidation and issuance of the collection document corresponding to the sums due.

Payment of financial solidarity

The payer shall pay the sums due into an account set up by the Office français de l'immigration et de l'integration in the name of the foreigner worker concerned. This payment shall be made within a specified period of not less than 15 days.

After this period, the Director-General of the OFII shall enforce the recovery of the sums due.