Newsletter October 2025

Transfer pricing declaration: don’t miss the 5 November deadline

Companies whose financial year ended on 31 December 2024 and that are subject to transfer pricing documentation requirements must file form no. 2257 electronically by 5 November 2025 at the latest. This obligation mainly applies to entities with annual revenue of €150 million or more, or that belong to a group under majority control.

However, businesses are exempt if they conducted no cross-border intragroup transactions, or if the total amount per type of transaction (sales, services, commissions, etc.) did not exceed €100,000.

Failure to comply or delays in filing may result in financial penalties of up to €10,000.

Sick leave: paid holidays can now be postponed

France’s highest court has recently brought national law into line with European case law: employees who go on sick leave during their paid holidays may now request that the affected days be postponed, even if the leave begins while they are already on holiday.

One key condition applies: the sick leave must be notified to the employer. This ruling marks a departure from the previous rule, which only allowed for postponement if the illness occurred before the holiday started.

The decision reinforces the right to rest, which is the purpose of paid leave, and distinct from the purpose of sick leave. However, several questions remain: What formalities apply? Can employees reclaim paid leave allowances already received? Is the rule retroactive? Further clarification is expected.

Paid leave now counts towards overtime calculation

A new court ruling changes the rules: paid leave days and public holidays must now be counted when determining whether an employee has worked overtime.

In practice, if an employee works 28 hours in a week and also takes two days of paid leave, their total time is deemed to exceed the 35-hour legal workweek — and any additional hours must be paid as overtime.

This development aligns French law with European case law, which seeks to ensure that taking paid leave does not penalise employees. The rule applies to all employees whose working time is calculated on a weekly basis.

Company directors: you can now protect your personal address

Good news for company directors: a decree published at the end of August now allows them to request confidentiality of their personal address listed in the Trade and Companies Register (RCS).

This measure is intended to protect against risks such as assault, harassment, or cyberattacks. It applies to individual company directors, including partners with unlimited liability in partnerships (e.g., SNCs), and also covers legal representatives in certain online procedures.

The request must be submitted via the one-stop business formalities portal. Once approved, the personal address will only be accessible to authorised parties (judicial authorities, tax administration, legal representatives, etc.). 

Employers: is your risk assessment document up to date?

The Document Unique d’Évaluation des Risques Professionnels (DUERP) — France’s mandatory occupational risk assessment document — is required for all employers, regardless of company size or sector. It centralises the identification, analysis, and prevention of risks to which employees are exposed, by work unit. Since the August 2, 2021 law, its content and update requirements have been significantly strengthened.

In companies with 11 or more employees, the DUERP must be updated at least once a year, and whenever a major change occurs or a new risk is identified. It must also include a risk prevention action plan, which takes the form of a detailed annual prevention programme in businesses with 50 or more employees, and be retained for 40 years.

Failing to maintain a compliant DUERP can have serious consequences:

• Criminal, with fines up to €1,500 per offence (Labour Code, art. R. 4741-1);
• 
  Civil, in the event of a workplace accident or occupational illness, where an inadequate DUERP can lead to a finding of gross negligence by the employer;
• 
  Operational, as non-compliance is often flagged during audits or legal disputes.

Feel free to contact us to discuss further.