Trial Periods: Legal Durations and Termination

Introduction: Why the Trial Period Remains a Point of Legal Friction

The trial period is one of the most poorly understood clauses in French labour law. Yet its rules are precise: maximum durations set by the Labour Code, mandatory notice periods, strict conditions for renewal. An employer who terminates a trial period without respecting these parameters risks reclassification as a dismissal without genuine and serious cause, with associated compensation. Conversely, an employee who resigns without respecting their notice period may incur contractual liability. This article details the legal durations applicable to each category of employee, conditions for renewal, termination procedures and best documentary practices — notably the contribution of electronic signature in securing your employment contracts.

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Legal Durations of the Trial Period Under the Labour Code

Initial Durations by Employee Category

Article L1221-19 of the Labour Code sets the maximum durations of the trial period for indefinite-term contracts (CDI):

• Workers and employees: 2 months

• Supervisory staff and technicians: 3 months

• Managers: 4 months

These durations are measured in calendar time (not working days), unless a collective agreement provides more favourable terms for the employee. It is important to note that the applicable collective agreement may provide for shorter durations — which then bind the employer — but never longer durations than those in the Labour Code, except for branch agreements concluded before the law of 25 June 2008 which are maintained on a derogatory basis.

For fixed-term contracts (CDD), the durations are proportional to the contract duration: 1 day per week of contract, up to a maximum of 2 weeks for CDDs of 6 months or less, and 1 month for CDDs exceeding 6 months (art. L1242-10 Labour Code).

Trial Period and Particular Types of Contracts

Apprenticeship contracts, work-linked training contracts and interim CDIs are subject to specific rules. Apprenticeship provides for a trial period of 45 days (art. L6222-18 Labour Code) during which both parties may terminate freely and without compensation. For employees on work-linked training contracts, the duration is aligned with that of the CDI or CDD depending on the nature of the contract.

It should also be recalled that the trial period must be expressly stipulated in the letter of offer or employment contract: in the absence of written mention, it is deemed not to exist, even if the collective agreement provides for it (Cass. soc., 7 Nov. 2001, no. 99-43.940). Securing this step through qualified electronic signature compliant with eIDAS guarantees proof of the parties' agreement as at the date of signing.

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Renewal of the Trial Period: Conditions and Limits

Cumulative Conditions for Renewal

Article L1221-21 of the Labour Code permits renewal of the trial period, but under three cumulative conditions:

• The collective agreement must expressly authorise it: a company agreement alone is insufficient.

• The possibility of renewal must be provided for in the employment contract or letter of offer at the time of hiring.

• The employee must give express written consent to renewal before the expiry of the initial period.

Renewal may only occur once. The total duration (initial period + renewal) may not exceed:

• 4 months for workers and employees

• 6 months for supervisory staff and technicians

• 8 months for managers

Any clause providing for a second renewal or exceeding these limits is void ab initio.

Suspension of the Trial Period

The trial period may be suspended by events such as illness, workplace accident, paid leave or maternity leave. The Court of Cassation considers that the trial period is extended accordingly — but only if the contract or collective agreement expressly provides for this. In the absence of such stipulation, recent case law (Cass. soc., 28 April 2011, no. 09-72.165) holds that suspension does not automatically result in extension.

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Termination of the Trial Period: Notice Periods and Formalities

Notice Periods to Be Observed

Since the law of 25 June 2008 (art. L1221-25 and L1221-26 Labour Code), compliance with notice periods is mandatory when terminating the trial period, whether at the employer's or employee's initiative.

At the employer's initiative, the notice period varies depending on seniority in the company:

| Length of Service | Notice Period | |---|---| | Less than 8 days | 24 hours | | Between 8 days and 1 month | 48 hours | | Between 1 and 3 months | 2 weeks | | More than 3 months | 1 month |

At the employee's initiative, the notice period is 48 hours, reduced to 24 hours if the length of service in the company is less than 8 days.

Non-compliance with these periods by the employer does not result in reclassification as a dismissal, but entitles the employee to compensation equivalent to the salary that would have been earned during the period not respected (art. L1221-25, para. 3).

Form of Termination and Documentary Risks

The law imposes no particular form for terminating a trial period. However, prudence recommends written notification (letter delivered by hand against receipt, registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, or increasingly, timestamped electronic message). Verbal termination, if disputed, is difficult to prove.

The most robust solution from an evidentiary standpoint is the sending of a document signed electronically, whose qualified timestamping constitutes irrefutable proof of the date of sending. You will find practical resources in our electronic signature glossary to understand the levels of proof associated with each type of signature.

Prohibitions and Special Protections

Certain terminations are prohibited even during the trial period:

• Pregnant employee: termination is void if the employer was aware of the pregnancy or if the employee notifies the pregnancy within 15 days of termination (art. L1225-4 Labour Code).

• Workplace accident or occupational disease: termination during a period of absence following a workplace accident/occupational disease is possible only for serious misconduct or if it is impossible to maintain the contract for a reason unrelated to the accident.

• Discrimination: any termination motivated by a discriminatory criterion (art. L1132-1 Labour Code) is void, even during the trial period.

Electronic signature for HR teams makes it possible to trace each step of the contractual process, including termination notifications, in an auditable environment.

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Interaction with Collective Agreements and Recent Case Law

Primacy of More Favourable Collective Agreements

The principle of favourability, reaffirmed by the Macron ordinances of 2017, provides that a collective agreement or branch agreement may derogate from the law in a manner more favourable to the employee. Thus, a collective agreement setting the trial period for managers at 3 months (instead of 4) binds the employer. Conversely, a collective agreement attempting to extend the duration to 6 months would be unlawful.

Branch agreements concluded before the law of 25 June 2008 that provided for durations exceeding the legal limits remain valid under certain conditions (art. L1221-22 Labour Code), creating a dual regime that must be verified sector by sector.

Landmark Case Law 2020-2026

• Cass. soc., 16 Sept. 2020, no. 19-10.948: the trial period must enable the employer to assess the employee's skills in their position — termination motivated by economic considerations may be reclassified as a dismissal.

• Cass. soc., 6 Oct. 2021, no. 20-10.567: the employee may contest the legitimacy of termination if it occurs on the first day — the trial must be real and effective.

• CA Paris, 23 March 2023: sending an email without a read receipt is insufficient to prove the date of termination in the absence of other probative evidence — arguing for the use of certified signature and sending tools.

For companies seeking to dematerialise the entire lifecycle of the employment contract, our comparison of electronic signature solutions will help you identify the solution suited to your volume and risk level.

Legal Framework Applicable to Trial Periods

The trial period is governed by a hierarchical set of texts that complement each other and, sometimes, overlap.

Labour Code — Articles L1221-19 to L1221-26 constitute the legislative foundation. They define maximum durations, conditions for renewal, notice periods and special protections. Article L1221-19 sets initial durations (2, 3 or 4 months depending on the category). Article L1221-20 establishes the teleological criterion of the trial period: to enable the employer to assess the employee's skills, and the employee to evaluate employment conditions. Article L1221-25 imposes notice periods in case of termination at the employer's initiative, whilst article L1221-26 governs those applicable to termination at the employee's initiative.

Law of 25 June 2008 on the Modernisation of the Labour Market — This law unified the trial period regime, which was previously highly disparate across sectors. It established the current legal ceilings and made notice periods mandatory, filling a gap that was detrimental to employees.

Civil Code — Evidential Force of Written Documents — Article 1366 of the Civil Code recognises the legal value of electronic documents, equivalent to that of written documents on paper, provided that its author can be duly identified and that it is established and kept under conditions guaranteeing its integrity. Article 1367 specifies that electronic signature consists in the use of a reliable identification procedure. These provisions underpin the legality of the employment contract signed electronically, including its clause relating to the trial period.

eIDAS Regulation No. 910/2014 and eIDAS 2.0 — The European regulation on electronic identification and trust services establishes three levels of signature: simple, advanced and qualified. For an employment contract containing a trial period, advanced (or qualified) electronic signature is recommended to ensure non-repudiation and certified timestamping, in accordance with ETSI EN 319 132 (XAdES) and ETSI EN 319 122 (CAdES) standards.

GDPR No. 2016/679 — Personal data collected during hiring (CV, identity documents, payroll information) are subject to the GDPR. The employer must ensure their security, minimisation and lawful retention period, including when processed in an electronic signature tool. Sub-processors (SaaS editors) must be covered by a DPA (Data Processing Agreement) compliant with article 28 of the GDPR.

Legal Risks in Case of Non-Compliance — A poorly drafted trial period (duration not stipulated, renewal without express agreement) or termination not respecting notice periods exposes the company to labour court convictions that may exceed several months' gross salary, particularly if the judge reclassifies the termination as a dismissal without genuine and serious cause.

Usage Scenarios: Trial Period and Electronic Signature

Scenario 1 — A Digital Services SME in Strong Growth

An SME of around fifty employees in the digital services sector recruits twenty new collaborators per year, of which 30% are managers. Until 2024, contracts were printed, manually signed and returned by post, resulting in average delays of 4 to 6 days between the verbal offer and actual signature. Several candidates withdrew in this interval, due to uncertainty about the start date. By deploying an advanced electronic signature solution, the signing delay fell to less than 4 hours. The trial period clause, notice periods and possibility of renewal are pre-populated in accordance with the applicable collective agreement, reducing parameterisation errors by 80%. In case of termination during the trial period, a timestamped notification is automatically generated, constituting admissible proof in case of labour litigation.

Scenario 2 — An HR Consulting Firm Managing Personnel Delegation Contracts

An HR firm managing approximately 120 delegation assignments annually must issue as many contracts, the majority of which are CDDs with trial periods calculated pro rata. The challenge is twofold: ensuring that the trial period duration is compliant (1 day per week, within the legal limit) and maintaining a reliable record of termination notification for aborted assignments. Before dematerialisation, 15% of files had an incorrect trial duration, a source of labour law risks. After integrating an electronic signature tool interfaced with their HRIS, durations are automatically calculated and termination notifications are archived with qualified timestamping. The firm estimates it has reduced the time devoted to administrative management of trial period endings by 90% and avoided two labour proceedings during 2024-2025.

Scenario 3 — An Industrial Group with Multiple Geographic Sites

An industrial group of around 2,500 employees spread across eight sites in France encounters difficulties in harmonising HR practices regarding trial periods: some managers sign contracts with durations non-compliant with the metalworking collective agreement, others forget to stipulate renewal in the initial contract. By deploying a contract generator parameterised according to job categories and applicable collective agreement provisions — accessible via an AI-powered contract generator — the group has standardised 100% of its templates. Trial period terminations are now notified via the platform, with automatic calculation of the notice period and legal archiving over 5 years. The group reduced labour law disputes related to the end of trial period by 40% during the first 18 months of use.

Conclusion

The trial period is far more than a simple clause for form's sake: it is a precise legal mechanism, governed by imperative legal durations, strict conditions for renewal and notice periods whose non-compliance can be costly. Workers, technicians, managers — each category is subject to its own ceilings. Case law, moreover, continues to strengthen the evidential obligations weighing on the employer, particularly regarding termination notification.

Securing each step of the employment contract — from the initial trial clause to potential termination notification — now passes through dematerialisation and electronic signature. Certyneo offers you a platform compliant with eIDAS, audited and interfaceable with your HRIS to manage your contracts with complete peace of mind.

Try Certyneo for free and bring your HR contractual process into compliance today.