Electronic signature for HR and personnel services
Digitise employment contracts, amendments, job offer letters, final settlements and company agreements. Certyneo is compatible with your HRIS (Lucca, PayFit, Workday, Cegid, etc.) via Zapier, Make or webhooks and ensures compliance with article L1221-1 of the French Labour Code, the eIDAS regulation and the GDPR. 10-year archiving included, automatic audit trail.
HR use cases
All signatures across the employee lifecycle, from job offer to termination agreement, can be digitised with Certyneo. Here are the seven most common use cases among our HR clients.
Employment contract (permanent, fixed-term)
Permanent contracts, fixed-term contracts, apprenticeship or training contracts: send the contract signed by the employer to the candidate, who signs in 2 minutes from their phone. Compliant with article L1221-1 of the French Labour Code.
Contract amendment
Change of position, salary increase, shift to part-time, remote working: digitise the entire amendment cycle with signatures from the employee and employer in sequence.
Job offer letter
Legally secure the employment promise (unilateral or bilateral) before the contract is signed. Advanced electronic signature (AES) allows you to formally identify the candidate.
Mutual termination agreement
Meeting invitation, meeting minutes and detailed agreement signed remotely, with a timestamped audit trail. The TéléRC form is still signed by hand.
Company agreement
Collective agreements signed by representative trade unions: send, collect signatures in parallel or sequence and archive for 10 years.
NDA & confidentiality undertaking
Non-disclosure agreement for new recruits, interns, contractors. Free template available in our library.
Internship agreement
Tripartite agreement (company, educational institution, intern): configurable signing order, automatic reminders, internship completion certificate integrated at the end of the process.
Why Certyneo for HR
Six concrete reasons why HR departments choose Certyneo for their electronic signatures.
Onboarding in 24 hours
Between the job offer and contract signature, allow a few hours rather than several days of postal correspondence. The candidate signs from their phone, without needing a printer.
Labour Code compliance
Electronic signatures on employment contracts are recognised by Articles 1366 and 1367 of the French Civil Code, which give electronic writing the same probative force as paper writing. Our advanced signatures (AES) comply with eIDAS and Article 1367 of the French Civil Code.
10-year archiving included
All HR contracts are archived for 10 years with timestamped audit trail integrated into the PDF. The duration aligns with legal requirements for retention of employment records (payroll reports, occupational accidents/diseases).
Multi-signatory workflows
Employer, HR, manager, employee: set the signing order in sequence or in parallel. Automatic email reminders at the interval you choose for each send (every 3 days by default).
Reusable templates
Create your contract templates (permanent, fixed-term, internship) with dynamic fields (name, salary, date) and generate documents in bulk from your HRIS export.
Thoughtful candidate experience
Signer journey in French, WCAG AA accessible, clean emails without invasive tracking. Your employer brand reputation is protected.
HRIS integrations
Certyneo connects to your HRIS in two ways. Lucca has a native connector, read-only: your employees are suggested as signers and their data pre-fills your templates. For other HRIS, the REST API, webhooks and Zapier/Make connectors cover the scenarios below. Would you like a native connector for yours? Contact us to look at a partnership.
Lucca, PayFit, Cegid
Common French HRIS on the SMB market. Lucca has a native Certyneo connector, read-only: your employees appear among the suggested signers and their data pre-fills your templates. For PayFit, Cegid and the others, link Certyneo via Zapier or Make ("envelope signed" and "document sent" triggers), or via our REST API for a bespoke pipeline.
Workday, SAP SuccessFactors
Enterprise HRIS: integration via Make or Zapier for complex onboarding workflows (multiple signatures, hierarchical approvals). For a native connector, our integrations team can explore a partnership based on your volume.
Other HRIS & HR tools
HRIS, ATS and payroll tools (BambooHR, HubSpot, Personio, etc.): use our real-time webhooks and Zapier/Make connectors, which cover the vast majority of third-party applications. Documented REST API on /docs.
A native connector now exists for Lucca: see the Lucca integration. It suggests your employees as signers and pre-fills your templates, read-only.
Need a custom integration? Contact our team — the Certyneo API is publicly documented on our API documentation.
Labour Code, eIDAS and GDPR compliance
Digitisation of HR documents is governed by several regulatory texts. Certyneo covers the entire French and European legal framework.
Labour Code — Article L1221-1
An employment contract is concluded in such forms as the parties decide to adopt. Electronic signature is therefore perfectly admissible, provided it guarantees identification of the signatory and the integrity of the document — which advanced signature (AES) ensures.
Civil Code — Article 1367
General recognition of electronic signature as equivalent to handwritten signature insofar as it uses a reliable identification procedure guaranteeing its link with the document.
eIDAS Regulation (EU) No 910/2014
Certyneo HR signatures rely on the advanced level (AES): a unique link with the signer, identification through an OTP code sent by SMS and detection of any subsequent modification of the document.
GDPR & retention obligations
Retention periods aligned with employment law requirements: 5 years (contract) or 10 years (beneficial ownership record, work accidents/occupational diseases, staff registers). Standard DPA available at signup, processing register kept up to date.
Frequently asked questions from HR teams
Is electronic signature of an employment contract legal in France?
Yes, with no restriction. Article L1221-1 of the French Labour Code leaves the parties free to choose the form of the contract. Article 1366 of the French Civil Code gives electronic writing the same probative force as paper writing, and Article 1367 recognises the electronic signature that identifies its author. Advanced signatures (AES) are recommended to guarantee strong identification of the employee.
Which signature level should I choose for an employment contract?
Advanced signature (AES) is the recommended standard. It includes identification of the signatory (OTP SMS + email), a unique link with the signed document, and detection of any subsequent modification. Simple signature is sufficient for internal documents with no contractual implications (memorandum, acknowledgement of receipt).
How do I manage the withdrawal period for a severance agreement?
The 15-calendar-day withdrawal period runs from the day after the TéléRC form is signed by hand. Certyneo timestamps the documents signed online around this step (meeting invitation, meeting minutes), so you can prove the meeting took place before the signature. The homologation request is submitted on TéléRC once the period has ended.
Can I integrate Certyneo with our HRIS (Lucca, PayFit, Workday, Cegid…)?
Yes. Lucca has a native Certyneo connector, read-only: your employees are suggested as signers and their data pre-fills your templates; nothing is written back to Lucca. For PayFit, Workday, Cegid and the others there is no native connector yet: Certyneo exposes a full REST API, a webhook for each event (envelope signed, declined, expired) and Zapier and Make connectors covering more than 4,000 third-party applications, including most HRIS on the market. Would you like a native connector for your HRIS? Contact our integrations team to look at a partnership.
How long are signed contracts retained?
Our plans include 10-year archival by default, which meets the strictest employment retention requirements (staff registers, work accident/occupational disease documents). Contracts remain downloadable at any time from your dashboard, with audit trail embedded in the PDF.
Must candidates create a Certyneo account to sign?
No. The signer receives a secure email link and signs directly from their browser, without installation or account creation. For advanced signatures, they enter an OTP code received via SMS to confirm their identity.
Is electronic signature enforceable in case of employment tribunal dispute?
Yes. The evidential value of advanced signature is recognised by French and European case law. In the event of a dispute, you produce the signed PDF together with the audit trail (timestamp, IP, rough geolocation, OTP validation), which constitutes strong evidence for the employment tribunal.
Can I sign multiple contracts in bulk from an HRIS export?
Yes. The "templates" feature allows you to create a contract template with dynamic fields (name, salary, role, hire date). You then import a CSV from your HRIS and Certyneo generates and sends all envelopes in bulk within seconds.