Electronic signature for HR and personnel departments
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.
What are the HR use cases for electronic signatures?
Every signature across the employee lifecycle, from the initial job offer to a mutual termination agreement, can be digitised with Certyneo. Here are the seven most common cases among our HR customers.
Employment contract (CDI, CDD)
Permanent contracts, fixed-term contracts, apprenticeship or professionalisation contracts: send the contract signed by the employer to the candidate, who signs in two minutes from their phone. Compliant with Article L1221-1 of the French Labour Code.
Contract amendment
Role change, pay rise, switch to part-time, remote work: digitise the entire amendment cycle with the employee and employer signing in sequence.
Job offer letter
Legally secure the job offer (unilateral or bilateral) before the contract itself is signed. Advanced electronic signatures (AES) 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.
Collective bargaining agreement
Collective agreements signed by representative trade unions: send, collect signatures in parallel or in sequence and archive for ten years.
NDAs & confidentiality commitments
Non-disclosure agreements for new hires, interns and contractors. A free template is available in our library.
Internship agreement
Tripartite agreement (company, school, intern): configurable signing order, automatic reminders and DUE registration at the end of the cycle.
Why HR teams choose Certyneo
Six concrete reasons why HR departments choose Certyneo for their electronic signatures.
Onboarding in 24 hours
Between the job offer and the signed contract, expect a few hours rather than several days of postal back-and-forth. The candidate signs on their phone, with no printer required.
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.
Ten-year archiving included
All HR contracts are archived for ten years with a timestamped audit trail embedded in the PDF. This matches the retention obligations for social documents (DSN, workplace accident records).
Multi-signer 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.
Polished candidate experience
Signer journey available in multiple languages, WCAG AA accessible, understated emails with no invasive tracking. Your employer brand is preserved.
Which HRIS integrations are available?
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 at our API documentation.
Labour Code, eIDAS and GDPR compliance
Digitising HR documents is governed by several statutes. Certyneo covers the full legal framework, both French and European.
Labour Code — Article L1221-1
The employment contract is concluded in whatever form the parties choose. Electronic signatures are therefore fully admissible, provided they guarantee signer identification and document integrity — which advanced signatures (AES) deliver.
Civil Code — Article 1367
General recognition of electronic signatures as equivalent to handwritten signatures, provided they rely on a reliable identification process guaranteeing the link with the act.
eIDAS Regulation (EU) 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 & social retention
Retention periods aligned with social obligations: five years (contract) or ten years (DUE, workplace accidents, personnel registers). A standard DPA is available at signup and the processing register is kept up to date.
Frequently asked questions from HR teams
Is an electronically signed 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 use for an employment contract?
Advanced signature (AES) is the recommended standard. It includes signer identification (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 stakes (service memo, receipt acknowledgment).
How do we handle the withdrawal period for a mutual termination 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 we integrate Certyneo with our HRIS (Lucca, PayFit, Workday)?
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 ten-year archiving by default, which matches the strictest social retention periods (personnel registers, workplace accident files). Contracts remain downloadable at any time from your dashboard, with an audit trail embedded in the PDF.
Do candidates need to create a Certyneo account to sign?
No. The signer receives a secure link by email and signs directly from their browser, with no install and no account creation. For advanced signatures, they enter an OTP code received by SMS to confirm their identity.
Is the electronic signature enforceable in an employment tribunal dispute?
Yes. The probative value of an advanced signature is recognised by French and European case law. In the event of a dispute, you provide the signed PDF together with the audit trail (timestamp, IP, approximate geolocation, OTP validation), which forms solid corroborating evidence for the industrial tribunal.
Can we sign multiple contracts in bulk from an HRIS export?
Yes. The "templates" feature lets you create a contract template with dynamic fields (name, salary, role, start date). You then import a CSV from your HRIS and Certyneo generates and sends every envelope in bulk within seconds.