Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts in France

France: Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts was 3.5 0-6 scale in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
3.5 0-6 scale
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
5th
of 41 countries
All-time high
3.62 0-6 scale
in 1991
All-time low
3.06 0-6 scale
in 1985
Years of data
41
1985–2025

Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts in France, 1985–2025

012341985200520251985: 3.1 0-6 scale1986: 3.1 0-6 scale1987: 3.1 0-6 scale1988: 3.1 0-6 scale1989: 3.1 0-6 scale1990: 3.1 0-6 scale1991: 3.6 0-6 scale1992: 3.6 0-6 scale1993: 3.6 0-6 scale1994: 3.6 0-6 scale1995: 3.6 0-6 scale1996: 3.6 0-6 scale1997: 3.6 0-6 scale1998: 3.6 0-6 scale1999: 3.6 0-6 scale2000: 3.6 0-6 scale2001: 3.6 0-6 scale2002: 3.6 0-6 scale2003: 3.6 0-6 scale2004: 3.6 0-6 scale2005: 3.6 0-6 scale2006: 3.6 0-6 scale2007: 3.6 0-6 scale2008: 3.6 0-6 scale2009: 3.6 0-6 scale2010: 3.6 0-6 scale2011: 3.6 0-6 scale2012: 3.6 0-6 scale2013: 3.6 0-6 scale2014: 3.6 0-6 scale2015: 3.6 0-6 scale2016: 3.5 0-6 scale2017: 3.5 0-6 scale2018: 3.5 0-6 scale2019: 3.5 0-6 scale2020: 3.5 0-6 scale2021: 3.5 0-6 scale2022: 3.5 0-6 scale2023: 3.5 0-6 scale2024: 3.5 0-6 scale2025: 3.5 0-6 scale

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in 0-6 scale.

Analysis

France recorded 3.5 0-6 scale for strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts in 2025.

That represents a change of down 3.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts in France peaked at 3.62 0-6 scale in 1991 and was at its lowest, 3.06 0-6 scale, in 1985.

That places France 5th out of 41 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 41 years of available data.

Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts in France, year by year

Annual values for Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts in France, 1985 to 2025.
Year 0-6 scale Change
1985 3.06 0-6 scale
1986 3.06 0-6 scale +0.0%
1987 3.06 0-6 scale +0.0%
1988 3.06 0-6 scale +0.0%
1989 3.06 0-6 scale +0.0%
1990 3.06 0-6 scale +0.0%
1991 3.62 0-6 scale +18.4%
1992 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
1993 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
1994 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
1995 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
1996 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
1997 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
1998 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
1999 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
2000 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
2001 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
2002 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
2003 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
2004 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
2005 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
2006 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
2007 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
2008 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
2009 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
2010 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
2011 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
2012 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
2013 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
2014 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
2015 3.62 0-6 scale +0.0%
2016 3.5 0-6 scale -3.4%
2017 3.5 0-6 scale +0.0%
2018 3.5 0-6 scale +0.0%
2019 3.5 0-6 scale +0.0%
2020 3.5 0-6 scale +0.0%
2021 3.5 0-6 scale +0.0%
2022 3.5 0-6 scale +0.0%
2023 3.5 0-6 scale +0.0%
2024 3.5 0-6 scale +0.0%
2025 3.5 0-6 scale +0.0%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1980s 3.06 0-6 scale 3.06 0-6 scale 3.06 0-6 scale 5
1990s 3.57 0-6 scale 3.06 0-6 scale 3.62 0-6 scale 10
2000s 3.62 0-6 scale 3.62 0-6 scale 3.62 0-6 scale 10
2010s 3.58 0-6 scale 3.5 0-6 scale 3.62 0-6 scale 10
2020s 3.5 0-6 scale 3.5 0-6 scale 3.5 0-6 scale 6

Countries ranked near France

  1. 2 Brazil 4.12 0-6 scale compare
  2. 3 Uruguay 4 0-6 scale compare
  3. 4 Luxembourg 3.75 0-6 scale compare
  4. 6 Spain 3.47 0-6 scale compare
  5. 7 Saudi Arabia 3.38 0-6 scale compare
  6. 7 Costa Rica 3.38 0-6 scale compare

See the full ranking of 50 places →

More work & labour data for France

All data for France →

Frequently asked questions

What is strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts in France?
Strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts in France was 3.5 0-6 scale in 2025, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
What is the highest strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts recorded in France?
The highest recorded value was 3.62 0-6 scale in 1991.
What is the lowest strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts recorded in France?
The lowest recorded value was 3.06 0-6 scale in 1985.
How does France rank for strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts?
France ranks 5th out of 41 countries with data for 2025.
Is strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts rising or falling in France?
Over the last ten years it is down 3.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this France data come from?
The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts in France. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 23 August 2026, from https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/strictness-of-employment-protection-temporary-contracts/france/

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About this data

Indicator
Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts
Unit
0-6 scale
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
50 places, 1,336 data points, 1985–2025
Last refreshed

The OECD indicators of employment protection are synthetic indicators of the strictness of regulation on dismissals and the use of temporary contracts. For each year, indicators refer to regulation in force on the 1st of January. For more information and full methodology, see OECD Indicators of Employment Protection webpage Last data update: May 2022 OECD statistics contact: ELS.Contact@oecd.org