Inter-company posting (B2B): SIPSI formalities and representative in France

What is "inter-company posting"

Under EU law (Directive 96/71/EC as amended by 2018/957/EU), inter-company posting is a situation in which an employer in State A sends a worker to State B to provide a service on behalf of the employer to another company or institution.

This is the most common scenario in Europe: a Polish IT company sends developers to deploy software at a French client, a German engineering firm sends experts to audit a factory, a Slovak service provider sends technicians to repair a machine.

Unlike personnel posting (where a company hires out its worker to a client), in B2B mode the worker performs a specific service defined in the commercial contract between the two companies.

Which sectors are concerned

Practically all of them, whenever the worker performs work in France. In practice we most often see:

• Industry and production: machine assembly, installations, after-sales service, technical validations
• IT and consulting: software deployments, security audits, technical advisory
• Technical service: repairs, maintenance, warranty visits at the end client
• Engineering: project supervision, expert reviews, technical acceptance, design
• Labs and R&D: research, tests, on-site validations at the client
• Events and media: technical crews, stage assembly, audiovisual installations

What Loi Macron does not cover:

• commercial meetings and presentations (no service provided)
• training where the worker learns (rather than teaches)
• attending a conference as a participant

Your obligations step by step

Before the mission

1. SIPSI declaration at www.sipsi.travail.gouv.fr — before work starts. It contains worker details, dates, location and nature of the work.
2. Designation of a representative with a postal address in France, who will keep documents for 18 months after the mission.
3. Translation of the employment contract into French (or in some cases English) — the document must be available for inspection.
4. A1 certificate for each worker, issued by the Polish ZUS (or equivalent in the employer's country).

During the mission

5. The worker carries with them: a copy of the employment contract, A1, copy of the SIPSI declaration.
6. Pay: the employer guarantees the French minimum (SMIC + any supplements from the collective agreement of the client's industry).
7. Working time: compliant with the French Labour Code (35h/week, max 10h/day, 11h of rest).
8. Safety: PPE (personal protective equipment) compliant with French standards where required by the nature of the work.

After the mission

9. Archiving of documents for 18 months — the representative keeps them available for any inspection.
10. Replies to authority requests within a typical 8-business-day deadline — the representative is the first point of contact.

Penalties for non-compliance

Penalties are graduated:

In addition, in case of serious breaches, the French court may:

• suspend the provision of services until the situation is resolved (administrative decision within 24h),
• ban the activity in France for up to 1 year,
• publish the company's name on the blacklist maintained by the Ministry of Labour.

Practical tips

• Classify correctly. If a worker temporarily performs mixed tasks (e.g. a driver delivering goods and at the same time installing them at the client), the B2B sector may take precedence. Our team helps with classification.
• Don't wait for the first inspection. File the SIPSI even for "short" trips. Better a one-off cost of €80 (our fee per declaration) than a €4,000 fine.
• Collective agreements are decisive. The agreement of the client's industry (not yours) determines rates and supplements. We help you identify it.

Contact us — we'll review your specific case and prepare a compliance plan.

Sources: Directive 96/71/EC, Directive 2018/957/EU, Loi Macron — decree 2016-418, SIPSI portal.