Business rules in France you need to know

Last Updated: 09 June 2026

Businessmen shaking hands in front of French flag

France isn’t an alien culture, but it can feel like an intimidating place to do business with a few quirks that are unique to the country.

If you’re looking to start a business in France or are simply going to work there, it pays to know a few things about French business culture and also a little about the myths that are no longer true about France.

Here are our top business rules in France you need to know—from the finer points of business etiquette, to expectations for employees, to the best way to ingratiate yourself with your local community in France. For more in-depth information regarding setting up your business, take a look at our article Start a Business in France in 8 Steps.

First impressions matter

If you’re starting a business in France, you get to control your own etiquette standards. When it comes to business meetings or networking, though (or if you are just working in France), it’s important to uphold certain standards. Dressing smartly is an obvious start. This won’t always be the expectation, but it’s a safe way to begin, and gauge the formality of the occasion and the people you’re meeting with.

Business cards are good to have on hand at all times, and commonly shared. You should make sure they include both a French and English side if possible, along with your company name, position and qualifications. It can also be helpful to include your business social media profiles, either as links or with a QR code to a Linktree or similar page with your profiles and website on it. When it comes to greetings, stick to a “bonjour” and a handshake, and use the polite “vous” (you), as well as “monsieur” and “madam” for referring to others.

Lunch is sacrosanct—but it’s also an opportunity

France is serious about gastronomy. What it’s also serious about, however (as we’ll expand on later) is time away from work. Lunch is an opportunity for this, and it’s a serious part of the working day.

Be careful about what constitutes a work lunch and what’s just lunch, though. Going out for lunch with colleagues generally doesn’t mean an opportunity to chat business; far from it. Having lunch as part of a meeting however is common, and many meetings will take place at restaurants rather than cafes or bars.

The ‘grindset’ isn’t a French mindset

Many business owners take for granted the idea that employees should make sacrifices for their company. This can be even more common with startups, where the success of the business can feel like it’s on a knife edge in the early days, and the owner might be working long hours themselves to make it work. Bringing this expectation to France though might crash into an unfortunate reality: most people have a very different idea.

This isn’t to say that people don’t work hard, but that they appreciate their free time. The work/life balance in France is firmly tilted towards life, and the idea of answering emails or taking calls in your time off is a big no-no, to the extent that there’s actually a law forcing companies to designate times when answering emails isn’t required. Expect hard workers, but don’t expect your employees to go above and beyond if that means extensive overtime.

Be prepared to learn French

Learning the local language is generally a respectful thing to do when staying or working in a country. When it comes to doing business in France, though, this is almost a non-negotiable. While most people will be accommodating of you speaking in English, the expectation will definitely be for you to speak French eventually—something that will be fairly evident from the early stages of starting a French business.

While rates of English fluency are rising in France, the country is worse than many of its neighbours, with less than 60% of the population having ‘reasonable competency’. That’s likely a lot more English than you speak most other languages, and English fluency tends to be higher in senior business settings. But it does mean that you are likely to encounter plenty of people with minimal English proficiency.

Beyond the language barrier, though, learning French is simply respectful, and likely to go a long way in your business relationships. It’s also a way to better understand your local market, and spot any issues that might crop up as a result of poor fluency. Mistakes in the positioning or advertising of your products or services can be easy to miss when you don’t know your cul from your coude.

Engage with the community

French businesses have a social responsibility that goes beyond what is required in many other countries. There is an expectation that you should contribute towards the local community in some way, such as through charitable donations, for which the government offers tax incentives. But there are also government mandates around reporting your environmental and social impacts, meaning that thinking about how your business contributes to French society is as important as your economic impact.

There’s also the simpler aspect of simply adapting to the local culture. People in France are naturally more inclined to support French businesses, so ingratiating yourself with the locals will tend to help your bottom line. This might mean hiring locally, but also investing in local projects, making yourself visible at local events, or sourcing things locally where possible—anything that builds a sense that you are in it for the long haul, and making a positive contribution to the local area.

Timing is everything

We’ve already mentioned the rules around not emailing after work hours, but there are other aspects of timing to be aware of. Perhaps the biggest is opening hours, with Sundays generally seen as sacrosanct in France. While it’s no longer the case that everything is closed on Sundays, most establishments still will be, although there are exceptions where only the business owner can be working, or for particular industries.

Holiday time is also more extensive than many foreign business owners or employees will be used to. Full-time employees are entitled to 2.5 days off for every month of work, corresponding to 30 days per year for most workers, as well as 2 days per month of paid sick leave.

There are also 11 public holidays in France, with an average of 9 falling on a working day, as well as two regional holidays in Alsace and Lorraine. While not all of these are mandatory, this will still likely be more time off than you are used to—though many will argue that they bring their own benefits in terms of happiness and motivation to work.

France isn’t as stuffy as you might think when it comes to business culture, and international startups have thrived here in the past decade or so. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t certain norms and standards you should meet. The tips above should give you a helping hand, and give you the confidence (and level of courtesy) needed to make a good first impression, both on customers.