As you have understood, temporary work and self-employment often offer greater flexibility and diversification than the classic salaried employment contract… But be careful before choosing between going freelance or opting for temporary work. Each status has its advantages… and of course its disadvantages. Know what to choose interim or self-employment in our this article.
The advantages of temporary work:
1 . You benefit from all the salary benefits: paid holidays, overtime, end-of-contract benefits, health insurance, etc. As a temporary worker, you are a full-fledged employee! It is your employment agency that employs you directly, but you also benefit from the same advantages as those of the other employees of your user companies (i.e. the companies in which you carry out your assignments). If you occupy a position of equivalent level, you also benefit from the same level of salary, holidays, working time, bonuses, etc.
2. You receive assignment proposals directly: unlike the majority of entrepreneurs, who spend a lot of time looking for new clients and standing out from their competitors, temporary workers generally do not have to make as much effort to be recruited. Once their application has been submitted to an employment agency, their advisor has been met, and at least one interim assignment has been successfully completed, assignment proposals often come by themselves, especially if you are motivated. and that you are applying in a promising sector.
3. You can claim unemployment benefits between two missions : whoever says salaried status necessarily says unemployment contributions, which allow you to benefits if you do not work between two missions (obviously under certain conditions). Security that unfortunately does not concern self-employed workers (except in very special cases).
4. You are accompanied by your employment agency : presentation of your CV , orientation on a particular job, choice of training, preparation for your interviews , relay in case of difficulties encountered during a mission, etc. As a temporary worker, you are not isolated and you can count on the support of your agency throughout your journey.
5 . You have no accounts to manage! Indeed, you don’t have any “homework” to do when you leave work;) unlike business leaders who have to keep their accounts and carry out various administrative formalities. Your employment agency takes care of everything for you.
The advantages of self-employment:
1. You do not work under the authority of an employer : unlike employees, temporary or not, you are not subject to a link of authority with a company ( which is also called relationship of subordination). No “boss” here, just customers and partners, on an equal footing! They cannot impose anything on you other than what you have provided for and negotiated in your contract for the sale of goods or services.
2. You organize your work and holiday schedule as you see fit : logical consequence of your freedom, you can modulate your working hours and the taking of your holidays as you wish… as long as they are compatible with your job, the proper performance of your services, and your turnover target! Be careful, however, because in reality, the volume of working hours of freelancers is often much higher than that of employees and temporary workers.
3. You pay reduced social charges under the micro-enterprise status : thanks to this status (subject to conditions), you pay social charges monthly or quarterly according to a contribution rate applied to your turnover. Since October 2022, it is: 12.3% if you have a merchandise sales activity; 21.2% if you have a craft or commercial service provision activity, or if you exercise a regulated liberal activity; 21.1% if you exercise an unregulated liberal activity.
4. You can decide to increase your level of remuneration : indeed, since it is you alone who chooses, according to the results of your activity! Unlike employees for whom salary increases are more difficult to negotiate, and are often framed by grids fixed at the level of professional branches.
5. You can hire a temporary worker yourself, or host an intern! Contrary to popular belief, you can indeed recruit temporarily or on a classic contract, or take on a person as an intern, even if you are under micro-enterprise status. Do your accounts, however, because if your activity increases to the point of needing collaborators, you may have a financial interest in changing the status of your company.
Also read : What type of career suits you?
Combining temporary work and self-employment, rather than choosing
The law allows you to have two hats at the same time:
- Be an employee, regardless of the nature of your employment contract (temporary work, classic fixed-term contract, permanent contract, work-study contract, etc.) and your working time (full-time or part-time);
- And have your own auto-enterprise (also called micro-enterprise).
On the other hand, combining several salaried jobs is supervised and limited: the maximum ceiling of working hours per day and per week, prohibition to work for another employer during paid holidays, etc.
For this, you must obviously meet certain conditions:
- Be loyal to your employer : inform him or her of your entrepreneurial activity if it is in the same sector of activity and/or is likely to concern the same customers, do not work for your company during your salaried working hours , not poaching customers or employees, etc.
- Respect any non-competition or exclusivity clauses in your employment contract : some provide for the prohibition to work for a company in the same sector of activity and/or in certain territorial areas during the employment contract and sometimes after the breach of contract for a certain period.
Another rule, very important: you cannot work for a client under conditions similar to those of salaried work , otherwise your activity can be assimilated into disguised salaried employment. To flush out these illegal situations, the labor inspectorate relies in particular on certain clues: do you have a single client or several? Are your working hours and leave imposed? Is the work still done at your customers’ premises? Can you be penalized for the breach?
Good news !
Have you created a self-employed company for which you work in addition to a main job (temporary, CDI, CDD, etc.)? If your main job comes to an end, and you can receive unemployment benefits for return to work (ARE), your compensation will not take into account your income from your own business. That is to say that you will be able to fully combine your unemployment benefits and the income generated by your self-employed business .
On the other hand, if you create your own business after the end of your main job, the income from your business will be deducted each month from the basic amount of your unemployment benefit.
Also read : Temporary assignment or fixed-term contract?