France: Disability Employment Law and the AGEFIPH System

Introduction

France operates one of Europe's most structured disability employment systems. Built around a mandatory employment quota, a national fund for disability inclusion, and a network of specialised support services, the French model offers both sticks and carrots to encourage employers to hire and retain workers with disabilities. This guide explains the key components.

The OETH: Obligation d'Emploi des Travailleurs Handicapés

The Obligation d'Emploi des Travailleurs Handicapés (OETH) is the centrepiece of French disability employment law. It requires every company with 20 or more employees to ensure that at least 6% of its workforce consists of workers who are beneficiaries of the employment obligation (BOETH).

Who Counts Toward the 6%?

The obligation is calculated on the company's annual average headcount, counting only permanent staff. Beneficiaries include, among others:

• Workers with RQTH recognition (see below)
• Recipients of the Allocation aux Adultes Handicapés (AAH)
• Holders of a carte mobilité inclusion with the mention "invalidité"
• Victims of workplace accidents or occupational diseases with a permanent incapacity of at least 10% who receive an annuity (rente)
• Holders of an invalidity pension, where the invalidity reduces their working capacity by at least two thirds

Since the 2020 reform, all types of employment count towards the obligation, including trainees (stagiaires) and people hosted for work-placement periods (PMSMP).

Contribution Amounts

Employers who do not meet the 6% obligation must pay an annual contribution, declared and paid through the Urssaf (or the MSA for agricultural employers), which finances AGEFIPH. The amount per missing beneficiary depends on company size:

Companies that, over the last three years, have employed no beneficiaries, concluded no qualifying subcontracting contracts with the adapted or sheltered sector, and applied no approved agreement pay a higher rate of 1,500 x the gross hourly SMIC per missing beneficiary, whatever their size.

What Reduces the Contribution?

Employers can reduce their gross contribution through:

• Subcontracting to Entreprises Adaptées, ESATs, or independent disabled workers (TIH) — deductible up to 50% of the gross contribution (or 75% if the company's direct employment rate is at least 3%)
• Deductible expenses on making premises accessible, on keeping disabled workers in employment (job retention and retraining), and on support services such as awareness and training actions

RQTH: Reconnaissance de la Qualité de Travailleur Handicapé

The RQTH is the formal recognition of disabled worker status. It is decided by the CDAPH (Commission des Droits et de l'Autonomie des Personnes Handicapées) of the MDPH (Maison Départementale des Personnes Handicapées), the departmental disability agency.

The Application Process

1. The individual applies to the MDPH of their département, online (where the MDPH offers it) or by post, with supporting documents. The application is strictly personal — an employer cannot apply on the employee's behalf. A first-time or renewal application for the AAH automatically triggers an RQTH procedure.
2. The CDAPH examines the application and should respond within 4 months; silence beyond that counts as an implicit refusal, which can be challenged.
3. RQTH is granted for 1 to 10 years and is renewable, or for life if the disability cannot improve.

Benefits of RQTH for the Employee

• Access to workplace adjustments (adapted working hours, specific equipment or software)
• Access to specialised employment support (Cap emploi) and integration schemes such as supported employment and apprenticeships
• Eligibility for AGEFIPH-funded aids, which require proof of beneficiary status
• In case of dismissal, a notice period that is doubled (up to a maximum of 3 months)
• Disclosing RQTH to the employer is not mandatory; RQTH alone does not give a right to early retirement

Benefits of RQTH for the Employer

• The employee counts toward the OETH obligation
• Access to AGEFIPH financial aids for adaptation and retention
• A lower OETH contribution

AGEFIPH: Association de Gestion du Fonds pour l'Insertion Professionnelle des Personnes Handicapées

AGEFIPH manages the fund financed by private-sector employers' OETH contributions. It provides financial aids and services to both employers and disabled people.

Key AGEFIPH Aids (January 2026 offer)

Aide à l'accueil, à l'intégration et à l'évolution professionnelle

• For employers of a disabled person on a CDI or a CDD of six months or more, working at least 24 hours a week.
• Funds an action plan to secure the person's onboarding and integration or their career progression (for example disability awareness or training programmes).
• Amount: up to €3,150.

Aide à l'adaptation des situations de travail

• Funds adaptation of the workstation (including for telework) and the extra cost of specific equipment needed because of the disability.
• Amount: assessed case by case on a strict compensation basis — investments that would be required for the job anyway are excluded.

Aide à la recherche et la mise en oeuvre de solutions pour le maintien dans l'emploi

• Supports retaining an employee whose health condition threatens their job, for example by covering time spent finding a solution or maintaining salary while equipment is delivered.
• Prescribed by a Cap emploi or Comète adviser; a flat amount of €2,100.

Aide à l'adaptation des situations de formation

• Paid to training organisations and apprentice training centres to fund the adaptations a disabled learner needs to complete their training.

Aide à la création ou la reprise d'entreprise

• Supports disabled people starting or taking over a business as their main, lasting employment, with a flat grant of €3,000.

Hiring aids for work-study contracts

• AGEFIPH also pays hiring aids for apprenticeship and professionalisation contracts, each up to €3,000.

AGEFIPH in Numbers (2024)

• Resources: €575.7 million, of which €556.1 million came from companies' OETH contributions
• 175,651 interventions with companies and/or disabled people
• Works with a network of 98 Cap emploi organisations

Cap emploi: Specialised Employment Services

Cap emploi is the national network of specialised employment services for disabled people. Cap emploi advisers provide:

• Support into employment: accompanying disabled job seekers towards work, in shared one-stop centres (lieux uniques d'accompagnement) with France Travail
• Job retention support: when a health problem threatens an employee's job, Cap emploi works with the company's occupational physician to analyse the situation and put a retention solution in place
• Prescription of AGEFIPH aids, such as the onboarding and job-retention aids above

France Travail replaced Pôle emploi on 1 January 2024 under the law of 18 December 2023 for full employment.

Entreprises Adaptées (Adapted Enterprises)

Entreprises Adaptées are companies in the ordinary labour market that employ at least 55% recognised disabled workers. They sign a contract with the State that gives them specific financial aid.

Key Features

• Disabled workers in Entreprises Adaptées are ordinary employees, with an employment contract and all the rights set out in the Labour Code.
• Entreprises Adaptées can serve as a stepping stone to mainstream employment or as long-term employers.
• The CDD Tremplin is a specific fixed-term contract of 4 to 24 months with a participating Entreprise Adaptée, combining work, training and individual support with the aim of finding lasting employment with another employer.
• In 2023 France had more than 800 Entreprises Adaptées, with around 57,000 employees, including 40,000 recognised disabled workers eligible for job subsidies.

ESAT: Établissements et Services d'Accompagnement par le Travail

ESATs are distinct from Entreprises Adaptées. They are medico-social structures, in a sheltered setting, for people whose capacities do not allow them to work in the ordinary labour market or in an Entreprise Adaptée. People working in an ESAT do not have employee status — they sign a contrat d'accompagnement par le travail — and receive a guaranteed remuneration rather than a salary, which can be combined with part of the AAH.

The distinction between Entreprises Adaptées and ESATs is important: Entreprises Adaptées are inclusive workplaces within the open economy, while ESATs are sheltered settings.

Recent Reforms

The Loi pour la liberté de choisir son avenir professionnel of 5 September 2018, in force since 1 January 2020, reformed the OETH:

• The obligation is now calculated at company level rather than per establishment, and all companies — including those with fewer than 20 employees — report their disabled employees
• The separate annual declaration was replaced by reporting through the Déclaration Sociale Nominative (DSN)
• All types of employment, including trainees and work placements, count towards the obligation
• Subcontracting to the adapted and sheltered sector no longer counts toward the 6% rate; its cost is instead deducted from the contribution
• Approved agreements (accords agréés) are limited in time to two periods of three years

Practical Steps for Employers

1. Declare your OETH — since 2020, the annual declaration is made through the DSN payroll reporting system.
2. Identify existing disabled employees — many employees may be eligible for RQTH but have not applied. Offer confidential support; disclosure is always the employee's choice.
3. Partner with Cap emploi — engage your local Cap emploi for recruitment and job-retention support.
4. Apply for AGEFIPH aids — do not absorb accommodation costs unnecessarily; financial support is available.
5. *Consider an approved agreement (accord agréé)* — a company-level disability agreement approved by the DREETS exempts the company from the AGEFIPH contribution for its duration (a maximum of 6 years: 3 years, renewable once).

Resources

• AGEFIPH: agefiph.fr
• Cap emploi: capemploi.info
• MDPH directory: mdphenligne.cnsa.fr
• France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi): francetravail.fr
• Urssaf — OETH annual contribution: urssaf.fr
• Service Public — RQTH: service-public.gouv.fr