Employing household staff as a diplomat posted in France

Who counts as a private servant

The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations defines a private servant as a person in the domestic service of a member of the mission who is not an employee of the sending state. The nanny who looks after a diplomat's children, the housekeeper at the family flat or a cook hired personally by the counsellor all fall into this category. The cook and the maître d'hôtel at the ambassador's official residence, paid by the embassy, do not: they are service staff of the mission, and the embassy is their employer.

The distinction matters because the employer is different. For a private servant, the employer is the diplomat personally.

Social security: exempt only under three conditions

Article 33(2) of the 1961 Convention exempts private servants from French social security only if all three conditions are met: the employee is not a French national, is not a permanent resident of France, and is covered by the social security system of the sending state or of a third state. Article 48(2) of the 1963 Convention applies the same test to private staff of consular officers.

If any one condition is missing, article 33(3) applies: the diplomat must meet the obligations French social security law imposes on employers. That means registering as an employer, declaring the employee and paying contributions. A housekeeper who has lived in Paris for years, even as a foreign national, may well be a permanent resident, and that alone brings her into the French system. An exempt employee can still join French social security voluntarily where the French system allows it (article 33(4)).

Some bilateral agreements also deal with people in the personal service of mission members, for example those with Algeria, Morocco, Israel and the Philippines, and may give them a right of option. Our page on social security for local staff covers those agreements.

What the Protocol requires

The Protocol department of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs handles the arrival of private staff. In its answer to written question no. 2255 in the National Assembly, published on 11 March 2025, the ministry listed its conditions:

• an employment contract that meets French law on domestic employment, including hours, pay and rest days;
• health insurance paid for by the employer for the benefit of the employee;
• a language shared by employer and employee;
• an interview between a consular officer and the employee, to make sure the employee understands the working conditions;
• a face-to-face interview at the Protocol before the residence permit is handed over, at which officials check in particular that the employee still holds his or her passport, that hours match the contract and that the accommodation is decent;
• a residence permit limited to one year, renewable subject to conditions.

This builds on a long-standing practice. Since 1997 the Protocol has required diplomats who employ domestic staff to sign, before the visa is issued, a written undertaking to respect French law on working hours, pay, leave and social protection. The ministry publishes an undertaking form for private staff and a model employment contract on its forms page for foreign diplomats.

The employment contract

The contract must follow French rules for domestic employment. As our reference we use the French collective agreement for private employers and domestic employment (IDCC 3239), in force since 1 January 2022. We should be honest: no text we have read says in so many words that this agreement binds a diplomat. Our reasoning is that a diplomat who employs someone at home for family needs fits the Labour Code's definition of a private employer, and the ministry asks for a contract that meets French domestic employment law. Applying the agreement gives both sides a clear written framework for hours, leave, pay grades and duties.

A sound contract covers at least:

• the job, the place of work and the weekly schedule, including evenings or weekends if they are expected;
• pay of at least the French minimum wage, currently 12,31 € gross per hour, with overtime paid as such;
• rest days and paid leave;
• accommodation, where it is provided, and how it is treated in pay;
• a version in a language the employee reads, alongside the French text.

Health insurance and payroll

Where the employee is exempt from French social security, the ministry still requires the employer to pay for health insurance. Where the employee is not exempt, the diplomat pays French contributions like any employer, and the employee is covered by the French system.

French families often declare domestic staff through the CESU or Pajemploi services. Whether a diplomat can use them has not been confirmed by any source we have read, so we do not assume it: we draw up the payslips and declarations directly.

On tax, article 37(4) of the 1961 Convention exempts private servants from tax on their wages if they are neither French nationals nor permanent residents. An employee who is French or permanently resident in France pays French income tax like any other worker.

The one-year permit, and what happens next

The special residence permit issued to private staff is limited to one year. Renewal depends on the Protocol's conditions being met again, which is one more reason to keep payslips, hours and leave records in order throughout the year. If the employment ends early, speak to the Protocol before anything else; the rules for that situation are set out in its own guidance, not in the sources we rely on here.

We run payroll for diplomats who employ household staff, from the first contract to the final pay statement. Our French pages cover our service for diplomats and the law on private servants in more detail. For missions, see our embassy payroll page; to discuss a particular hire, use our contact form. We reply within one working day.