Skills development plan in France: obligations, content and pitfalls

What is the skills development plan?

The skills development plan brings together the training actions the employer decides to provide for its employees. It succeeded the training plan under the law of 5 September 2018 on the freedom to choose one's professional future. Article L6321-1 provides that the employer's training actions can be included in it and that it can take into account the conclusions of career path interviews.

It covers two categories of actions:

• mandatory training, which is a condition for carrying out an activity or role under an international convention or statutory and regulatory provisions: it counts as actual working time and pay is maintained (Article L6321-2);
• other training, which is also working time in principle, but can take place outside working hours within the limits of Article L6321-6: either under a company or branch agreement setting a limit per employee, or, without an agreement, with the employee's formal consent, up to 30 hours a year (or 2% of the annual working-time allowance for employees on day or hour-based annual schemes).

What duties does the employer have?

Adapt employees and maintain employability. Article L6321-1 applies from the first employee. The Court of Cassation holds that the employer must take the initiative, even if the employee never asked for training (Cass. soc., 18 June 2014, No. 13-14.916).

Provide mandatory training. Safety, electrical authorisations, operating equipment, first aid: the list depends on the activity, see Mandatory workplace training in France: legal duties by sector.

Consult the CSE from 50 employees. Two recurring consultations, held annually unless an agreement provides otherwise (Article L2312-22), concern training:

• the consultation on strategic orientations covers, among other things, forward planning of jobs and skills, vocational training priorities and the skills development plan (Article L2312-24);
• the consultation on social policy, working conditions and employment covers, among other things, the multi-year training programme, planned training actions, retraining periods and apprenticeships (Article L2312-26).

Hold career path interviews. They take place every four years and feed into the plan. In companies with at least 50 employees, an employee who has not had the required interviews and at least one non-mandatory training course over eight years is entitled to a €3,000 top-up to their personal training account (CPF), paid by the employer (see Career review interview in France: 2026 rules, penalty and content).

Who funds the plan?

In companies with fewer than 50 employees, the skills operator (OPCO, the joint body that funds training for a set of branches) can cover actions in the plan: training fees, the trainee's pay and related costs (Article L6332-17), according to criteria set by its board. From 50 employees, the plan is funded from the company's budget, unless the branch has a collectively agreed contribution. See Funding employee training in France and OPCO funding.

How do you align the plan with company strategy?

A plan built from individual requests and providers' catalogues reflects what is on offer more than the company's priorities. The opposite approach starts from strategy.

1. Translate strategy into skills. For each direction over the next 18 to 36 months (new product, new tool, new regulation), list the skills it requires and the jobs concerned.
2. Measure current skills. Interviews, on-the-job assessments, structured self-assessments: the aim is to identify the gaps that expose the company, not to achieve perfect precision. A skills mapping structures this work.
3. Prioritise the gaps. Each action in the plan should be traceable to an identified gap, a job and a deadline. This is also what makes the budget defensible.
4. Plan and budget. Schedule, formats, budget, available funding.
5. Measure the result. Assess whether the gap has narrowed, not only whether the training was attended (see How to measure the ROI of a training plan).

In companies with at least 300 employees, this work connects with the negotiation on the management of jobs and career paths, which covers among other things the objectives of the skills development plan (Article L2242-20): see GEPP (formerly GPEC): definition, obligations and implementation.

Which pitfalls should you avoid?

Confusing a plan with a catalogue. A catalogue lists offers; a plan links actions to identified needs.

Forgetting mandatory training. Its absence exposes the employer to criminal penalties and, after an accident, to a finding of inexcusable fault, whether or not a plan exists.

Building the plan without managers. They are the first to see skills gaps in their teams; career path interviews are the formal way to collect these needs.

Not keeping evidence. In a dispute, proof of training is what counts: invitation, programme, attendance sheet or login record, assessment of learning.

Training outside working hours without a framework. Without a collective agreement, the employee's formal consent is required and the limit is 30 hours a year (Article L6321-6).