Permanent contract (CDI)
(CDI in France — contrat à durée indéterminée) is open-ended employment, the legal default across Europe: no end date, full protections, termination only through lawful dismissal processes. Its commitments — notice, severance exposure, dismissal grounds — are why alternatives exist, and why candidates prize it.
What ‘permanent’ commits you to
Hiring permanent means accepting the country’s exit rules from day one: grounds-based dismissal in much of Europe, notice ladders, severance formulas, and litigation risk where process slips. The compensation is stability signalling — in credit checks, housing and retention, a CDI outweighs fixed terms everywhere it exists.
Managing the commitment is mostly hygiene: valid probation clauses for early exits, documented performance processes, and country-true budgeting of exit costs before restructurings — see severance pay.
FAQ
Is permanent employment riskier than contractors?
Different risks: permanent staff carry exit costs and process duties; contractor models carry classification risk that matures into retroactive employment anyway when misused. For core, ongoing roles, compliant permanent employment — direct or via EOR — is usually the cheaper risk once misclassification exposure is priced in.
Can a permanent contract include an end event?
Retirement ages per local law, yes; disguised end dates, no — a ‘permanent’ contract with engineered expiry is read as fixed-term with its caps and protections. Project-bound needs belong in fixed-term or contractor structures chosen honestly.