Mandatory professional interview: EPP 2026

Updated 25 May 2026 — French labour law has required employers to conduct mandatory professional interviews since the Act of 5 March 2014 (Article L6315-1 of the Labour Code). In October 2025, a new reform replaced this instrument with the "entretien de parcours professionnel" (EPP), adjusting the periodicity and the review cycle. For HR managers in international groups operating in France, understanding both regimes is essential to avoid employment tribunal exposure.

Summary: the mandatory professional interview is an individual discussion on career path, skills, training and CPF entitlements — entirely separate from the annual performance appraisal. Under the 2014 regime, it was due every two years, with a six-year review. Companies with 50 or more employees who failed to meet the six-year review conditions faced a compulsory €3,000 CPF top-up per affected employee. Since late 2025, the EPP regime sets a four-year cycle and an eight-year review.

The French mandatory professional interview has no direct equivalent in UK employment law. Unlike an appraisal or a performance review, it is a statutory instrument designed to monitor the employer's contribution to employee training and career development. Failure is not a procedural technicality: it creates a quantified financial liability and weakens the employer's position in any subsequent dismissal or termination dispute.

The legal basis is Article L6315-1 of the Labour Code, introduced by the Act of 5 March 2014 on vocational training. Every employer, regardless of company size, must conduct this interview with every employee covered by an employment contract (CDI, CDD, apprenticeship, professionalisation contract).

This is the most common compliance gap we identify in files from international subsidiaries operating in France. The French legal framework draws a strict line between the two.

Conducting both interviews on the same day is acceptable and efficient. But the written records must be kept strictly separate, with distinct signatures and headings. A combined document proves neither interview in an employment tribunal.

The law specifies the themes that must be covered. An interview that does not address all of them does not satisfy the legal obligation, even if it was formally held and documented.

Mandatory topics are:

• Prospects for professional development: career trajectory, potential roles, qualifications.
• Training actions: skills assessment (bilan de compétences), recognition of prior learning (VAE), job-specific training.
• Certifications and qualifications accessible to the employee, including through VAE.
• The employee's professional project for the medium term.
• The Compte Personnel de Formation (CPF): the employer must inform the employee of their accrued rights and eligible training options, and mention the professional development advisory service (CEP).

All five topics must appear in the written record handed to the employee after the interview. Missing even one weakens the document's evidentiary value.

A collective bargaining agreement (accord collectif) may set a different periodicity. Under the EPP regime, the maximum gap between two interviews remains four years.

Every six years under the 2014 regime (eight years under the EPP), the professional interview takes the form of a comprehensive review of the employee's career path over the period. This review checks two cumulative conditions:

1. The employee has received the required number of professional interviews over the period (a minimum of three under the 2014 two-year cycle).
2. The employee has benefited from at least one of the following: a non-mandatory training action linked to professional development, a pay progression or professional promotion, or acquisition of a qualification or certification.

If either condition is not met in a company with 50 or more employees, the employer must credit the employee's CPF account with €3,000 under Article L6323-13 of the Labour Code. This is not a fine payable to the state: it is a direct credit to the employee's training account, which they can then spend on eligible training.

Quantified example: a mid-size company with 80 employees#

A manufacturing SME with 82 employees conducted no professional interviews between 2018 and 2024. A pre-acquisition social due diligence reveals that 34 employees reached the six-year threshold without receiving either the minimum three interviews or any non-mandatory training action.

Minimum regularisation cost: 34 × €3,000 = €102,000 in compulsory CPF credits, before any individual damages claims at the employment tribunal.

This type of exposure surfaces most often during M&A due diligence, following a contentious departure, or when a departing employee consults an employment lawyer. Companies that act proactively avoid the concentration of liability.

The absence of mandatory professional interviews is routinely examined by employee-side lawyers in two situations: unfair dismissal claims and negotiated termination (rupture conventionnelle) discussions. A salaried employee who has never received a professional interview holds a credible argument that the employer failed its statutory training obligation — which can shift the balance in a dispute or increase the settlement amount.

For more on the procedural requirements of negotiated terminations, see our article on rupture conventionnelle procedures. For employees with disabilities or recognised worker status (RQTH), the professional interview is also the appropriate forum to discuss workplace adjustments and dedicated training pathways — covered in our analysis of RQTH advantages and constraints.

1. Build a named tracking table with each employee's hire date, last interview date, next due date, and six/eight-year review date.
2. Send a written invitation explicitly stating the legal purpose: "entretien professionnel portant sur les perspectives d'évolution professionnelle, conformément à l'article L6315-1 du Code du travail."
3. Use a structured template covering all five statutory topics. A blank "notes" form does not demonstrate compliance.
4. Produce a signed written record handed to the employee and archived in their HR file, retained at minimum until the end of the employment relationship.
5. Trigger return-from-absence alerts: any return from maternity leave, parental leave, long-term sick leave or union mandate must automatically check whether an interview is due within the next 30 days.

The 2025 reform creates a transitional period. Employees hired before 1 November 2025 remain subject to the 2014 regime for periods prior to the reform. Their six-year reviews are calculated on the basis of interviews conducted (or not) under the old two-year cycle.

Priority checks for HR departments in 2026:

• Identify employees whose six-year review under the 2014 regime has passed or is imminent. Verify whether the two conditions (interviews and training) were met.
• Review existing interview records to confirm they addressed all five statutory topics, not just performance and objectives.
• Update interview templates to align with EPP requirements for employees switching to the new regime.
• Recalculate future deadlines for employees transitioning to EPP: the next interview is due four years after the last one, not two.

Our firm advises subsidiaries and French entities of international groups on social compliance, including the structuring of mandatory professional interview calendars, bilingual interview templates, and pre-acquisition social due diligence covering training obligation exposure.

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This article is for information purposes only. The applicable rules depend on company size, employee hire date, applicable collective bargaining agreements, and individual circumstances. Consult a qualified professional before making any individual decision.