How to combine employee and micro-entrepreneur status?

Verified 01 January 2026 - Entreprendre Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

You can in principle combine your status as an employee with that of a micro-entrepreneur. On the other hand, your employment contract may limit or prevent the exercise of an ancillary activity.

Principle of loyalty

As an employee, you are subject to the principle of loyalty to your employer. This means that you have a duty of confidentiality, loyalty and non-competition.

Your duty of non-competition implies that you cannot set up a company during the term of your employment contract that could be in competition with your employer. However, there is nothing to prevent you from setting up your own company in another field.

Example :

You are an employee of a grocery store and you want to set up your company.

You will not be able to create a grocery store, however you can create any other type of shop (clothing store, bakery...).

Exclusivity clause

It is possible that you have in your employment contract a exclusivity clause.

This clause prevents you from having an activity in parallel with your work as an employee.

In this case, you will not be able to combine the status of employee with that of micro-entrepreneur.

FYI  

This clause cannot be imposed by the employer on a part-time employee.

You must meet the following conditions to combine the status of micro-entrepreneur with that of employee:

  • You must verify that your contract does not contain exclusivity clause.
  • You must carry out an incoming activity not in competition with your employer's.
  • You must carry out your activity as a micro-entrepreneur outside your working hours.

Warning  

If you do not comply with these conditions, you may be terminated for gross negligence or gross misconduct.

You will have to declare on your annual income tax return, your income as an employee in the category salaries and wages and your micro-entrepreneur turnover in the micro-entrepreneur categoryBIC: titleContent (commercial or craft activity) or micro-NCB: titleContent (liberal activity).

You are a micro-entrepreneur in 2026 if your turnover did not exceed, in 2024 and 2025, one of the following thresholds: €188,700 for a commercial or hosting activity and €77,700 for a service activity or a liberal activity

Warning  

Revenue generated from 1er January 2026 (and reported in 2027) is submitted, for the application of the micro-entrepreneur (micro-fiscal) tax system, to new thresholds, of which the amount will be set by the finance law for 2026. This law must be passed in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, the budgetary provisions planned for 2025 have been renewed by a special law no. 2025-1316 of 26 december 2025.

As a micro-entrepreneur employee, you accumulate 2 articles of association. You contribute both as an employee (from your salary) and as a micro-entrepreneur (from your turnover).

On the other hand, your rights to benefits are covered by the the activity that you performed before the statuses were accumulated. Thus, if you are an employee and you start a micro-entrepreneur activity, the payment of your allowances will be made according to the general regime of employees. However, if you are a micro-entrepreneur and you start a salary activity, it will be the social scheme for self-employed persons which will apply.

FYI  

you can opt for the application of the other regime.

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