In order to be able to work as a butcher in France, the person concerned must hold the necessary qualifications. The rules vary according to his nationality: French, national of a State of l'' (UE) or l' (EEE), a third-country national.

The choice of a legal form (or legal status) of the company is a decisive step.

It determines the company’s operating rules, but it also has implications for the tax system and social protection.

There are two main legal forms:

• Individual business (EI) : allows you to carry out your activity alone and in your own name. The Head of company and the individual business shall form a one and the same person. Micro-company (or self-company) is an individual business with a simplified tax and social system.
• Business : allows you to work in a legal entity distinct from the head of company. It has the legal personality, i.e. it has its own legal existence (share capital, company name, registered office, etc.).

These two modes of exercise each have their own specific rules:

To make the right choice, it is therefore essential to take into account many factors:

• Exercise of the activity alone or with several partners (in business )
• Tax regime for the taxation of profits
• Social protection scheme according to the envisaged legal form.

To help you choose the legal form that best suits your situation, the Urssaf offers the following simulator:

Finding the right legal status (form) for your company project

The butcher prepares and sells pork to the consumer. It also prepares products and dishes cooked from meat. In order to guarantee consumer safety, the butcher must make a declaration of food handling to the Departmental Directorate for Population Protection (DDPP):

This declaration must be made before opening the establishment and must be renewed in the event of a change of operator and/or address or activity.

This declaration may be made in one of the following ways:

• either with the Cerfa form and then sent to the Departmental Directorate for Population Protection (DDPP)

Declaration of handling of food of animal origin

• either directly online:

Declaration of handling of food of animal origin

For more details, you can consult the sheet on the declaration of handling of foodstuffs and the health approval.

Contributions called by theUrssaf: titleContent depend on the structure of the business and the legal status of the manager.

To know all the rules concerning the social system of the manager, it is possible to consult the sheet relating to the Social protection of the business manager.

The professional who carries out his activity in his own name (individual business) or as majority manager of a business (such as an EURL or SARL), is affiliated to the Social security for the self-employed (SSI), the compulsory scheme for self-employed persons.

The professional must pay social contributions to the Urssaf from the beginning of his activity.

However, in practice, no contributions or social contributions are required during the first 90 days which follow the launch of its activity.

Since the income is not yet known at the start of the activity, the contributions are first calculated on a flat-rate basis for the first 2 years (at the same rates as those applicable during the course of business). They are then adjusted and regularized according to the real revenues of the fiscal year.

Contributions must be paid online in one of the following ways:

• Either every month : payment is made on the 5th or 20th of each month, by direct debit.
• Either every quarter : payment is made by direct debit, telepayment or credit card on 5 February, 5 May, 5 August and 5 November.

When he carries out his activity within the framework of a business and holds management functions that give him the status of employee equivalent (president or paid CEO of SAS for example), the professional reports to the general social security system.

His social security contributions are identical to those of an executive employee, and he enjoys equivalent social protection, with the exception of unemployment insurance (optional unemployment insurance is however possible).

The butcher must undergo training in food hygiene, called "HACCP training". This training helps him to familiarize himself with the hygiene standards to follow in his production environment.

The regulations concern the following points:

• Rules of safety of food, food packaging and food packaging : the meat sold by the butcher (large-scale or artisanal distribution) must comply with strict health standards when preparing, transferring and selling:
  
  • The animal must be subjected to a veterinary control before and after slaughter
  • The meat must be from a registered establishment
  • Traceability procedures must be in place throughout the process
• Fitting out of premises, equipment and equipment : the premises must be arranged in such a way that dirty work areas (waste management, diving, etc.) must be separated from food production and storage areas.
• Storage temperature conditions : Food must be stored and handled under suitable conditions and in accordance with the cold chain. The artisan butcher and his team must be able to control the temperature of cold rooms, cooling cells, refrigerators, etc. The cold chain must never be broken.
• Freezing conditions : It is forbidden to refreeze a thawed product, to defrost a product in the open air, to freeze leftover catering dishes, etc.
• Hygiene of staff and premises : The staff must ensure the proper maintenance of the premises, worktops, machinery and tools of the delicatessen. He must wear clean and adapted clothing, with a headdress and gloves regularly changed. Hand washing is mandatory after each exit from the sanitary facilities, when returning to work, after handling waste, etc. Any employee who is sick or has an open wound must avoid coming into contact with food.
• Use of a guide to good hygiene practices

You can access the official guide on good hygiene practices on the page of the Ministry of Agriculture:

Consult a guide to good hygiene practices (GBPH)

A delicatessen working in a retail trade must comply with the obligations concerningpublic establishments (ERP). These include:

• Fire safety : alarm and warning devices, a monitoring service and emergency means are to be put in place. All obligations are detailed in our sheet Fire safety rules of an establishment receiving the public (ERP).
• Security Registry : this register may be in paper form or be dematerialized. It is intended to establish a list of personnel responsible for the fire service and the date of the fitting-out and conversion works.
• Accessibility of premises for persons with disabilities : the space must facilitate wheelchair accessibility by inserting exterior walkways, doors without exterior, sanitary facilities open to the public, parking of vehicles. You can consult our sheet detailing the Erp accessibility obligations for persons with disabilities.

Cold cuts, like all food retail businesses (bakery, pastry, cheese, fish, etc.), is allowed to open on Sundaysregardless of the number of employees required to open up trade, and until 13:00. You can consult our sheet on the regulation of the opening of the premises on sundays.

The butcher can subscribe to a professional property and casualty insurance which protects its business and equipment in the event of fire, water damage, theft, etc. Professional property and casualty insurance may include a guarantee of legal protection and an « Operating loss » guarantee to compensate for the loss of turnover of the company. It may also include professional indemnity insurance (RCP).

The fixed butcher freely the price of its products.

Sales prices must be displayed in euros, including all taxes (TTC).

It should be indicated both the total product price and its unit price (per liter, kilo, etc.).

The price per kilo shall be indicated:

• On a label or a sign placed near the product: the price per kilogram is indicated for each type of meat such as "filet", "steak", "leg", etc.
• On a bulletin board: the price per kilogram for each piece of meat is permanently displayed in public view (size criteria must be respected).

In addition, the weight and the total price of non-prepackaged meatmust be specified on the wrapping paper or on a "sheet" given to the customer.

For the prepackaged pieces : the price may be accompanied by a generic name ("steak", "roast", "grill", "escalope", etc.) instead of the precise name which is often little known to the consumer.

For more information, refer to the fact sheet on the display of prices.

If the butcher does not comply with the price display rules, he risks a fine of up to €3,000 maximum if practicing in individual business and €15,000 maximum if practiced as a business.

Where the obligation to provide information on prices misleads the consumer and can be qualified as « deceptive marketing practice ».(for example: a butcher indicates a special price on a commodity when that price is usual). In this case, the delicatessen may be held criminally liable. The penalty is 2 years in prison and €300,000  of fine.

In order to provide consumers with the best possible information, the sale of meat is governed by strict labeling rules.

• Mandatory information on the nature of the product must be visible, legible and written at least in French
• Labeling must be fair and precise: it must not mislead the consumer, in particular as to the composition or origin of the food.

The labeling rules are different depending on whether the meat is pre-packaged or not.

If they decide to hire, the entrepreneur takes a step in the life of their company because they become an employer. This status commits it to a legal framework, with formalities to be complied with and obligations to be assumed.

Here are the main steps and actions to anticipate.

• Declaration of employment

Before taking up any post, the employer must declare the employee. This declaration is made by means of the pre-employment declaration (DPAE) and must take place no earlier than 8 days before the hiring and no later than the day of taking up the position.

It allows toinforming social organizations the arrival of an employee andopen its rights social protection.

Notice of hiring (DPAE)

• Establishment of an employment contract and communication of the essential information of the employment relationship

In order to formalize the employment relationship, the employer must provide the employee with a employment contract.

This contract may be for an indefinite term (CDI) or a fixed term (CDD).

The employer must provide the employee with one or more written documents containing the main information relating to the employment relationship. The the deadline for communication varies according to the nature of the information.

To learn more about the nature of the information and the deadlines for communication, see this pageon the digital labor code website.

• Entry of the employee in the single staff register

Each newly hired employee must be registered on the single register of staff.

This register is mandatory from the first employee hired.

This document details thehistory of inputs and outputs employees in the company.

• Affiliation of the employee to the supplementary pension fund

Employers are obliged to enroll their employees in the supplementary pension schemes of theAgirc-Arrco: titleContent.

This affiliation is made by the single and dematerialized transmission of the registered company declaration (DSN) to all the bodies which manage the social protection of employees.

• Ensuring safety and health at work

Within 3 months of taking up his position, any newly recruited employee must benefit from a information and prevention visit organized by the employer and carried out by one of the occupational medicine.

The employer must also guarantee a safe working environment and prevent occupational risks.

For this, it must in particular inform and train the employee in safety, and update the single occupational risk assessment document (DUERP).

• Compliance with applicable collective agreement

The employer must apply the collective agreement which includes the principal activity carried out by the company. The title of the collective agreement must appear on the pay slip.

A butcher must apply thenational retail cold cuts collective agreement (IDCC 953) or national butcher-fishmonger collective agreement (IDCC 3254).

A simulator allows find your collective agreement with the company's name or Siret number :

Finding your collective agreement

The profession of butcher involves various risks (back pain caused by the transport of heavy loads, risk of falls and burns, cuts, risks related to machines).

The butcher can improve the safety and working conditions of employees by:

• Assess the risks in the company and formalize this assessment in the single occupational risk assessment document (DUERP)
• Provide them with appropriate equipment (personal protective equipment such as cut protection, aprons and protective gloves)
• Establish a secure work organization (purchase of machines meeting safety requirements and ensure the maintenance of these machines)
  To learn more, you can visit our page: Occupational health and safety: obligations of the employer.
  To go further, it is possible to consult the fact sheets of the National Institute of Research and Security (INRS) on the prevention of occupational risks for butcher shops.

In the course of its activities, the butcher is subject to the legal obligation to pay an annual financial contribution relating to his household packaging for the previous year.

This obligation applies to packaging handed over to customers for consumption to be taken away. These packagings are part of the chain Household packaging and graphic papers (EMPAP)

To make his declarations, the butcher must join an eco-organization approved by the State, in order to obtain a Unique Identifier (IDU). There are 3 eco-organizations approved for this sector: Citéo, Adelphe, Léko.

Details of this obligation are specified on the sheet: Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Streams