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New Member Seeking Possible Work In Brittany

New Member Seeking Possible Work In Brittany

Old Jul 21st 2015, 8:14 am
  #1  
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Default New Member Seeking Possible Work In Brittany

Hello expats. I'm looking to move to Brittany, preferably Sud Finistere to complete a photography project but I would need to find work as a handyman to support it. Are there any expats in place who have jobs for an English handyman with bare French?
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Old Jul 21st 2015, 8:57 am
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Default Re: New Member Seeking Possible Work In Brittany

Hello Bestphotos

If you're intending to live in France and earn a professional income, you need to look into the rules and regulations for registering with the chambre de métiers, setting up a business, paying cotisations, etc etc (this is France after all, the land of red tape).
You can't just start offering your services and earning money if you're not properly registered - that's known as 'working on the black'. URSSAF will eat you for breakfast if anyone snitches on you and any customer who uses you is also making themselves potentially liable for big big fines.

There is another system called CESU that you could use, where instead of you registering as a business your client registers as your employer, but the expat clients you would be targeting, ie the ones who try to avoid all things French, tend to avoid that as well.

So the first thing to do would be to get your head around how the business side of it works, set yourself up as an entreprise individuelle... and then once you have your siret number, start competing with the many other expats who have done exactly that, in droves, and are all fighting for the same few customers.

Realistically - if you register yourself as a handyman and if you don't live in a remote area and if you make yourself known to the expat community and you come across as a nice chap who does a good job and needs to earn a few bob, you will probably pick up a bit of work. You might do well. Or you might find there are so many expat handymen in your area already that you pick up no work at all. IMHO moving to Brittany with no income and without sufficient savings to live on would be foolish. Healthcare is not free at the point of delivery as it is in the UK. Life in France is no cheaper than life in the UK.

I realise this all sounds kinda negative. But coming to a country that's in dire economic straits (partly because there is so much red tape and so many taxes imposed on small businesses that it strangles them at birth) and hoping to earn an easy living in your spare time when many who live here can't earn a living trying to work full-time, plus the added disadvantages of not speaking the language and not knowing your way around - well, it's going to be a challenge.
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Old Jul 21st 2015, 9:59 am
  #3  
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Default Re: New Member Seeking Possible Work In Brittany

Originally Posted by EuroTrash
Hello Bestphotos

If you're intending to live in France and earn a professional income, you need to look into the rules and regulations for registering with the chambre de métiers, setting up a business, paying cotisations, etc etc (this is France after all, the land of red tape).
You can't just start offering your services and earning money if you're not properly registered - that's known as 'working on the black'. URSSAF will eat you for breakfast if anyone snitches on you and any customer who uses you is also making themselves potentially liable for big big fines.

There is another system called CESU that you could use, where instead of you registering as a business your client registers as your employer, but the expat clients you would be targeting, ie the ones who try to avoid all things French, tend to avoid that as well.

So the first thing to do would be to get your head around how the business side of it works, set yourself up as an entreprise individuelle... and then once you have your siret number, start competing with the many other expats who have done exactly that, in droves, and are all fighting for the same few customers.

Realistically - if you register yourself as a handyman and if you don't live in a remote area and if you make yourself known to the expat community and you come across as a nice chap who does a good job and needs to earn a few bob, you will probably pick up a bit of work. You might do well. Or you might find there are so many expat handymen in your area already that you pick up no work at all. IMHO moving to Brittany with no income and without sufficient savings to live on would be foolish. Healthcare is not free at the point of delivery as it is in the UK. Life in France is no cheaper than life in the UK.

I realise this all sounds kinda negative. But coming to a country that's in dire economic straits (partly because there is so much red tape and so many taxes imposed on small businesses that it strangles them at birth) and hoping to earn an easy living in your spare time when many who live here can't earn a living trying to work full-time, plus the added disadvantages of not speaking the language and not knowing your way around - well, it's going to be a challenge.

If you aren't in the System via the above possibilities, you'd have to take out private healthcare insurance, unless your project is only for a few months, in which case your EHIC would cover you for healthcare.
Be aware that, if you rent, most French landlords require justification (with payslips) that your regular income is 3-4 times the rent. If your project is short-term, a gîte rental might be easier to find.
But, as explained by ET, it's NOT recommended to work on the black and you should bring enough savings over to tide you over while you register and find clients and/or finish your project without working....
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Old Jul 21st 2015, 10:49 am
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Default Re: New Member Seeking Possible Work In Brittany

Originally Posted by dmu
a few months, in which case your EHIC would cover you for healthcare
up to approx 70 per cent of the cost. You would have to meet the remaining 30 per cent yourself, or arrange insurance to cover all or part of it.
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Old Jul 21st 2015, 11:39 am
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Default Re: New Member Seeking Possible Work In Brittany

Originally Posted by EuroTrash
up to approx 70 per cent of the cost. You would have to meet the remaining 30 per cent yourself, or arrange insurance to cover all or part of it.
Ooops, yes, I forgot that EHIC holders are only reimbursed (back in the UK) for what a French person would normally be reimbursed, i.e. 70% of medical costs.
And even with healthcare coverage in the French System, the OP should be aware that only 70% of medical costs are reimbursed and that it's advisable to take out a Mutuelle (Top-Up Insurance) to cover the remaining 30% (or part of it).
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Old Jul 22nd 2015, 6:27 am
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Default Re: New Member Seeking Possible Work In Brittany

Thank you all for the above information. I admit I wasn't so aware of the "red tape" angle but it might be a better idea to get the project done on savings without trying to find work...
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Old Jul 26th 2015, 11:57 am
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Default Re: New Member Seeking Possible Work In Brittany

Originally Posted by Bestphotos
Hello expats. I'm looking to move to Brittany, preferably Sud Finistere to complete a photography project but I would need to find work as a handyman to support it. Are there any expats in place who have jobs for an English handyman with bare French?
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