Contractors in higher education
First of all, it is important to clarify the difference between a contractor and a contractor who is a non-titular agent. This is what makes the on the general provisions applicable to non-permanent staff of the state.
Indeed, a certain number of agents are often called on a temporary basis on the grounds that their salaries depend on so-called vacation credits. However, provided that their activity has a certain continuity in time and that in the exercise of this activity there is a link of subordination to the administrative authority, these agents are full-fledged public officials. In its 1996 annual report, the Conseild’État thus recalled that the budgetary support for remuneration is irrelevant in view of the legal situation of the agents. The case law of the High Assembly also states that being a contract agent does not prohibit remuneration being calculated on the basis of an hourly or “vacation” rate.
On the other hand, a real contractor, even if no text defines it, is a person called, at the request of the administration, to perform a specific act that is unlikely to be repeated on a regular basis over time (study, expertise, etc. .) and who performs it without direct subordination to the administrative authority . It is this state of subordination to the administrative authority which constitutes the primary characteristic of the contractual relationship and, consequently, of the wage relationship.
This last category groups a small number of agents whose functions are comparable to a one-off service delivery or to the accomplishment of a very precise task (the doctor who carries out, on a very occasional basis, a medical examination on behalf of the administration, the legal specialist to whom a consultation on a specific problem has been requested, etc.).
Should there be a defect in the ad hoc nature of the function of a temporary employee or the duration of the appointment, the case law which takes into account above all the reality of the duties performed more than the terms of the written undertaking may compel re-qualification of the contractor into an incumbent agent.
Who is or can be a contractor in higher education?
Officially, performing vacations must be done in addition to the main activity. So do not expect to finance just for this: the contractor is by definition “disposable”! Moreover, it would be more like a job contract in CDD in this case.However, if you get there anyway, it is strongly recommended to start a requalification procedure as a non-incumbent agent as we saw earlier because the university is legally in the wrong.
Temporary lecturers can also be considered contractors too. Temporary teaching assistants must exercise a principal professional activity consisting of being able to teach at least the minimum number of credits within a given semester in a particular university.
Vacations are a labour practice that the state allows and forbids the private employer. It is a question of paying a job without paying the corresponding social contributions. To be in good conscience, the state asks that the contractor also has social security cover. It provides for two types of social security cover: student/retiree or employee/entrepreneur. In addition, the services performed as a Temporary Agent or Temporary Teaching Officer is not taken into account as experience during a tenure as a staff member.