Definition
The contrat à durée déterminée d'usage is the form of fixed-term contract provided by article L1242-2 3° of the French Labour Code for jobs that are temporary by nature in sectors where it is constant practice not to use open-ended contracts, sectors listed in article D1242-1 and by collective agreements, including live entertainment. It lets a fireworks company hire its seasonal pyrotechnicians show by show or for the season, with successive contracts without a waiting period and without the end-of-contract indemnity, unlike the standard fixed-term contract. In return, each contract must be written, state its reason and duration, and match a genuinely temporary task; a CDDU covering a permanent position is reclassified as open-ended. The employee enjoys the same minimum wage, working time, medical check and PPE rules as anyone else. The company must check that its activity does fall within an authorised sector.
In practice, for the display company
Forty shows, eight seasonal hands, one contract per assignment: a season's employment paperwork runs to hundreds of pages. PyroDesk generates the CDDU from a pyrotechnician's assignment to a job (dates, venue, role, pay), has it signed electronically and produces the summary for payroll reporting (the TESE simplified scheme or payroll software).