employé

Employé is a French noun referring to a person who is employed by an organization to perform tasks in exchange for wages. The masculine form is employé, the feminine form is employée, and the plural forms are employés (mixed or masculine) and employées (feminine). The word originates from the verb employer, meaning to hire or to use.

Etymology and meaning: The noun is derived from the verb employer, and the suffix -é marks a past participle used as a noun in French. As a noun, employé typically denotes a worker who is part of a company’s staff, often in clerical, administrative, or support roles. It can also function as an adjective in the sense of “employed,” as in expressions like une personne employée or un salarié employé.

Usage and nuance: In everyday language, employé is common for describing staff members. In formal or legal contexts, the term salarié is more widely used to denote the formal employment relationship and remuneration under a contract. While there is overlap, salarié emphasizes the contractual wage-earning status, whereas employé can be broader and less formal, sometimes including non-managerial personnel in an organization.

Examples: Un employé de banque informera les clients; les employés de l’entreprise se réunissent chaque lundi. In Québec French, employé is similarly used to refer to staff, with employée as the feminine form.

See also: Salarié, Ressources humaines, Contrat de travail.