Métro, boulot, dodo  This phrase - literally "subway, work, and sleepy time" - is a great little phrase that means "The rat race".  Basically, you're living to work. Perhaps time to make things interesting? Augmentation de salaire  Not happy with your salary? Then why not ask for a pay rise, or an "augmentation de salaire"? Licenciements  Hopefully you won't hear this word in your company, but if you do it spells bad news. It means lay offs or redundancies. Rupture du contrat  Oops. Perhaps you weren't worth the pay raise, huh? Well, time to get started on the termination of your contract, or the "rupture du contrat". Rupture conventionelle  This is a termination of employment that is mutually agreed upon by employer and employee. Both parties can benefit from the arrangement, as the employer can escape labour law requirements while the employee can benefit from unemployment benefits.  You can be paid up to around €6,000 per month. The system was brought in to stop people from trying to get sacked just to get unemployment benefits. Pot de départ  This is what you'll have if you leave on good terms. Pot de départ means leaving drink. 