France's approach to working time is one of the most structured in Europe. The French Labour Code (Code du travail) sets the legal framework, but the rules are more nuanced than the famous "35-hour week" headline suggests. For a foreign employer hiring in France, the gap between the legal standard and day-to-day practice can lead to serious compliance failures. This guide covers the complete picture: standard hours, overtime rules, RTT days, the forfait jours system for managers, and employer obligations on time-tracking.
The Legal Framework: Why 35 Hours?
The Loi Aubry and what it actually means for employers
The 35-hour workweek was introduced by the Loi Aubry in 2000, which set the legal working time (durée légale du travail, the statutory standard working week) at 35 hours per week. However, the 35-hour threshold is not an absolute limit on how many hours an employee may work, it is the overtime trigger. Any hour worked beyond 35 is considered overtime and must be compensated accordingly.
In practice, many full-time employees work 39 hours per week. They are not paid overtime for those extra four hours; instead, they accumulate RTT days (see below). Understanding this distinction is critical: you do not owe overtime pay simply because someone works 39 hours, provided the arrangement is properly structured under a collective agreement.
Full-time vs part-time thresholds
A full-time contract is based on 35 legal hours. For part-time employees, the term overtime does not apply: hours worked beyond the contractual base but below 35 per week are called complementary hours (heures complémentaires) and give rise to their own premium rules, distinct from the overtime regime.
Maximum Working Hours: Hard Limits to Know
Daily, weekly and rolling limits
Regardless of employment arrangement, the French Labour Code sets the following absolute limits:
- Daily maximum: 10 hours (extendable to 12 hours by collective agreement or in exceptional circumstances)
- Weekly maximum (single week): 48 hours, this is a hard ceiling
- Weekly maximum (rolling average): 44 hours calculated over any consecutive 12-week period
- Minimum daily rest: 11 consecutive hours between two working periods
- Minimum weekly rest: 35 consecutive hours (24 hours + 11 hours minimum daily rest)
These limits apply regardless of what an employment contract states. Any provision waiving them is null and void.
No opt-out in France
This is a critical point for employers from the United Kingdom or the United States. Under British law, employees can individually sign an opt-out from the 48-hour weekly limit set by the Working Time Directive. No such opt-out exists in France. The 48-hour weekly ceiling is legally binding for every employee, without exception. Foreign employers who assume a similar opt-out mechanism applies in France need to adjust their approach before hiring.
Overtime in France: Rates, Caps and Compensatory Rest
When does overtime start?
Overtime begins from the first hour worked beyond 35 hours in a given week, at the employer's request. An employee cannot refuse overtime without justification. They may, however, decline when compliance would breach the legal maximum-hour thresholds, or when they invoke a specific personal situation (such as holding a second job, a health issue, or childcare constraints). This is an important nuance: the employee's agreement is assumed within legal limits and in the absence of a legitimate reason to refuse.
Overtime pay rates
The minimum statutory rates under the French Labour Code are:
Hours workedMinimum premiumHours 36 to 43 (first 8 hours beyond 35)+25%Hour 44 and beyond+50%Minimum floor if collective agreement applies+10% (cannot go below this)
A collective agreement (convention collective or accord de branche) may set higher rates, but never lower than the statutory floor of 10%. Overtime hours must appear as a separate line on the employee's payslip (bulletin de paie).
As an alternative to additional pay, employers may offer compensatory rest (repos compensateur de remplacement, RCR): the employee takes time off equivalent to the overtime worked, rather than receiving a financial supplement. This requires the employee's agreement and must be formalised.
Practical example: an employee works 43 hours in a given week. The eight hours beyond 35 (hours 36 to 43) are paid at +25%. If the applicable collective agreement sets the rate at 25%, the employer pays 8 × hourly rate × 1.25 for that week.
Annual overtime cap and mandatory compensatory rest
Overtime is not unlimited. The default annual contingent is 220 hours per employee. That figure is only a default reference: the applicable collective agreement may set a different contingent (higher or lower), and it must always be verified before scheduling any overtime. Once this threshold is exceeded:
- Employees in companies with fewer than 20 staff: mandatory compensatory rest of 50% of hours worked beyond the contingent
- Employees in companies with 20 or more staff: mandatory compensatory rest of 100% of hours worked beyond the contingent
- The employer must consult the Works Council (CSE, Comité Social et Economique) before asking employees to work beyond the annual contingent
Monitoring and respecting this cap is essential, employees who have not received their compensatory rest are entitled to claim it retroactively.
RTT Days: How the 39-Hour Model Works in Practice
One of the most frequently misunderstood mechanisms in French employment law is the RTT (Récupération du Temps de Travail, recovery of working time) system. This is the standard framework used by companies where employees work on an annualised working time basis.
The model works as follows: the employment contract sets a base of 39 hours per week. The four weekly hours above the legal 35-hour threshold generate RTT days, paid days off, rather than weekly overtime payments. As an indicative calculation: 4 extra hours × 47 working weeks per year = approximately 188 hours, divided by 7 hours per day = around 27 potential RTT days per year. The actual number is almost always fixed by the applicable collective agreement.
The allocation of RTT dates is shared: typically, a portion is at the employer's discretion (for operational planning) and the remainder is at the employee's choice, within notice periods defined by the company agreement. This structure gives employers genuine scheduling flexibility without triggering overtime liabilities week by week. Managing this arrangement correctly from the outset of the employment relationship is exactly the kind of operational detail that our HR project management support in France is designed to handle.
Forfait Jours: A Different System for Managers and Autonomous Employees
The forfait jours system is mentioned by most online guides in a single sentence. For foreign employers hiring managers or senior professionals in France, it warrants far more attention, because getting it wrong carries significant legal and financial risk.
Who is eligible for forfait jours?
Two categories of employees are eligible:
- Autonomous managers (cadres autonomes): managers who, by nature of their role, organise their own working time independently
- Non-managerial employees whose working time cannot be determined in advance
Two cumulative conditions must be met: (a) a collective agreement (at branch or company level) must explicitly authorise the forfait jours scheme, and (b) an individual written agreement (convention individuelle) must be signed by the employee.
Senior executives (cadres dirigeants), those with genuine decision-making authority and a commensurate level of remuneration, fall into a separate category entirely and are not subject to any working-time limits.
How forfait jours works
Under a forfait jours agreement, working time is counted in days worked per year, not weekly hours. The statutory standard is 218 days per year, though collective agreements may set a lower figure. Crucially:
- The employee is not subject to the 35-hour week, the 44-hour rolling average, or weekly overtime rules
- Overtime as such does not apply, additional days beyond the agreed annual count must be managed separately (via a "day renunciation" agreement with additional pay)
- The 11-hour daily rest and 35-hour weekly rest periods do remain mandatory
Employer obligations under forfait jours
Signing a forfait jours convention is not a set-and-forget arrangement. The employer must:
- Hold a mandatory annual interview covering workload, working hours amplitude, work-life balance and remuneration
- Maintain a monthly tracking document of days and half-days worked, validated by both the employee and the employer
The legal risk is substantial. Since 2011, the Cour de cassation has invalidated numerous forfait jours agreements where the collective agreement did not provide sufficient health and safety guarantees. If a forfait jours convention is annulled by a court, the employer owes back pay for all overtime hours not compensated since the agreement was signed. This is why day-to-day HR support matters: the administrative obligations under forfait jours are ongoing, not merely contractual.
Rest Periods, Sunday Work and Night Shifts
Beyond the weekly structure, French law imposes specific rules on rest and atypical working conditions:
- Compulsory break: any working day exceeding six hours must include a break of at least 20 minutes
- Sunday work: working on Sundays is prohibited in principle. Sector-specific derogations apply (hospitality, tourism, retail in designated tourist zones, healthcare and emergency services), but these require a formal legal basis
- Night work (travail de nuit): defined as any work performed between 21:00 and 06:00. Night workers are capped at 8 hours per day and an average of 40 hours per week (extendable to 44 hours by collective agreement). Any night work arrangement must be covered by a collective agreement and must include compensatory measures, financial or rest-based
Employer Obligations: Time Tracking and Compliance
What employers must record
French law imposes differentiated time-tracking obligations depending on the category of employee:
- Hourly employees: start and end times or daily totals under individual time arrangements; weekly totals are mandatory
- Employees on forfait jours: number and dates of days or half-days worked, plus a workload-monitoring document signed monthly
- Senior executives (cadres dirigeants): no time-tracking obligation
Why accurate time tracking matters
Robust time-tracking practices protect both the employer and the employee. When records are properly maintained, overtime entitlements are clear, payroll is accurate, and the company can demonstrate compliance during any inspection. Conversely, incomplete records make it difficult to defend against retroactive overtime claims, and a forfait jours arrangement that lacks proper documentation can be reclassified, triggering back-payment of uncalculated overtime.
Setting up compliant time-tracking processes from day one is central to what our HR and payroll compliance service in France covers, particularly for foreign employers unfamiliar with the level of documentation expected in France.
Working hours in France are governed by a detailed legal architecture that differs substantially from UK, US or German norms. The 35-hour week is a legal reference point, not a practical ceiling. RTT days, forfait jours and the annual overtime contingent are operational realities that every foreign employer must understand before signing a single employment contract in France.
