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Know your rights, French style

Your agent knows the French Labor Code by heart. Here's what that code actually gives a private-sector employee in France, in plain English, with the article every time. Spoiler: more vacation than you.

Sheet 1

Breaks

In France, by law, once you've worked 6 hours in a day, you get a break of at least 20 minutes in a row.

  • Twenty consecutive minutes: two ten-minute breaks don't count.
  • If you stay at your employer's disposal and can't go about your own business, your break is working time, and paid as such.
  • Otherwise, it isn't necessarily paid: your agreement or contract decides.
  • An agreement can give you a longer one.

The law: art. L3121-16, L3121-1, L3121-2 (in French)

The union agent“Mine is 12:30 to 1:30, sacred. Yours is 20 minutes minimum. Take them.”

Sheet 2

35 hours and overtime

In France, the legal work week is 35 hours. Every hour beyond that is overtime, and it pays more.

  • Unless an agreement says otherwise: +25% for the first 8 overtime hours (hours 36 to 43), then +50%.
  • A company or industry agreement can set a different rate, but never below 10%.
  • Caps: 10 hours a day and 48 hours in any single week, barring exemptions.

The law: art. L3121-27, L3121-36, L3121-33, L3121-18, L3121-20

The union agent“The 35-hour week is my demand number one. Yours is already the law. Work out what you're owed, right below.”

What are you owed?

Your gross hourly rate and your hours for the week, in euros, French rules. The punch clock does the rest, to the cent, rounding in your favor. The default rate is the Smic, France's minimum wage.

French gross minimum wage since June 1, 2026: €12.31 an hour.
Actual working hours, Monday to Sunday. 43.5 for 43 hours 30 minutes.
Night or Sunday hours

French law sets no pay premium for night work, and generally none for Sundays. Enter your collective agreement's rate; at 0%, it's the law alone.

Calculated over a calendar week, with no averaging agreement, no day-based contract and no time off in lieu. Each line is computed in cents and rounded to the nearest cent, half a cent going to the employee, like the skill's punch clock. Night and Sunday premiums are added on top of overtime, and a night or Sunday overtime hour is calculated on the rate raised by its premium (French Supreme Court, May 22, 2019). Gross amounts, before social contributions.

Sheet 3

Night work

In France, unless an agreement says otherwise, night work is any work between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.

  • An agreement can move the window: at least 9 hours in a row, including midnight to 5 a.m., somewhere between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.
  • If you regularly work nights, you're owed compensation: rest time, and pay compensation “where applicable”.
  • The law sets no percentage. The “night premium” comes from your collective agreement or your company's practice.

The law: art. L3122-2, L3122-20, L3122-8

The union agent“I bill +50% at night, but that's my custom, not the law. I'm unionized, not a liar.”

Sheet 4

Rest

By law, 11 hours off in a row between two workdays, and at least a day and a half off every week.

  • Daily rest: at least 11 consecutive hours.
  • Weekly rest: 24 hours in a row, plus the 11 hours of daily rest, so 35 hours.
  • No more than six working days a week.

The law: art. L3131-1, L3132-1, L3132-2

The union agent“You finished at 10 p.m.? You don't start before 9 a.m. That's the law, not me being lazy.”

Sheet 5

Sundays

In principle, French law puts the weekly rest day on Sunday. In practice, there are plenty of exemptions.

  • Retail, hospitality, healthcare, tourist areas: many sectors can have staff work Sundays.
  • The law sets no general Sunday premium.
  • Exceptions: the “mayor's Sundays”, up to 12 a year in retail, pay at least double, plus time off in lieu.
  • In a food store over 400 m² (about 4,300 sq ft), Sunday morning (until 1 p.m.) pays at least 30% more.
  • In a tourist or retail zone with no collective agreement, the employer decides alone, but the staff concerned must approve it by referendum. Each employee who loses their Sunday then gets time off in lieu and at least double their normal pay.
  • For everything else, check your collective agreement.

The law: art. L3132-3, L3132-26, L3132-27, L3132-13, L3132-25-3

The union agent (CFTC branch)“Sunday is sacred. The premium is up to your agreement.”

Sheet 6

Public holidays and May 1

France has eleven legal public holidays. Only one is a mandatory day off: May 1, Labor Day.

  • The others are days off or not depending on your company's agreement, failing that your industry agreement, failing that your employer. Alsace-Moselle gets two extra.
  • A holiday off costs you no pay if you've been with the company at least three months. May 1 off has no seniority condition: no pay lost, period.
  • Working an ordinary holiday carries no legal premium. Your agreement may add one.
  • On May 1, if your work can't stop (hospitals, transport…), you're paid double: your wage, plus an equal amount on top.

The law: art. L3133-1, L3133-3, L3133-3-1, L3133-4, L3133-5, L3133-6

The union agent“On May 1, I refuse even at double pay. You, if they call you in, it's double. Minimum.”

Sheet 7

The right to strike

In France, it's in the Constitution: “The right to strike is exercised within the framework of the laws that regulate it.”

  • You can't be fired or disciplined for striking, except for gross misconduct. A firing without it is void.
  • No discrimination either, on pay or bonuses.
  • On the other hand, strike hours aren't paid.
  • In the private sector, except private companies running a public service, no legal notice period: a strike is a collective work stoppage over job-related demands the employer knows about. In public services, those companies included, a representative union files notice five clear days ahead.

The law: 1946 Preamble, paragraph 7, art. L2511-1, L2512-1, L2512-2

The union agent“On November 5, I march. You?”

Sheet 8

The right to disconnect

After-hours emails, messages and calls: if your French company has a union section, it must negotiate your disconnection rules; if you're on a days-based contract, it must set some either way.

  • Where a representative union has a section, the employer must bargain over quality of work life, disconnecting included. Every year by default; an agreement can space it out to every four years.
  • Without an agreement, the employer writes a charter, after consulting the works council, with training for staff and managers.
  • On a days-based contract (forfait jours), the collective agreement sets how you disconnect. If it says nothing, your employer sets the rules and tells you.

The law: art. L2242-17, 7°, L2242-1, L2242-13, L3121-64, L3121-65

The union agent (CFE-CGC branch)“6:01 p.m. I'm not reading anything. Neither should you.”

Where to get help

Sheet 9, the important one. If you work in France and have a real question, talk to real humans. All of these work in French.

  • The digital Labor Code

    The official, free government site: guides, calculators (gross to net pay, severance) and a tool to find your collective agreement.

    code.travail.gouv.fr

  • Information services

    The Labor Ministry's regional services answer private-sector employees' labor law questions for free.

    Contact the regional services

  • The labor inspectorate

    It enforces the Labor Code and records violations. It can inspect your company.

    The law: art. L8112-1

  • The conseil de prud'hommes

    France's labor court. It first tries to settle, then rules on disputes between employees and employers over the employment contract. Unpaid overtime included.

    The law: art. L1411-1

  • Unions

    The real ones. Local union offices and your company's delegates hold drop-in hours and know your agreement better than anyone. The quiz is no substitute for a membership card.