Exemption from the maximum working time

From the beginning of 2018, companies agreed that there are identical and universal maximum working and rest periods for all companies in France. Moreover, there are public provisions taken by the inspectors and the DIRECCTE for companies that do not have a collective agreement.

By definition, working time is the time during which employees “work.” It is obviously the time allocated by the worker to carry out their activity and perform their duties and which is at the disposal of their employer. All this in compliance with labor law.

During the time the worker is working, they are at the disposal of their employer for the entire duration. Therefore, this worker must comply with their employer’s instructions.

Can I work 50 hours a week?

First of all, it should be known that the labor code requires both parties to respect that the working time per day for an employee is 10 hours. But given the company agreement, this daily working time can exceed a little if there are valid reasons, but only up to a maximum of 12 hours. And this duration must end within a maximum 24-hour day.

When this daily working time exceeds due to increased activity within a company, here are the only plausible reasons:

• Work that can only be carried out continuously
• Work on seasonal items (seasonal fruits and vegetables, concrete pouring, etc.)
• Jobs whose activity unexpectedly increases on certain days of the week.

Is break time included in working time?

Continuous working time for an employee is a maximum of 6 hours and after that, the employee will have a 20-minute break. Here is how this break works:

The break is taken:

• Immediately after the end of the 6 hours of continuous work
• Or before the end of the 6 hours of continuous work.

But following a company agreement, the break time granted to an employee may be longer than these 20 minutes.

Moreover, it should be known that the break is not paid because it is not included in the calculation of the legal working time.

What is the maximum weekly working time outside of exemptions?

We are talking here about actual working time: that is, the time allocated by the employee or a public sector worker to perform the tasks assigned to them. In other words, it is the time an employee makes available to their employer and this time is conditioned by the following conditions notably:

• 48 hours of work per week
• If the working time extends to 12 weeks, the weekly time must not exceed 44 hours.

Thus, in the case where the employee must work for 6 consecutive weeks, they will not keep the 48 hours; in the following weeks (numbering 6), the weekly duration will decrease to 40 hours. This gives an average weekly working time of 44 hours.

In case of exemption, an employee’s work during a week can reach up to 60 hours, but it must be approved by the labor inspection.  

How to work more than 48 hours per week risks?

Only 48 hours is the maximum authorized working time per week. It is indeed called the “absolute maximum weekly duration.” But it is always possible, if you wish, to derogate from this duration by asking the DIRECTTE if there are situations in which work within the company has increased.

This means that the initiator of this request for additional work must first address the labor inspector, who will in turn address the CSE and then the DIRECTTE. Ultimately, when the derogation takes place, the working time can be increased to less than 60 hours per week.

But in the case where this derogation concerns up to 12 weeks, the duration authorized by law will never exceed 44 hours, as the law states. Furthermore, there is a company agreement according to which the authorized working time for the 12 weeks does not exceed 46 hours per week.

FAQ