The French Labour Code provides for two specific types of fixed working time agreement, or conventions de forfait. These are:
- En heures (in hours), which may be weekly, monthly, or annual.
- En jours (in days), which must be annual.
A company agreement or provisions in the convention collective must be in place to establish the terms and conditions for fixed annual hours. Additionally, only two categories of employee may enter into this type of agreement:
- executive staff (cadres) whose duties do not require them to follow the usual timetable in place within their department, and
- employees who have genuine autonomy over their working time.
Employees who successfully establish a convention forfait annuel en heures remain subject to the legal provisions for maximum daily and weekly working hours, as well as daily and weekly rest periods.
A company agreement or provisions in the collective agreement are not needed when formalising agreements for fixed weekly or monthly hours, for which any employee is eligible, regardless of status or hierarchy. Terms and conditions, including the total number of hours, are agreed between the employer and employee, and must then be detailed in a signed convention individuelle de forfait.
A weekly forfait agreement allows the employee’s number of working hours to vary from one day to the next, while conforming to a fixed weekly amount.
This type of agreement makes it possible for the employee to manage their working hours in accordance with a variable workload, rather than work to a standard collective timetable. Such agreements can be particularly useful for travelling employees, or those whose duties regularly require them to work irregular or longer hours.
Conventions de forfait can simplify payroll management for employers, by providing for a certain amount of overtime regularly worked by the employee.
Employees who have signed a weekly or monthly agreement are subject to an annual overtime quota as part of the agreement, against which their overtime hours are tracked. If this quota is exceeded, the employee is entitled to mandatory compensation in rest. Note that these provisions do not apply to employees who have established an annual agreement in hours.
If you would like to discuss working time agreements in your French company, please contact us for bespoke support.
We offer a free initial consultation for new clients, and are very happy to answer any questions.