Section 3: Statutory working hours and overtime

The right to compulsory time off in lieu is deemed to have arisen as soon as the duration of this time off, calculated in accordance with article L. 3121-38, reaches seven hours. The day or half-day during which the rest is taken is deducted from the entitlement to rest in respect of the number of hours that the employee would have worked during that day or half-day. Compulsory time off…

Compulsory time off may be taken as a full day or half day at the employee’s convenience. It is treated as a period of actual work for the purposes of calculating the employee’s entitlement. It gives rise to compensation that does not entail any reduction in remuneration compared with what the employee would have received if he had performed his work.

The employee sends his request for compulsory time off to the employer at least one week in advance. The request shall specify the date and duration of the rest period. Within seven days of receiving the request, the employer informs the employee either of his agreement or, after consulting the Social and Economic Committee, of the reasons for postponing the request due to imperatives linked to the operation of the…

When the company’s operational requirements prevent several requests for compulsory time off from being satisfied at the same time, applicants are ranked according to the following order of priority: 1° Requests that have already been deferred; 2° Family situation; 3° Length of service with the company.

The length of time during which the employer may defer the mandatory time off may not exceed two months.

An employee whose employment contract is terminated before he or she has been able to benefit from the mandatory compensatory rest to which he or she is entitled or before he or she has acquired sufficient rights to be able to take this rest shall receive a cash indemnity the amount of which corresponds to his or her acquired rights. This indemnity is also payable to the dependents of an…

In the absence of an agreement as provided for in I of Article L. 3121-33, the annual overtime quota is set at two hundred and twenty hours per employee. The first paragraph does not apply to the employees referred to in article L. 3121-56 who have signed an agreement for a fixed number of hours over the year.