Understanding Night, Evening, and Sunday Work Laws in France

Night work

According to the labor code, night work extends from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. (or according to a period fixed by agreement) since the law of May 9, 2001, against 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. previously.

In addition, the law defines the night worker as one who performs a fraction of his working time between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., i.e. at least 3 hours twice a week, i.e. at least 270 hours over twelve consecutive months. Since the law of August 6, 2015, if an employee who works night hours also works so-called evening hours, all these atypical hours are combined to determine whether he can be considered a night worker. He can thus benefit from a salary advantage and compensatory rest.

Legally, the time slots for night work differ from those apprehended in the Employment Survey, which correspond to the midnight-5 o’clock slot.

Evening work

Under the law of August 6, 2015, retail establishments located in international tourist areas (ZTI) may employ employees in the evening, i.e. between 9:00 p.m. and midnight, subject to conclusion of a collective agreement. The hours worked during this tranche are remunerated at double the usual hours; they give rise to compensatory rest of an equivalent duration, as well as other compensation provided for in the agreement (return home, childcare, etc.). In establishments that practice evening work, the start of the night work period is set after 10 p.m. and ends at 7 a.m.

Work on Sunday

Like night work, work on Sundays is subject to permanent and temporary exemptions. Since 2005, the areas of permanent exemption have been extended to information call centers and “hot line” repairs (decree no. 2005-906 of August 2, 2005), garden center businesses, retail establishments furniture (article 11 of the law of January 3, 2008) and do-it-yourself (decree no. 2014-302 of March 7, 2014), not to mention the latitude granted to the prefect to classify a municipality or an area of ​​tourist interest or exceptionally busy, and the twelve “Mayor’s Sundays” (5 before 2016), during which retail businesses are allowed to open.

Law no. 2009-974 of August 10, 2009 introduces the concept of “perimeter of exceptional consumption use” (Chip) in urban units of more than 1 million inhabitants, perimeter for which requests for Sunday work may be introduced and granted to businesses by the prefect for a period of five years.

As part of the law of August 6, 2015, the conditions for using work on Sundays are modified in commerce. The law provides for an authorization from the mayor for retail establishments to open up to twelve Sundays a year, as of January 1, 2016 (compared to five Sundays previously; in 2015, this number had been temporarily set at nine), and a new definition of the areas in which exemptions may be granted: tourist areas (ZT), international tourist areas (ZTI) and commercial areas (ZC). The volunteering of Sunday employees is now required, which was not the case previously for the Sundays of the mayor. In addition, Sunday work is only possible with compensation for employees in terms of remuneration or rest. It is subject to the existence of a collective establishment, company or branch agreement. In companies with more than 11 employees, in the absence of a collective agreement, the employer is authorized to apply a unilateral decision after approval by the majority of employees. Agreements and decisions must mention the compensations (salary, financial, rest) and the guarantees (change of mind of the employee for example) [1].

With the changes in the legal framework, working on Sundays and working in the evening have changed very little. In France (excluding Mayotte), in 2015, 18.5% of employees worked on Sundays and 23.1% in the evening. In 2016, they were 18.9% and 23.9% respectively and, in 2017, 19.2% and 23.3%.