French government eases 35-hour rules for smaller companies

The French government has revised the rules for smaller companies introducing the 35-hour week.

Companies employing 20 employees and fewer are required to move to a 35-hour week from 1 January 2002. (The law has applied to larger companies since the start of 2000.)

However, employers have increasingly expressed concern that this will cause difficulties. In response to this the French minister of labour Elisabeth Guigou announced on 26 September that smaller companies would have greater freedom in the use of overtime.

Overtime limit

Overtime is normally limited to 130 hours a year per worker but where smaller companies have difficulties in moving to 35 hours, there will be a 180-hour maximum in 2002 and 170 hours in 2003, before returning to the standard limit of 130 hours in 2004. The rules on extra payments for hours worked beyond 35 remain as before.

The latest official figures on hours reductions take the position up to 16 August 2001 and show that a total of 7.1 million employees in 84,000 companies have moved to a 35-hour week.