The legal working week: 35 hours
The legal duration of actual work is 35 hours per week, or 1,607 hours per year if calculated annually, under the French Labour Code. This is the reference for calculating overtime: all hours worked above that figure.
In practice, a normal working day is 7 hours from Monday to Friday. Many collective agreements set longer weeks of 37, 38 or 39 hours and offset the difference with days off: the famous RTT days. A 39-hour agreement generates around 9 RTT days per year.
Overtime: premiums and limits
Overtime is paid at a premium unless the collective agreement opts to offset it with equivalent rest. Unless the agreement says otherwise, the premium is 25% for the first eight weekly hours, from the 36th to the 43rd, and 50% from the 44th onwards.
The employee cannot refuse to work the overtime requested by the employer, and it is counted by calendar week. The annual volume is limited by a quota which, if there is no collective agreement, is 220 hours per worker; above that figure, in addition to payment, a mandatory rest offset is generated.
The limits that cannot be negotiated
Even if working time is agreed by collective agreement, there are public policy limits that no agreement can breach: 10 hours per day, 48 hours per week and 44 hours on average over a 12-week period. The minimum daily rest is 11 hours and the weekly rest is 35 continuous hours.
Employees on an annual forfait in days, who work up to 218 days per year without time tracking, and cadres dirigeants, who are presumed to have full autonomy, fall outside the 35 hours. For everyone else, time tracking is mandatory and the labour inspectorate scrutinises it closely.
What an overtime hour costs on the payslip
On top of the premium, there is the tax effect. Since 2019, overtime pay is exempt from personal income tax for the worker up to EUR 7,500 net per year, and their Social Security contributions are reduced; the company also deducts a fixed amount from its employer contributions on those hours.
In practice, an overtime hour in France costs more than a normal hour, but the tax design means the worker keeps a larger share of the premium than in other countries. That is why many collective agreements prefer RTT days: paid rest with no premium for anyone.
The salary context
The French minimum wage (SMIC) is around EUR 1,800 gross per month in 2026, and the average net salary stands at about EUR 2,600 per month. With a 35-hour working week, the reference for comparison with Spain is always annual gross figures: in France 12 monthly payments are made, so a gross monthly salary of EUR 2,600 is EUR 31,200 per year.
If your subsidiary is going to hire in France, calculating the cost per employee starts with the sector's collective agreement: it sets the actual working week, overtime rates and rest days. It is the first document to read before opening the vacancy.
