Working hours

[katycrunch]

Does anyone know about the working hours rules in France?  Everything I read says that 35 hours per week is the maximum, although the government is looking at allowing people to work longer hours. 

I've just applied for a job which is advertised at 39 hours per week.  It's a seasonal job - April to November.  Is it because it's seasonal that the hours are allowed to be longer?

Thanks

Crunch [8-)]

[Will]

The rules are constantly changing, and were relaxed a couple of years back for workers in certain jobs, like catering etc.

[Charlotte3]

Hi There,

 

I have worked for several french businesses (sp?) and always our working hours have been worked out over the year frown 1st May to 30th April.  If we have surplus hours....which we always have......we have time off in the spring. We can have as much as 3 weeks to take in the spring, so you can imagine how many hours we have clocked up over the year!!

While we don't get paid overtime, we are paid at the normal rate and then have the time off as well, so it works out ok in the end. The extra time worked is also included when working out our holiday pay.

Hope this helps,

Aly

[Teamedup]

Some catering jobs were always 42 or43 hours a week, plus 15 hours a month overtime, there are limits on that too. The 35 hour thing was never a universal concept or law it always depended on what metier had which contract. 39 hours sounds pretty normal really.

[Charlotte3]

I don't know if this helps, but  I work in the peintre en batiment, and in summer we work 46 hours per week, and in the winter  32 hours per week, with the rest of the year somewhere in between.  It makes my blood boil when people talk of the  "relaxed"  hours worked by the French, long lunch hours etc............not in the France I know!!

And I almost forgot, we have to be at the atelier at least 20 minutes before our start time every day (unpaid of course). To give you an idea, if I have a job on 1 hour away starting at 8am, I have to be at work at 6.40am!

Aly

[katycrunch]

Thanks for your help chaps

35 hours is obviously just one of those things that's written down, but doesn't mean anything.  I already knew it didn't actually work like that in real life - like you Aly, I had a contract for 16 hours a week in a bar, but actually worked anything up to 16 hours a day sometimes in the summer, every day!  (Not always 16, but most days at least 12).  Your job sounds just like what we used to do in England - lots of extra hours without pay.  It's not so different here after all.

(Just wondered what the actual law was out of curiosity, that's all.)

[kiss]