EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS

Holiday entitlement

The 35-hour week, probably the shortest official working week in the world for full-time employees, is now more flexible and employers may offer up to an additional 220 hours a year to employees. Employees are not however obliged to accept longer hours. This is a point to discuss with job candidates who are interviewed. Working hours must be displayed on the premises.

All employees are entitled to five weeks paid holiday (30 working days) annually based on their usual income. The holiday year for most categories of business runs from 1 June to 31 May and entitlement to the full five weeks, strictly speaking, is only reached when a complete holiday year has been worked. In practice, arrangements can usually be made with employees to ensure they don’t miss out on five weeks in any holiday year. Employees cannot be made to take holidays outside the official holiday season (période légale) running from 1st May to 31st October, but both bosses and employees are usually happy to accept at least a week’s holiday over Christmas. In fact, many manufacturing and service businesses now close down from Christmas Eve to the 2nd of January. Not many employees take four weeks’ holiday in one go, although the legal entitlement still exists. Employees are paid for all public holidays and the month of May is shot through with them, with Labour Day (Fête du travail) and VE day, and often Ascension Day. With the shorter working week and any public holidays falling on a Thursday or Tuesday (Ascension Day is always on a Thursday) staff may ask for extended weekends with intervening normal working days deducted from their 30-day holiday entitlement. Whit Monday is no longer a public holiday.

Medical benefits

A free medical check-up is obligatory for all employees once a year. If your premises are not near a Médecin du Travail surgery a fully-equipped van with at least one doctor and nurse will announce its forthcoming visit to the locality for you and other businesses, and employees will be given due notice of the time and date for their 20-minute visit. The medical results will confirm whether or not the employee is fit (apt) to start or continue the duties their work demands. It is a condition of confirmed employment that a future employee has a check-up for aptitude just before or after the employment contract is signed.

Maternity benefits

Maternity leave (congé de maternité) for employees, if requested, is obligatory on full pay with employment held over. Even the smallest companies, where this may create a staffing problem, are included. For the first or second child a total of 16 weeks is given: six before the due date and 10 after. From the third child onwards leave is extended to 24 weeks. The entitlement for twins is 34 weeks and for triplets or more, 46 weeks’ leave is permitted. Absence for medical examinations and limited extensions on production of a doctor’s certificates, are permitted without loss of pay. Fathers are entitled to two weeks’ paternity leave or three weeks for twins, triplets on 80 per cent of gross salary, limited to around 840€ a month.

Salaried employees who have worked in the same company for at least 12 months when the child is born are entitled to unpaid extended post-natal maternity, or paternity, leave (congé paternal d’éducation) with their full-time job held over for them. Under certain conditions, this also applies to part-time employees. This continuous leave can be extended until the child is three years old.

Smoking at work

Smoking is banned at work if there are non-smokers employed by the business. This law is not always applied in small businesses if the majority of staff are smokers. Large businesses with office staff and non-production line workers often tolerate a quick cigarette break in working time just off the premises.

Air conditioning and water facilities

Premises must be adequately aerated: at least 7 m3 of air per employee, and in laboratories, kitchens, and shops and offices open to the public at least 10 m3 of air per employee. Cold, not more than 15° centigrade, drinking water must be available for staff. There should be sufficient hot- and cold-water hand-wash basin(s) depending on staff numbers – at least one for 10 people.

Works committees

Companies employing at least 50 people should have a works committee (comité d’entreprises). One of its roles being to represent staff requests or grievances with management. Companies of this size must also have a hygiene, safety and conditions of work committee (CHSCT). Smaller companies, with at least 11 employees, have a staff representative (délégué du personnel). Employers are entitled to suspend salary if an employee strikes, unless it is subsequently ruled – in the case of individual employees, by the Prud’hommes industrial tribunal – that the employee’s grievance was justified: for example, working conditions which do not respect security regulations. A refectory must be provided if at least 25 salaried people request it, and in theory a room should be set aside for lunch breaks in all smaller companies. Precise lunch break times can be written into employment contracts, provided they do not contravene any collective labour agreements. See Employment contracts below. The minimum (Dickensian) requirement for a break under employment law is at least 20 minutes every 6 hours. In practice employers are more generous than that. Any time not worked is, of course, not paid for.

EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

The four optional benefits described below should only be considered for full-time employees. A lot of small businesses do not offer them as they feel they are too costly.

Le treizième mois

This is an end-of-year extra month’s salary or bonus payment which is often offered by large financial organisations to their employees.

Mutuelle health insurance

As social security health cover in France is only partial, with 70 per cent of the cost of GP visits and 80 per cent of hospital in-patient costs (without any surgical operation) paid by the health service, a top-up health insurance cover with a mutuelle company may be a benefit requested by a future key member of full-time staff. A 50/50 share between employee and employer is not unreasonable if membership of a mutuelle is negotiated as part of the employment contract.

Chéques vacances

These benefit employees on low salaries by allowing them to save up for coupons which can be used for holiday travel and accommodation purposes within France. The employer who has opted for the scheme must contribute at least 20 per cent to the cost of the coupons which have a value of 25 per cent more than the amount saved by the employee.

Titres de restaurants (luncheon vouchers)

Employers pay between 50 and 60 per cent of their cost.