Working life in France

Notes: Values for real GDP per capita are chain-linked volumes (based on 2010 data; €). The unemployment rate for men and women is the annual average as a percentage of the active population aged 15–74 years, and the youth unemployment rate is the annual average as a percentage of people aged 15–24 years. The employment rate for men and women is the annual average as a percentage of the active population aged 15–64 years, and the youth employment rate is the annual average as a percentage of people aged 15–24 years. GDP, gross domestic product.

Sources: Eurostat [sdg_08_10], for real GDP per capita and percentage change 2012–2022; [une_rt_a], for unemployment rate by sex and age; [lfsi_emp_a], for employment rate by sex and age.

Main trade union confederations and federations

Trade unions are national organisations. France has five trade unions that are recognised as representative at national level. They are mentioned in the table below. All membership figures are self-reported and are, for some organisations, likely to be overestimated but less so than in previous years.

Other unions have significant influence but do not yet have representative status at national cross-sectoral level. However, they might well conduct collective bargaining at company level or, if they meet the sectoral threshold for the latest elections, sectoral level.

Main trade union confederations and federations

Note: * According to experts, this figure is overestimated; 100,000 would be more realistic.

For the third time since the reform of trade union representativeness in 2008 (see the section ‘Representativeness’), the popularity of private sector trade unions at national, interprofessional and sector levels has been evaluated by their share of workers’ votes. On 26 May 2021, the Ministry of Labour published data based on the results of workplace elections. However, the participation rate was only 38.24% (compared with 42.76% in 2017).

The five main trade union confederations with membership across the entire economy maintained their representativeness. The CFDT had 26.77% of the votes, slightly ahead of the CGT with 22.96%. The CGT-FO came third, with 15.24% of the votes, followed by the CFE-CGC, at 11.92%, and the CFTC, at 9.50%. The recently created trade unions, the National Federation of Independent Unions (Union Nationale des Syndicats Autonomes) and Solidarity, Unity, Democracy (Union syndicale Solidaires), which tends to take a rather radical position, both failed to reach the 8% threshold at national level, with scores of 5.99% and 3.68%, respectively.

According to a third assessment of trade unions’ representativeness in the public sector, based on the results of the workplace elections held from 1 to 8 December 2022, the CGT remains the leading trade union organisation for the civil service as a whole (the state, local governments and hospitals), with 20.9% of the votes, followed by the CGT-FO (with 18.7%) and CFDT (with 18.7%)). But taking into account the results of workplace elections in the private sector, the CFDT has been the leading French trade union in both the public and the private sector since 2018.

The reform of trade union representativeness by the Law of 20 August 2008 led to the profound modification of the French trade union landscape at sectoral and company levels. Some organisations, such as the CFTC and the CFE-CGC, lost their representativeness in a significant number of sectors. Other organisations, such as the National Federation of Independent Unions, received recognition of their representativeness at sectoral level.

Employer organisations

About employer representation

Membership of employer organisations is voluntary in France, with organisations competing to attract members. Most of the country’s employers are members of at least one employer organisation. In contrast with trade unions, employer organisation density was quite high (Traxler, 2004). According to a study published by Dares (2019), on average one in four companies in France was a member of an employer organisation in 2017, and two out of three employees worked in these companies. Employee coverage rates are high in sectors where employment is highly concentrated around a few large companies (chemical and pharmaceutical industries, glass, construction, public works and banking). This indicates that previous estimates, which included the total membership figures of all confederations, strongly overestimated the representativeness of employer organisations in France. The reason for this is that many companies are members of several organisations.
 

Employer organisation membership and density, 2011–2019 (%)

Notes: * Percentage of employees working in an establishment that is a member of any employer organisation that is involved in collective bargaining. n.a., not available.

Main employer organisations and confederations

The Movement of French Enterprises (Mouvement des Entreprises de France, MEDEF) was established in 1998 to succeed the former National Council of French Employers (Conseil national du patronat français, CNPF). MEDEF is a multilayered confederation of sectoral and territorial organisations bringing together companies with more than 10 employees. It organises 76 federations that cover some 600 associations whose members are companies working in the same sector, 13 regional organisations and over 100 departmental or local organisations. MEDEF seeks to cover all companies, whatever their size, in all geographical and professional sectors. Its members covered about 66% of the total workforce in the private sector in 2021.

On 6 January 2017, the General Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises (Confédération Générale des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises, CGPME) changed its name to the Confederation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Confédération des petites et moyennes entreprises, CPME). The confederation is organised into four national sections: commerce, services, industry and crafts. It organises 117 territorial unions and about 200 federations or associations of trades. Its members covered about 28% of the total workforce in the private sector in 2021.

On 17 November 2016, the Craftwork Employers’ Association (Union professionnelle artisanale, UPA) merged with the National Union of Liberal Professions (Union nationale des professions liberales, UNAPL) to create a new body, the Union of Local Businesses (Union des entreprises de proximité, U2P). The union organises 119 federations or associations of trades and 110 regional or local organisations. Its members covered about 31% of the total workforce in the private sector in 2021.

There is also an employer organisation representing the non-profit sector, the Union of Employers of the Social Economy (Union des employeurs de l’économie sociale et solidaire, UDES), formerly the Union of Unions and Representative Employer Groups in the Social Economy (Union de syndicat et groupements d’employeurs représentatifs dans l’économie sociale). The organisation represents 80% of the sector’s employers.

Main employer organisations and confederations

The reform of employer organisations’ representativeness was adopted as part of a reform of vocational training that took place in March 2014 (through Law No. 2014-288 of 5 March 2014 relating to vocational training, employment and social democracy). According to Decree No. 2015-654 of 10 June 2015, to be representative at sectoral level, employer organisations have to include a number of member companies representing at least 8% of all companies affiliated to employer organisations in the corresponding sector (member companies’ audience) or 8% of employees employed by the same organisation at the national, interprofessional or professional level (employed employees’ audience). The decree gives practical details on how to calculate the threshold of 8%. It also explains how employer organisations can oppose a collective agreement if they represent affiliated companies that employ more than 50% of the workforce of companies affiliated to employer organisations in the sector.

Tripartite and bipartite bodies and concertation

Social partners continue to be heavily involved in the management of certain social security provisions, such as public health insurance, unemployment benefits and social welfare boards (paritarisme). The social partners also play a central role in the supplementary private health insurance system (mutuelles, institutions de prévoyance) and pension plans. Furthermore, they are involved in the vocational training system. The national system of policy concertation is complemented by tripartite social dialogue at regional or local level. Law No. 2007-130 of 31 January 2007 on the modernisation of social dialogue makes it obligatory to consult national-level representatives of trade unions and employer organisations before proposing reforms in the fields of industrial relations, employment and vocational training. The government should provide these organisations with a policy document presenting the ‘diagnoses, objectives and principal options’ of the proposed reform. The social partners are then able to indicate whether they intend to initiate negotiations and how much time they need to reach an agreement. This procedure does not apply in ‘emergency situations’; in such cases, the government has to justify its decision, which can be legally challenged.

When drawing up a draft law following the consultation procedure, the government is not obliged to adopt the content of a collective agreement as it is. However, depending on the issue at hand, it must submit a bill to the National Collective Bargaining Commission (Commission nationale de la négociation collective, de l’emploi et de la formation professionnelle, CNNCEFP) for reforms concerning industrial relations, employment and vocational training.

The social partners that are represented by this body can assess whether or not the government’s proposals are in line with the relevant collective agreement and, if necessary, give their opinion.

Main tripartite and bipartite bodies

Note: * Social dialogue involving employer and trade union organisations, as well as civil society groups such as non-governmental organisations or academics.

Workplace-level employee representation

In France, employees are represented through trade unions and structures made up of employees directly elected by all workers. Representation for workers has been obligatory since 1945 in all workplaces with at least 11 or 50 employees, depending on the structure. These bodies are largely regulated by law. Nevertheless, there is room for regulation through collective bargaining, as the social partners can create information and consultation bodies through collective agreement to improve information and consultation within companies. The social partners may negotiate improvements in facilities for employee representatives, such as more paid time off or more resources. Since the labour reform of 2017, the landscape of workplace-level employee representation has changed. This is due to the merger of the three main employee information and consultation bodies in all companies – staff representatives (délégués du personnel), the works council (comité d’entreprise), and the health, safety and working conditions committee – into a social and economic committee (comité social et économique, CSE). The CSE had to be formed in all companies concerned by 1 January 2020 at the latest.

Trade unions

Since 1968, trade unions’ rights have been recognised and trade unions have been entitled to appoint shop stewards (délégués syndicaux) in companies with at least 50 employees (Labour Code, Articles L2143-1 to L2143-23). These representatives have the power to negotiate and sign collective agreements at company level. Other worker representation bodies do not have this power if there is at least one shop steward. Since the reform of representativeness in 2008, unions not considered representative in an undertaking have been able to appoint a ‘representative of the union’ (représentant de la section syndicale) (Labour Code, Articles L2142-1-1 to L2142-1-4, who has similar rights to an appointed shop steward except the right to negotiate collective agreements. In accordance with a majority collective agreement, shop stewards may transfer their collective bargaining power to the CSE, which can then negotiate and form collective agreements.

Social and economic committees

CSEs are legal entities, and as collegial bodies are composed of members elected by the employees, representatives of the company management and representatives nominated by the unions (Labour Code, Articles L2311-1 to L.2315-22). Members are elected by all workers in every private sector establishment with more than 10 employees. CSEs progressively replaced the current elected bodies (staff representatives, works councils, and health, safety and working conditions committees; see the table in the following section), with the process completed by 1 January 2020.

CSEs can be formed at either company level or establishment level, when a central CSE is also established. CSEs receive information from employers on issues such as the economic and social aspects of the company and new technology. They are also consulted on the strategic direction of the company. In addition, they participate in formal consultations with employers on topics such as redundancies and vocational training (without formal negotiating power) and are responsible for managing social and cultural activities for which they have a budget, which is fixed by collective agreement. Otherwise, CSEs have a functioning budget equal to 0.2% of their companies’ annual payroll, or 0.22% in companies with over 2,000 employees. CSEs also take over the tasks of the former staff delegates (presenting individual and collective grievances to management and ensuring the implementation of legislation and collective agreements) and the role of the safety and working conditions committee.

In a group of companies, a group-level works council (comité de groupe) can be created (Labour Code, Articles L2331-1 to L2335-1), which enjoys similar rights to those of ordinary works councils. A company with a Europe-wide operation can create a European works council (comité d’entreprise européen) (Labour Code, Articles L2341-1), which can be merged, according to the Labour Code, with a group-level works council, if employee representatives agree.

Since the implementation of Law No. 2015-994 of 17 August 2015, bipartite regional committees (commissions syndical paritaires interprofessionnelles) have been set up in the 13 French regions to offer the 4.6 million employees working in small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 11 employees coverage by an information and consultative body (Labour Code, Article L.2234-1). The role of the committee is to provide legal information or advice to employees and employers; to discuss and adopt advice or statements about issues related to small and medium-sized enterprises (professional training, employment, health and safety, and the forecasting and management of skills).

According to Dares (2022a), in 2020, 41.4% of companies with 10 or more employees in the non-agricultural private sector (0.5 percentage points fewer than in 2019), representing 78.4% of employees in the field, were covered by at least one employee representation body. It can be observed that works councils are present in 35% of companies. These companies employ 74% of employees. CSEs are present in 35.5% of companies; these companies employ 74.9% of employees. At the time of the survey, 5.6% of companies still had one or more bodies in place that existed prior to the 2017 reform with new elections possibly taking place later in the year. The decline in the presence of union delegates, which began in 2019, continued in 2020. Health, safety and working conditions committees, which are mandatory in companies with 300 or more employees that have set up new employee representation bodies, are present in 79.4% of these companies. They are also present in 21.0% of companies with 50 to 299 employees.

Technical committees

Information and consultation bodies also exist in the public sector, but their organisation is different from that in the private sector. The main consultative bodies in the public sector are technical committees.

The reform of collective bargaining in the public sector brought about by Law No. 2010-751 of 5 July 2010 alters the way trade union representativeness is assessed in the public sector, in line with regulations that have been in place in the private sector since 2008. Since this legislation was implemented, workplace elections have determined the extent to which trade unions are involved in negotiations, can sign agreements and hold seats on tripartite advisory bodies.

The technical committee has different competences depending on the civil service divisions it belongs to, for example national civil service, public hospitals or local government.

Regulation, composition and competences of the representative body

The central concern of employment relations is the collective governance of work and employment. This section looks at collective bargaining in France.

Bargaining system

Collective bargaining in France has been predominantly conducted at sectoral level. Typically, central agreements are concluded between employer organisations and unions at industry level. Subsequently, social partners frequently apply to the Ministry of Labour for the extension of most provisions of the agreement, which is granted in virtually all cases. Therefore, the coverage rate of collective bargaining is estimated to be above 90%. The decentralisation of sectoral bargaining started in the early 1980s (with the implementation of the Auroux laws), but the principle of favourability, which forbids company-level agreements from providing less favourable provisions than higher-level agreements, has been maintained. This principle was diluted through reforms in 2004, 2008 and 2013. With the labour law reform of 2016, collective bargaining was further decentralised, as the law gives company-level agreements precedence over those at sectoral level or the law itself if the latter so provides. This reversal has been provided for since 1 January 2017 in connection with the legislation on working time.

Wage bargaining coverage

Wage bargaining coverage is remarkably high in France, and the European Company Survey figures seem to underestimate the real coverage. In reality, almost all employees are covered by national sectoral wage agreements. The latest available national data are outdated, but they show that coverage increased from 93.7% to 97.7% for employees in the private sector between 1997 and 2004. The survey on which these figures are based (the Labour Activity and Employment Conditions Survey) has been discontinued. Recent OECD data also estimate the share at 98%.
 

Collective wage bargaining coverage of employees, all levels

Note: * Percentage of employees working in local units where more than 50% of the employees are covered by a collective pay agreement against the total number of employees who participated in the survey.

Sources: Eurofound, European Company Survey 2013/2019 (including private sector companies with establishments with more than 10 employees (NACE codes B–S); the question in the survey was a multiple choice question and multiple responses were possible); Eurostat [earn_ses10_01], [earn_ses14_01], [earn_ses18_01] (including companies with more than 10 employees (NACE codes B–S, excluding O), with a single response for each local unit); OECD and AIAS, 2021; authors’ estimates.

Bargaining levels

Working time is set by law, but its organisation is negotiated at company and sectoral levels. As the legislator made negotiations at company level compulsory, it is mainly at the company level where working time arrangements that differ from the statutory 35-hour week are renegotiated. Wages are negotiated mainly at sectoral level, but also frequently at company level because the legislation stipulates that employers (in companies with over 50 employees) have to launch wage negotiations each year. However, the minimum wage is fixed by law and has to be respected by sectoral and company-level agreements.

A restructuring of sectoral collective agreements (conventions collectives de branche) has been under way since 2016, having been launched by the publication of a decree that sets out the restructuring procedure. The aim is to reduce, over three years, the number of sectors from 700 to around 200. The labour law reform of 2017 has accelerated this process, with the goal of reaching 100 sectors and allowing the Minister of Labour to merge sectors from 10 August 2018, rather than from 10 August 2019. By the end of 2021, Dares (2023b) recorded about 265 main sectoral collective agreements, each covering at least 5,000 employees.

Levels of collective bargaining, 2022

Articulation

The September 2017 labour law reform has reduced the importance of sectoral agreements and has put company-level agreements at the centre of the collective bargaining system. Ordinance No. 2017-1385 lists specific topics (such as minimum wages) for which sectoral agreements remain in effect. It also includes a limited list of topics for which the specific agreement determines whether it takes precedence over company-level agreements. Sectoral agreements will apply to all other matters in the absence of company-level agreements. Therefore, for many issues, company-level agreements remain in effect.

Timing of bargaining rounds

There is no clear trend, but wage bargaining activity peaks at the beginning and the end of the year, and in the months before the French summer holidays in August.

Coordination

The decentralisation of collective bargaining leads to the very weak coordination of wage bargaining. Company-level social partners have important autonomy to negotiate on wage changes, as only minimum rates are negotiated at sectoral level. In 2022, in over 39 sectors, negotiated minimum wages were still lower than the legal minimum wage, which has to be respected. There is little horizontal coordination (i.e. little coordination between sectors).

Extension mechanisms

Extension mechanisms are used extensively. This practice means declaring the terms of a collective agreement, negotiated between the representative organisations within a subsector (branche), applicable to all the employees and employers in that subsector. In order to extend a collective agreement, social partners have to ask the Ministry of Labour to issue a ministerial order. A vast number of national sectoral wage agreements are extended, resulting in very high coverage rates.

Derogation mechanisms

New legislation on collective bargaining passed in 2008 allows company-level agreements to depart from the principle of favourability, but explicitly excludes minimum wage levels negotiated at sectoral level. Recent changes have introduced the possibility of company-level agreements providing less favourable pay in exchange for job security when companies are facing economic difficulties. The 2016 labour law reforms extended the option of providing less favourable remuneration for overtime. For instance, the new regulation stipulates that a company-level agreement or, in cases where there is no such agreement, a sectors-level agreement fixes the rate for hours worked beyond the legal maximum. However, this rate cannot be lower than the statutory additional payment of 10%. This means that social partners at company level could agree on an additional payment of 15%, even if the sectors-level agreement provides for 20%.

The practice of including provisions with opening clauses or opt-out clauses in collective agreements is very rare. However, the labour law reform of 2017 allows sectoral agreements to be adapted to the size of the company. For example, some of the stipulations of these agreements may not cover small businesses.

Expiry of collective agreements

Sectoral wage agreements usually do not expire. Social partners negotiate annually at sectoral level. If no agreement can be reached, the previous agreement remains in place.

Peace clauses

The concept of including peace clauses in collective agreements is unheard of in France, as it could be considered to be a violation of the constitutional right to strike.

Other aspects of working life addressed in collective agreements

In terms of financial participation, profit-sharing schemes and employee savings schemes are the most common topics in collective agreements made at company level (a topic in 34,120 agreements in 2021, out of a total of 76,820). The other main issues are wages and bonuses (17,869 agreements), working time (16,800 agreements), working conditions (6,070 agreements) and gender equality (5,710 agreements). This is also a consequence of legislation that obliges social partners to negotiate regularly on gender issues. The commitment of the social partners to negotiate is due to the historic industrial relations environment, as companies are obliged to negotiate annually on a range of topics (e.g. wages, working time, the organisation of work, collective health insurance, financial participation) or on a multiannual basis (gender equality, the employment of workers with disabilities). Commonly, the commitment is to negotiate but not reach an agreement. However, the employer has to reach an agreement with employees on issues related to gender equality and older workers, or, if the social partners fail to agree, adopt a plan of action. The annual assessment of collective bargaining, launched by the Ministry of Labour, gives an overview of the main topics negotiated at sectors and company levels.

Legal aspects

The right to strike applies to all employees whenever a trade union is involved. Although not all and not even the majority of employees must be involved, an individual can only go on strike when their action is in relation to national strike action.

In order to be considered a strike, the action must fulfil three conditions.

• It must involve a complete work stoppage.
• It must involve consultation with the workforce.
• Strikers have to issue demands that are related to the terms and conditions of their employment (for instance, related to wages, working conditions or restructuring).

If the three requirements are not met, the strike is considered unlawful. Employees participating in unlawful strikes are not protected by strike legislation and may be sanctioned or dismissed. Unlawful strikes include, for instance, go-slows and acts of sabotage, strikes concerning a particular obligation that is part of the employment contract (such as on-call duty), repeated blockades or occupations of the company without a collective work stoppage or employee consultation and strikes at company level that are purely political.

In the private sector and the public sector, apart from in public transport, there is no obligation for workers to inform their employer or to attempt to reach an amicable agreement. There is also no regulation of the minimum or maximum duration of a strike. Occupying company premises and preventing non-strikers from working is also unlawful action.

If the strike is in line with legislation, picketers are protected from sanctions and dismissal if they participate in the strike. Management may retain a proportional part of the striker’s salary and all extra payments, such as compensation for travel expenses.

According to Dares (2023c), workers’ demands related to pay for 73% of companies affected by at least one strike in 2021. This was the reason most frequently given and was 25 percentage points higher than in 2020, when the relative proportion of wage demands was in line with the average for the previous 10 years (48%). Working conditions were a reason cited by 31% of companies in 2021, an increase of 7 percentage points over one year. Employment was the third most common reason for strike action (13%), followed by working time (11%), with both reasons having similar shares to 2020. Demands linked to the pension reform were stated by 3% of companies in 2021, but 23% in industry.
 

Developments in industrial action, 2011–2022

Sources: Dares, 2021b, 2023c; Dares, 2024a

Dispute resolution mechanisms

Collective dispute resolution mechanisms

According to Article L2522 of the French Labour Code, all work-related collective conflicts may be subject to conciliation. Therefore, there is a network of regional conciliation commissions and one National Conciliation Commission (Commission nationale de conciliation). These tripartite bodies can be called upon in the event of any collective conflict. Their composition is usually determined by sectoral agreement. These bodies or the public authorities may also launch mediation procedures to resolve the conflict (Article L2523-1).

Individual dispute resolution mechanisms

Individual dispute resolution is very rare in France. The point has been addressed in recent reforms of the employment tribunal system.

Use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms

The mechanisms of conciliation and mediation are not compulsory and, in fact, are rarely used. Therefore, no statistics are available.

‘Individual employment relations’ refers to the relationship between the individual worker and their employer. This relationship is shaped by legal regulation and by the outcomes of social partner negotiations over terms and conditions. This section looks at the start and termination of the employment relationship and entitlements and obligations in France.

Start and termination of the employment relationship

Requirements regarding an employment contract

The minimum working age is 18 years, with derogations for those aged 16 and above for certain roles in the workplace, such as apprenticeships. An employment contract exists from the time when an individual (the employee) commits to working for and under the management of another person (the employer). Employment contracts should be issued in written form.

Dismissal and termination procedures

The employment contract implies a state of subordination for the employee and grants the employer the right to take disciplinary action against misconduct. Under Article 1232-1 of the Labour Code, dismissal must be justified by a ‘real and serious cause’. The employer has to comply with strict procedures. This must begin with hand-delivering or sending by registered post a letter to the employee’s home address inviting them to attend a preliminary meeting. The grounds for considering dismissal must be clearly stated and the meeting must be held on a date at least five days after the letter is due to be delivered to the employee. The letter must also inform the employee that they are entitled to be accompanied at the meeting by a fellow employee or an employee representative. The 2017 labour law reform simplified, clarified and solidified the procedural rules that apply to redundancy. For instance, a new regulation proposed the use of a pro forma dismissal template and allows the employer to provide additional information before the court. The goal is to reduce the number of cases where an employer has to pay compensation for a dismissal that is deemed to be unfair but is in fact based on a legitimate cause.

Other termination procedures are resignation (an employee must demonstrate a clear and unequivocal wish to resign); retirement (at the employee’s initiative before they are 70, or at the employer’s initiative after the employee’s 70th birthday); and mutual termination (rupture conventionnelle), which involves an agreement between both parties and is subject to the Labour Inspectorate’s approval.

The rupture conventionnelle is a form of termination of an employment contract that has become very common, as it provides legal certainty for the employer and enables a termination by mutual agreement. According to the latest available data, approximately 502,000 mutual termination agreements were approved in 2021 (compared with 284,000 in 2012).

Entitlements and obligations

Parental, maternity and paternity leave

In practice, almost all employed and unemployed mothers take maternity leave, and, in 2013, 7 out of 10 eligible fathers used their paternity leave (Antunez and Buisson, 2019). Paternity leave was doubled from July 2021. Before July 2021, fathers enjoyed 11 days’ paternity leave with an allowance paid by the social security system, plus the three days of leave for the birth of a child provided for by the Labour Code and remunerated by the employer. The aim was to add a further 14 days, financed by the social security system, in order to reach a target of 28 days, 7 of which were compulsory.

Statutory leave arrangements

Sick leave

The employment contract of an employee who is on leave due to illness is considered suspended. Absence due to illness cannot form the basis of a termination. However, in cases of extended or repeated sick leave, the employer may (under certain conditions) be entitled to terminate the employment contract on the grounds that the employee’s absence hinders the proper functioning of the company, and the company is consequently required to permanently replace the employee. The employee will continue to receive their salary during their absence if they fulfil certain conditions set by the Labour Code, or by the applicable collective bargaining agreement, if more favourable. During sickness, after a three-day period of grace, salaries are paid by the national health insurance system.

Retirement age

Since the pension reform in 2023, the retirement age has been 64 for employees born after 1 January 1968. It is 62 for those born before 1 September 1961. It then increases gradually from 62 years and 3 months (for employees born between 1 September 1961 and 31 December 1961) to 63 years (for people born in 1963) and finally 64 years (for those born in 1968). Early retirement is possible. Employees may take retirement with full pension before the legal age if they started to work at 16, 18, 20 or 21 years old. The retirement age is also related to the number of years of social security contributions paid (between 161 and 172 quarters of contributions are required, depending on the employee’s date of birth, to obtain a full pension). A recognised disability also gives the employee a right to early retirement. There is no difference in the legal retirement age for men and women.

For workers, pay is a reward for their work and their main source of income; for employers, it is a cost of production and a focus of bargaining and legislation. This section looks at minimum wage setting in France.

In France, the gross hourly minimum wage (salaire minimum interprofessionnel de croissance, SMIC) was €10.85 in 2022. Since 1990, it has risen by 143%, around twice as fast as prices.

In 2020, the average monthly full-time equivalent wage in the private sector was €2,520, net of social security contributions. In constant euro – that is, adjusted for inflation – it has risen by an average of 1.4% a year since 2015. At the extremes of the scale, 1 in 10 private sector employees earns less than €1,340 a month and 1 in 10 earns more than €4,030. On average, women earn 15.0% less than men. In the second quarter of 2022, negotiated wages (basic monthly wage and gross hourly wage) increased significantly (by 3.0% and 3.5%, respectively) compared with the same period in 2021. These trends must be set against inflation: consumer prices (for all households and excluding tobacco) increased by 6.0% between the end of June 2021 and the end of June 2022. Over one year and in constant euro, the gross hourly wage fell by 2.5% and the basic monthly wage by 2.9%.

Median monthly basic wage and salary per worker, annual average (€)

Sources: Insee, 2013, 2023a (see Eurostat’s RAMONserver for descriptions and classifications).

Average monthly basic wage and salary per worker, annual average (€)

Sources: Insee, 2013, 2022 (see Eurostat’s RAMON server for descriptions and classifications).

Minimum wages

The minimum wage (SMIC) is updated in three ways.

1. In order to decide on the new statutory rates each year on 1 January, the Labour Code provides for a formula incorporating two mandatory parameters:

• The harmonised consumer price index, excluding tobacco, for the lowest earning households (belonging to the first earnings quintile). The price index affecting the poorest 20% of households changes faster than the price index for all households, because the share of energy and food in the budget of poor households is greater than for more affluent households. The increase is calculated for the period between the last uprate of the statutory minimum wage for which the index was used and the time when a new increase is being decided.
• Half of the annual increase in the purchasing power of the basic hourly wage of workers and employees, between the last known quarter of the year at the date of revaluation and the same quarter of the previous year.

These two parameters are added up to determine the statutory rate hike (no negative contribution is possible, so parameters are limited to zero in the case of a negative value).

2. An automatic revaluation occurs during the year if the consumer price index of the lowest earning households (belonging to the first earnings quintile), calculated each month, rises by at least 2% compared with the index recorded at the time of the last change in the minimum wage.

3. The government has the discretion to boost the proposed increase in the minimum wage, although no additional increase to the automatic revaluation has taken place since July 2012. The French minimum wage expert committee may or may not recommend such a boost, and if so its possible amount, in its annual report, launched in December. It is forbidden to pay workers below the legal minimum wage even though sector-level collective agreements maintain minimum agreed wages lower than the legal minimum wage. The minimum wage covers all employees except young workers in apprenticeships or on state-subsidised employment contracts, who receive a reduced minimum wage.

Minimum wage rates, 2017–2023 (€)

Note: Data provided each year on 1 January.

Source: Insee, 2023b.

Working time is ‘any period during which the worker is working, at the employer’s disposal and carrying out his activity or duties, in accordance with national laws and/or practice’ (Directive 2003/88/EC). This section briefly summarises the regulation of and issues regarding working time, overtime, part-time work and working time flexibility in France.

Working time regulation

French statutory working time is 35 hours per week. The Aubry laws of 1998 and 2000 reduced the statutory working week from 39 hours to 35 hours from 2000 for all companies employing more than 20 people, and from 2002 for smaller companies. All French companies negotiated working time reductions between 2000 and 2004. The law permits a variety of flexible arrangements whereby companies may derogate (within limits) from certain provisions of the working time legislation, provided such arrangements are negotiated and organised through collective bargaining. This applies, for example, to the annual calculation of overtime if the agreement provides for an annual adjustment of working hours, or to the calculation of executives’ working time by days worked in the course of the year (Boulin and Cette, 2008).

As part of the labour law reform of 2016 (implemented by Law No. 2016-1088), Decree Nos. 2016-1553 and 2016-1551 of 18 November 2016 implement Article 8 of the law. This article amends the legislation on working time in three ways: it sets out the public policy provisions relevant to the employment relationship, it specifies the scope of collective bargaining in a sectors or enterprise, and it sets out the provisions that apply in the absence of a collective agreement.

Since 1 January 2017, the principle has been to give primacy to company-level agreements over sectors-level agreements for most provisions concerning working time. There is also a new obligation for employers to negotiate on adequate rest times and annual leave, and to pursue agreements that respect the private and family lives of employees. In the absence of an agreement, the employer must clearly set out the procedures through which an employee can exercise the ‘right to disconnect’ (droit à la déconnexion) from all work-related communication.

Overtime regulation

Every hour worked above the legally fixed 35 hours counts as overtime. Since 1 January 2017, company-level agreements have been able to fix the additional payment for overtime hours. The additional payment cannot be lower than 10%, but it can be lower than the rate stipulated by the applicable sectoral collective agreement. If no company-level or sectoral agreement is applicable, the employer must compensate for overtime with an extra 25% of pay for the first eight hours worked per week and 50% for every additional hour. Alternatively, a sectoral or company-level agreement may substitute payment for overtime with additional time off. Maximum overtime is fixed by law at 220 hours per year, but sectoral or company-level agreements may deviate from the provisions within certain limits. Since 1 January 2017, company-level agreements have been able to introduce flexibility about the maximum length of working time. However, in any case, daily working time must not exceed 12 hours per day (or night), 46 hours over 12 consecutive weeks and 48 hours per week.

Part-time work

A part-time worker is defined as a worker whose working time is less than 35 hours per week, with the applicable working time determined by a collective agreement or the habitual working time of the company. The Labour Code provides for a minimum working time limit of 24 hours per week, which can be reduced by sectoral-level agreement with compensation (Article L3123-19). The proportion of employees working part-time has been increasing slowly but steadily over the past 30 years. In 2019, Eurostat figures showed that 17.8% of the French workforce worked part-time. National data suggest that the increase in part-time work is larger among men than women, although women are still significantly more likely to work reduced hours. The proportions of men and women working part-time out of all employed people were very similar to those in the EU27 in 2019.

According to the Ministry of Labour (Dares, 2022b), the proportion of part-time employees has tripled in 45 years, but has been falling steadily, from 20.0% in 2017 to 17.3% in 2023 (Dares, 2024b). In 2023, more than 1 woman in 4 worked part-time (26.6%), compared with fewer than 1 man in 10 (7.8%).

Night work

According to the Labour Code, ‘night work’ means any work period of nine consecutive hours between 21:00 and 7:00. This work period must include the time between 00:00 and 5:00 (Labour Code, Article L3122-2). Night work is to be performed only in exceptional circumstances (Labour Code, Article L3122-1).

Shift work

There is no definition of shift work (travail posté) in the Labour Code. The definition in the EU Working Time Directive is therefore applicable. Shift work means any method of work organisation in which workers succeed each other at the same workstation in accordance with a certain shift pattern, including a rotational pattern. The pattern may be continuous or discontinuous, entailing the need for workers to work at different times over a given number of days or weeks.

Weekend work

There is no legal definition of weekend work. The Labour Code stipulates that the weekly rest day has to be on Sunday, although derogations are possible. According to a study by Dares (2018), 25.5% of the workforce worked at least two Saturdays per month in 2017. On average in 2020, 18.9% of workers in employment worked at least one Sunday over four consecutive weeks. This proportion was down on 2019 (by 2.7 percentage points), owing to the COVID-19 crisis.

Rest and breaks

Every employee must have a rest period between two working days. The legal minimum period of rest is 11 consecutive hours (Labour Code, Article L3131-1). However, derogations from this period may be set by agreement (Labour Code, Article L3131-2). However, a collective agreement cannot reduce the daily rest period to less than nine hours. Employees are not allowed to work for more than six days consecutively (Labour Code, Article L3132-1), and the minimum weekly rest period is 35 hours (Labour Code, Article L3132-2). However, derogations are possible.

Working time flexibility

Flexible working time arrangements usually have to be approved by a works council or, if there is no works council, a staff delegate, and the Labour Inspectorate must be informed. If the company has neither a works council nor a staff delegate, the Labour Inspectorate has to approve the flexible working time arrangement. The labour law reforms of 2016 and 2017 have extended the negotiation of flexibility through company-level agreements.

Maintaining health and well-being should be a high priority for workers and employers alike. Health is an asset closely associated with a person’s quality of life and longevity, as well as their ability to work. A healthy economy depends on a healthy workforce: organisations can experience loss of productivity through the ill health of their workers. This section looks at psychosocial risks and health and safety at work in France.

Health and safety at work

The main legislation related to health and safety is the Labour Code. The employer must ensure the health and safety of their workers by implementing prevention, information and training measures. They must also assess the occupational risks at each workstation. These risks must be recorded in a document. Failure to comply with this obligation may result in civil and/or criminal liability.

In 2021, there were 604,565 accidents at work, down 7.8% on 2019 (655,715). The frequency of accidents (31 accidents per 1,000 employees) is exceptionally low. The index reached a stable low level of 33 to 34 between 2011 and 2019. It should be noted that 10,662 psychological disorders were recorded as accidents at work in 2021, mainly in the health and social care (25%), passenger transport (15%) and retail (10%) sectors. The number of fatal accidents at work (645 in 2021) was also down on 2019 (by 88). Illness accounted for 56% of fatalities. Some 12% of fatalities were the result of road accidents. The frequency of commuting accidents (89,278) was 12.4% higher in 2021 than in 2020, but the number of accidents remained lower than in 2019 (by 10%). It should be noted that commuting accidents increasingly include accidents involving bicycles and scooters. In 2021, 240 fatal commuting accidents were recorded. The number of cases of occupational illness recognised in 2021 (46,448) was also down on 2019 (by 4.3%). Musculoskeletal disorders alone accounted for 86% of recognised occupational illnesses. It should also be noted that 2,183 cases of COVID-19 were recognised as occupational diseases (Assurance Maladie, 2022; INRS, 2022).

Psychosocial risks

Employers are legally obliged (Labour Code, Article L4121-1) to evaluate psychosocial risks and to take the necessary measures to ensure the protection and security of employees’ mental and physical health. For this purpose, employers must implement measures to tackle the sources of the risks and to adapt working conditions accordingly. These may include designing workplaces and adapting methods of work and production with the aim of, for instance, avoiding monotonous work and work at a predetermined work rate, and providing technical support. Moreover, employers are required to plan risk prevention holistically, taking into account technical aspects, work organisation, and employment and social relations, in particular with regard to moral and sexual harassment. In addition, two national cross-sectoral agreements have dealt with psychosocial risks, namely the 2008 agreement on stress at work and the 2010 agreement on harassment and violence at work.

Skills are the passport to employment; the more highly skilled an individual, the more employable they are. People with good skills also tend to secure better-quality jobs and better earnings. This section briefly summarises the French system for ensuring skills and employability and looks at training provision.

National system for ensuring skills and employability

All employers must participate in funding measures to ensure skills and employability by providing training to their employees.

Training

The 2016 labour law reform has changed how employers’ contributions to vocational training are calculated. Previously, they equated to 1.6% of payroll costs for companies with 20 or more employees, and 1.05% for those with between 10 and 19 employees. This contribution was replaced by a single compulsory contribution of 1% of payroll costs for all businesses with more than 10 employees. A lower rate of 0.55% applies to companies with fewer than 10 employees.

Since 1 January 2015, all employees have had an individual training account, valid from when they first joined the labour market to when they retire. An employee who changes jobs or alternates between work and unemployment will retain his or her right to training. On 1 January 2017, the personal training account (compte personnel d’activité) merged the training rights granted through three previous schemes: the individual training accounts, created in 2015; the individual accounts for employees performing arduous tasks, launched in 2016; and the citizen engagement account. Workers over 16 years of age are invited to create their personal accounts on a specific website to accumulate rights to finance for professional training.

Since 1 January 2019, the personal training account has been credited in euro instead of hours. The aim is to provide access to a larger number of training courses, certified by the new vocational education and training governance body (France compétences), to overcome eligibility restraints due to the sectoral segmentation of the current system. To facilitate access to certified training, the law introduces the modularisation of the courses, with all professional certifications being divided into ‘competence blocks’. The autonomy of individuals should be supported by professional counselling, for which they receive additional funding. The governance of the system is being reshaped, with new responsibilities given to multisectoral skills operators (opérateurs de compétences) to support companies in defining the training needs of employees. The national public agency France compétences is in charge of financing and regulating the system. Regions have seen their role of overseeing coordination in providing direction and guidance strengthened, including with regard to additional professional counselling.

The principle of equal treatment requires that all people – and, in the context of the workplace, all workers – have the right to receive the same treatment, and will not be discriminated against on the basis of criteria such as age, sex, disability, nationality, race and religion.

The general prohibition of discrimination at work is set out in the preamble to the 1946 constitution, which states that ‘no person may be prejudiced, in their work or employment, on the grounds of their origins, opinions or beliefs’. The current legislation (Labour Code, Article L1131-1) stipulates that no one may be discriminated against on the basis of origin, sex, morality, sexual orientation or age (unless the differential treatment is justified by a legitimate objective, such as when there are specific requirements for a job); family status; genetic characteristics; actual or supposed adherence to or non-observance of any ethnic origin, nationality or race; political opinion; trade union membership or similar activity; religious beliefs; physical appearance; surname; health; or disability.

This applies to accessing recruitment processes, internships and training courses. No employee may be sanctioned, dismissed or subjected to discriminatory measures. All types of discrimination are prohibited, whether direct or indirect, and particularly in matters of pay, training, appointment, qualification, rank, promotion, and the variation or renewal of a contract. No employee may be sanctioned, dismissed or subjected to any discriminatory measure on the grounds that he or she is lawfully exercising his or her right to strike.

Equal pay and gender pay gap

Equality between men and women has become a subject of mandatory bargaining for companies with at least 50 employees, an obligation now accompanied by a financial penalty of up to 1% of the total payroll amount if not complied with (Labour Code, Article L2242-8). Important agreements have been reached in large companies.

According to Eurostat, the gender pay gap in France was slightly below the EU27 average in 2016 (12.7% compared with 15.4%). According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Insee), the gap decreased consistently from 2008 to 2021, from 20.9% to 14.8%.

A new measure included in Law No. 2018-771 of 5 September 2018 on ‘freedom to choose one’s professional future’ aimed to reduce the wage gap between women and men. This innovative system is based first of all on an employer’s self-assessment, which in turn is based on an index composed of five indicators, each with a value expressed in points: (1) the elimination of wage gaps between women and men for comparable positions and ages (40 points); (2) the same chance of having a salary increase for women as for men (20 points); (3) the same chance of obtaining a promotion for women as for men (15 points); (4) all female employees given increases that have been given in their absence upon their return from maternity leave (15 points); (5) at least 4 women in the 10 highest-paying positions (10 points). The employer must evaluate its performance according to these five criteria, publish the results on its website, forward them to employee representatives and give itself an overall score. If the score is less than 75 points, corrective measures must be implemented. Companies that have not achieved satisfactory results by 1 March 2022 risk a penalty of up to 1% of the payroll. For companies with 50 to 250 employees, the penalty was applicable from 1 March 2023.

Quota regulations

In 2010, the government passed legislation requiring companies trading on the stock exchange to increase the share of women on their supervisory boards to 40% by 2016.

In 2005, the French government introduced rules on the compulsory employment of workers with disabilities (obligation d’emploi de travailleurs handicapés). Companies with at least 20 members of staff must have 6% of full-time equivalent workers on their payroll registered as disabled. In 2018, the government announced a reform of this regulation, which had not fully achieved its objectives.

Employer organisations

MEDEF and its affiliates

• Movement of French Enterprises (MEDEF)
• Association of Communication Consulting Agencies (AACC)
• French Banks’ Association (AFB)
• French Maritime Industry Association (GICAN)
• Wholesale and International Trade Employers’ Federation (CGI)
• French Confederation of the Paper, Cardboard and Cellulose Industries (Copacel)
• Federation of Commerce and Distribution Employers (FCD)
• French Building Federation (FFB)
• French Federation of Insurance (France Assureurs)
• Federation of Energy and Environment Services (Fedene)
• Federation of French Electrical, Electronic and Communication Industries (FIEEC)
• French Vehicle Equipment Industries Association (FIEV)
• National Federation of Wood (FNB)
• French Footwear Federation (FFC)
• Union of Polymer Transformers (Polyvia)
• French Aerospace Industries Association (GIFAS)
• Federation of Haute Couture and Fashion (FHCM)
• French Union of Fashion and Clothing Industries (UFIMH)
• Union of Metal Manufacturing, Mining, Engineering, Electrical and Metal Equipment and Allied Industries (UIMM)
• France Chimie
• Union of Textile Industries (UIT)
• Audiovisual Production Union (USPA)

Other organisations

• Confederation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (CPME)
• Young Leaders’ Centre (CJD)
• Union of Local Businesses (U2P)

Trade unions

CFDT and its affiliates

• French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT)
• Services Workers’ Federation (CFDT: Services)
• Chemical and Energy Workers’ Federation (FCE)
• Private Education and Training Workers’ Federation (FEP)
• Agriculture and Foodworkers’ Federation (FGA)
• Metalworking and Mining Workers’ Federation (FGMM-CFDT)
• Finance Workers’ Federation (CFDT: Finances)
• Building and Woodworkers’ Federation (FNCB)
• Local Authority Workers’ Federation (CFDT: Interco)
• Health and Social Services Workers’ Federation (CFDT: Santé Sociaux)
• Federation of Education Workers’ Unions (SGEN)
• Cadres’ and Engineers’ Union (CFDT: Cadres)

CFE-CGC and its affiliates

• French Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff – General Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff (CFE-CGC)
• Sales Managers’ Union (CSN)
• Metalworking Managers’ Federation (CFE-CGC Métallurgie)
• Electricity and Gas Managers’ Federation (CFE-CGC Énergies)
• Banking Managers’ Union (SNB)
• Chemicals Managers’ Union (CFE-CGC Chimie)

CGT and its affiliates

• General Confederation of Labour (CGT)
• Research and Culture Workers’ Federation (FERC)
• Publishing, Paper and Communication Federation (Filpac)
• Finance Workers’ Federation (CGT Finances)
• Chemical Industry Workers’ Federation (FNIC)
• Mining and Energy Workers’ Federation (FNME)
• Performing Arts Workers’ Federation (FNSAC)
• Health and Social Services Workers’ Federation (CGT Santé Action Sociale)
• Research Organisations’ Workers’ Federation (FSETUD)
• Public Service Workers’ Federation (FSP-CGT)
• Metalworkers’ Federation (FTM)
• Posts and Telecommunications Workers' Union (FAPT)
• Managerial and Professional Union (UGICT)

CGT-FO and its affiliates

• General Confederation of Labour – Force Ouvrière (CGT-FO)
• Finance Workers’ Federation
• Rail Workers’ Federation (FO Cheminots)
• Civil Servants’ Federation (FO Fonction Publique)
• Metalworkers’ Federation (FO Métaux)
• Posts and Telecoms Workers’ Federation (FO Com)
• Public and Health Services Workers’ Federation
• FO Cadres

CFTC and its affiliates

• French Christian Workers’ Confederation (CFTC)
• Commerce Workers’ Federation (CFTC-CSFV)
• Civil Servants’ Federation (CFTC-FAE)
• Health and Social Services Workers’ Federation (Syndicat CFTC Santé Sociaux)

Independent and other unions

• Union Syndicale du Groupe des Dix (a group of 10 independent unions)
• Journalists’ Union (SNJ)
• Education Workers’ Union (SUD éducation)
• Posts and Telecom Workers’ Union (SUD PTT)
• National Federation of Independent Unions (UNSA)
•  
• Independent Federation of Education, Research and Culture Unions (FSU)

Government

• Service-Public.fr
• Ministry of Labour

Other links

• National Association for Adult Vocational Training (Afpa)
• National Agency for the Improvement of Working Conditions (ANACT)
• Personnel Management Association (ANDRH)
• National Employment Agency (Pôle Emploi)
• National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee)
• Légifrance
• Unemployment Insurance Body (Unedic)
• Social Security Body (Urssaf)

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