France

• Author: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (European Commission), European Centre of Expertise (ECE)
• Pages: 18-23

Flash Re por t 1 2/2018

Decem ber 20 18

18

France

Sum ma ry

(I ) Decrees have been adopted t o

im plem ent laws on working tim e an d

app rent iceships.

(I I) An ordinance on the prot ection of personal data f acilitat es the implem entat ion of

th e General Data Prot ection Reg ulat ion.

(III)

The Cou rt of Cassation has r endered j udg m en t s on r et irem ent p en sion

en

titlements, unilat eral m od if icat ion of em ploym ent con dit ions, the employ m en t

st atu s of bicy cle d eliv erer s, tra nsfer s of un der tak ings and dism issa ls af ter an accid ent

at wor k.

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1 Nation al Le gislat ion

1.1 W orkin g tim e

Basically, in dividuals un der t he age of 18 year s may not wor k m ore t h an 35 h ou rs a

week and 8 hour s a day (Labour Cod e, Art . L. 31 62- 1 ). Act No. 20 18-7 71 of

05 Septem ber 2018 pr ov ides t he possibility of der ogating fr om this m axim um w orking

ti me for cer tain act ivi tie s. Decree No. 201 8-1139 o f 13 Dece mbe r 2 018 now de fine s th e

sect ors of act ivity for w hich th e m ax imum wor king hours of youn g w or kers may b e

adj u st ed wh er e j ustified by t h e collectiv e or ganisation of w or k . I t cov ers em ployees,

tr ainees and apprent ices under the ag e of 18 years (Art . L. 3 161- 1 and L. 62 22-2 5 of

th e Labour Cod e) . Where t h e or ganisation of wor k w ar rants, it w ill be possible, after

notifying t he Regional Direct orate for Com panies, Fair Trading, Con sumer Af fair s,

Labo ur and Emp loy men t, to in crease th e m ax imu m week ly wor kin g t im e b y 5 hou rs and

th e m axim um dail y w orking tim e by 2 hour s.

Accor din g t o t he n ew Ar ti cle R. 316 2-1 of t he Labou r Cod e, the acti vit ies c over ed a re a s

fo llow s:

• Activit ie s carried ou t o n bu ildin g sit es;

• Activ ities carri ed ou t on public work s sit es;

• Creation, dev elopment and m aintenance act ivities on landscap e space

sit es.

In ot her sect or s not covered by t he decree, it w ill also be possible to derogate f rom

work in g t im e, but wit h a m ore restrict iv e procedure. Derogation s must be granted by

th e labour in spector and with the consent of the occupational p hysician ( Labour Code,

Art . L. 3162- 1 ) . However, t he work ing t ime of y oung workers m ay not exceed th e

norm al dai ly and week ly w ork ing tim e of adu lts em ploy ed in the establish men t ( Labou r

Code, Ar t. L. 316 2-1 ) .

These new pr ovisi ons a pply to all con tracts conclu ded afte r 01 Janu ary 2019.

1.2 Pro fession al com pet ence r equired o f an a ppr entice’s su per viso r

Act No. 201 8-771 of 05 Sept em b er 2018 en sh rined t he legal prin ciple that t he

sup erv isor of an ap pre nti ce m ust be an em plo yee of t he com pany , v olun tar y, of full age

an d cha ract eri sed b y m or al in teg rit y. The emp loye r m ay also per form t his fun ctio n ( Art .

L. 62 23- 8-1 of t h e Labour Code). A novelt y of the law is t hat it is up to the branch

negot iation to def in e the condit ions of the professional com pet en ce required of the