The French 35-hour working week is one of the top concerns for UK companies expanding into France — often imagined as a rigid cap that clashes with international business demands. In practice, it's simply a statutory reference point for calculating working time, not a maximum.
French employment law offers several routes to flexibility:
- Overtime beyond 35 hours, paid at a legal premium that can be negotiated down through a collective agreement.
- Annualised working time, which lets employers increase hours during peak periods and reduce them during quieter ones, without triggering overtime.
- The "forfait jours" scheme, a working-time arrangement calculated in days per year, designed for managers and senior staff.
Many of these arrangements require a company-level agreement — a process that is usually far more accessible than foreign companies expect, including in small businesses with no union presence.
At CERDIC LEGAL, we help UK businesses structure compliant working-time systems tailored to their operational needs, draft the right contractual clauses, and train teams to apply French labour law with confidence — turning a perceived obstacle into a genuine operational advantage.
Read the full article by Alexandra Dabrowiecki on the UK Business Centre Lille website: 35-hour working week in France: myths and realities
