Working Hours in France

This has led to considerable fluctuations in working hours, depending on conditions and circumstances.

Definition of the word "FLUCTUATION": oscillations around a reference point, which in our topic brings us to the right to work. But this right to work must take place in acceptable living and rest conditions, or outside of working hours.

Evolution of Working Hours over Time:

Let's go back in time: in the 19th century, the working day was mainly reserved for women and children who worked between 12 and 15 hours a day, 6 days a week. This workforce represented a third of the workforce, and this situation would last until the end of the century. However, some modifications and adjustments were made in 1874, such as 8 hours a day for children aged 8 to 12, and 12 hours a day for those aged 12 to 16. And it was in 1892 that night work was banned for those under 18, and daytime work was reduced to 11 hours for women and those aged 16-18.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the daily work week was abandoned in favor of a weekly work week.

A 1919 law authorized the increase to 48 hours per week and the establishment of a Sunday rest day, later extended to Saturday afternoon.

Following the major strikes of 1936, the Popular Front passed a law reducing the working week to 40 hours and authorizing overtime.

This reduction in working hours ceased on September 1, 1939, following the declaration of war, and thus increased from 40 to 60 hours. Daily working hours increased considerably.

In 1946, after World War II, the legal working week was maintained at 40 hours, plus eight hours of overtime to compensate for labor shortages.

The 1950s and 1960s officially maintained the 40-hour week, but in reality, the working week was more like 46-48 hours.

In 1982, the Socialist government reduced this week to 39 hours with the addition of an additional week of paid vacation, or five weeks.

In 2000, the Aubry Law (introduced by Martine Aubry) reduced the working week to 35 hours. The aim of this work-hour reduction was to reduce unemployment through work-sharing, but it appears that this reduction in hours has not had the desired effect.

Starting in 2002, various governments maintained the legal working week at 35 hours, but increased overtime from 130 to 180 hours per year, and subsequently to 220 hours, and in 2004 to 400 hours, following agreements within certain companies.

In 1840, working hours were 3,000 hours (34% of the year); today, they are 1,500 hours (17%).

Legal working hours in France have been declining over the past 100 years, but remain higher than in other countries. This situation would be due to the decline in the birth rate and the activity rate of the population (this is the product between the number of active people and the corresponding entire population), which leads to encouraging immigration