How is overtime paid in France?

In short:

1. Overtime in France is any hour worked at the employer’s request beyond the legal working time of 35 hours a week, or 1,607 hours a year.
2. Without a collective agreement, it carries a 25% premium from the 36th to the 43rd hour of the week, then 50% from the 44th hour. An agreement may set another rate of at least 10%.
3. The annual quota is 220 hours per employee without an agreement. Beyond it, mandatory compensatory rest is added: 50% of the hours in companies with 20 employees or fewer, 100% above.
4. Overtime appears on the payslip and is exempt from employee old-age insurance contributions up to 11.31% of salary.

Overtime (heures supplémentaires) is governed by the French Labour Code: who can work it, how much, and how it is paid or compensated with rest. The rules below come from the Service-Public guide on overtime for private-sector employees, checked on 8 June 2026. They apply to full-time employees; part-time employees work additional hours, covered further down.

What counts as overtime in France?

Any hour of work performed at the employer’s request beyond the legal working time is an overtime hour. The legal working time is 35 hours a week, or 1,607 hours a year.

Overtime is counted per calendar week, whether worked during the day or at night. It gives the right to premium pay or equivalent compensatory rest, and some hours also give the right to mandatory compensatory rest.

Employees not concerned

Two categories of employees are not concerned by overtime:

• Senior executives (cadres dirigeants).
• Employees on an annual days-based working arrangement (forfait jours).

Who decides on overtime?

Overtime is requested by the employer, in writing or orally. In principle, the employee cannot refuse it. However, they cannot be sanctioned for an exceptional refusal because they were not given enough notice.

An employee cannot claim payment for overtime the employer did not request. It is nevertheless due if the tasks assigned made it necessary: the employer’s agreement may then be implicit, for example when the employer approves hours recorded in the time-clock software.

Overtime premiums: 25% and 50%

The premium rate depends first on the applicable collective agreement, company agreement or extended industry agreement. That text may set one or more rates, each at least 10%.

Without a collective-agreement provision, the law sets the following rates:

The premium applies to gross salary, and overtime is counted per calendar week.

Calculation example for a 45-hour week

The following example applies the statutory rates to an employee paid €15 gross per hour, with no collective agreement setting another rate.

These €195 are added to the pay for the first 35 hours of the week (35 × 15 = €525), giving €720 gross for the 45-hour week. Without a premium, these 10 hours would have been worth €150: the statutory premium therefore adds €45.

Replacement compensatory rest

Overtime pay may be replaced, in full or in part, by compensatory rest. Its length matches the premium pay: an overtime hour with a 50% premium gives the right to 1 hour 30 of rest.

The annual overtime quota

Overtime is limited by an annual quota set by a collective agreement, company agreement or extended industry agreement. Without an agreement, it is 220 hours per employee per year.

An employee may work beyond the quota, under the conditions set by the applicable agreement. They must never exceed the maximum weekly working time.

Mandatory compensatory rest

Compensatory rest is added to the premium pay or replacement rest. Its rules differ depending on whether the hours are worked within the quota or beyond it.

Example applying these rules: an employee works 230 overtime hours in the year, with a 220-hour quota. The 10 hours beyond the quota give the right to 10 hours of rest in a company with 30 employees, and 5 hours in a company with 15 employees.

Without an agreement, the employee may take a full or half day of rest once the compensatory rest reaches 7 hours. They submit their request at least 1 week in advance. The employer replies within 7 days and, if it disagrees, cannot postpone the rest by more than 2 months.

Public holidays, paid leave and overtime counting

Overtime counting does not treat every absence in the week the same way.

• Public holiday: unless an agreement or practice provides otherwise, hours not worked because of a public holiday do not count as actual working time. In the Service-Public example, an employee works 32 hours over 4 days in a week with a Wednesday public holiday: they have worked no overtime, and the hours above 35 are paid at the normal rate.
• Paid leave: when working time is counted weekly or over 2 weeks, paid leave counts as actual working time. An employee who works 33 hours and takes a 7-hour day of paid leave reaches 40 hours: they have worked 5 overtime hours.

The rules for earning and taking leave are explained in the article on paid leave in France.

Overtime and the payslip

Overtime pay and its rate must appear on the payslip. The other mandatory information is listed in the article on the French payslip.

Overtime is paid on the same date as the usual salary. When a week straddles 2 months, its payment is carried over to the next payslip.

Hours are often tracked with time-clock or time management software. The tools covered in the comparison of the best HR software offer this type of module.

Income tax and contributions on overtime

The contribution reduction is applied directly on the payslip by the employer.

The guide’s tax example still relates to 2022 overtime, declared in 2023. The ceiling for a given year can be checked on the pre-filled tax return or with the tax authorities.

Part-time work: additional hours

A part-time employee who works beyond the hours set in their contract works additional hours (heures complémentaires), not overtime.

With a 30-hour weekly contract, the employee can therefore work no more than 3 additional hours, unless an agreement raises this ceiling.

In case of an overtime dispute

An employee whose overtime is not paid, or whose compensatory rest is not respected, can ask the employer for back pay by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. They can also turn to staff representatives.

If the disagreement continues, they can contact the labour inspectorate or bring the case before the employment tribunal (conseil de prud’hommes). Any evidence can be used: time-clock records, emails, diary.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Service-Public, Heures supplémentaires d’un salarié du secteur privé (overtime for private-sector employees), guide checked on 8 June 2026, consulted on 28 October 2026.