Employee's hours of work: lump sum agreement in hours or days

Verified 01 January 2024 - Legal and Administrative Information Directorate (Prime Minister)

A flat-rate agreement is a document which provides for a different working time from the legal or contractual working time, on the basis of an established flat-rate agreement in hours (over the week, month or year) or in days (over the year).

In days

The individual package contract in days is a document drawn up in writing, which formalizes the conditions allowing the employee to work within the framework of a package in days.

The conditions applicable to the employee shall be:

  • Either by a collective company or establishment agreement
  • Either by an agreement or a branch agreement

The employee's agreement is mandatory.

The employee must sign the individual lump sum agreement.

Only individual flat-rate agreements may be concluded in days per year, up to the number of days laid down in the collective agreement:

  • Managers with autonomy in the organization of their time schedule and not subject to a pointing system (manual, automatic or computer)
  • Employees whose working hours cannot be predetermined and who have autonomy in the organization of their own time

The employee's working hours are not counted as hours. The employee on a fixed-day basis is required to work a certain number of days in the year.

This number of working days in the year shall be fixed at 218 days at the most.

However, a collective company or establishment agreement (or, failing that, a branch agreement or agreement) may fix a number of working days of less than 218.

The employee is therefore not subject to compliance with the daily and weekly maximum working hours.

On the other hand, he continues to benefit from the legal guarantees provided for rest daily and weekly, of paid leave and public holidays unemployed in the company. To ensure that these guarantees are respected, the employer must regularly ensure that:

  • the employee's workload is reasonable and allows a good distribution of his work over time
  • the proper relationship between the employee's professional activity and his personal life

Rest

The employee is entitled to a certain number of rest days, scheduled in advance.

However, the employee may give up part of his rest days.

In return, he receives an increase in his salary for extra working days. An agreement must then be drawn up in writing between the employee and the employer.

The salary increase shall be specified by an amendment to the individual lump-sum agreement. Its rate is at least set at 10%.

If the employee gives up part of the rest days, he or she may not work more than 235 days in the year, unless the agreement or agreement applicable in the company provides for a different period (greater or lesser).

In any case, the number of days worked must not jeopardize the employee's guarantees of rest daily and weekly, of paid leave and public holidays unemployed in the company.

Remuneration

The remuneration of the employee must take into account the workload imposed on the employee in lump-sum days.

The employee's remuneration shall be the subject of an annual interview with the employer (unless different conditions are laid down in an agreement or agreement applicable in the company).

If the remuneration is manifestly unrelated to the constraints imposed on the employee, the latter may to refer the matter to the labor council to claim compensation.

This compensation shall be calculated on the basis of the damage suffered.

RTT rights of an employee to the day-ahead package

The calculation of the number of working time reduction days (RTT) under the individual package agreement shall be carried out under the following conditions:

  • Determination of the number of days in the year
  • Deduction of the maximum number of working days in the year
  • Deduction of weekly rest days (Saturday and Sunday)
  • Deduction of PTOs
  • Deduction of public holidays falling between Monday and Friday

For 2024: 366 - (218 + 104 + 25 + 10) = 9.

Thus, for 2024, the number of RTT days for an employee on the daily package is 9.

Please note

If a category of workers benefits from additional public holidays in view of their place of work (for example in Alsace-Moselle), they must be taken into account when determining the number of days of RTT.

In hours

A flat-rate agreement in hours makes it possible to incorporate a certain number of predictable overtime hours into an employee's working time, over a predetermined period.

If the company has a strong activity at the end of the year, it is possible, for example, to sign an agreement providing in advance for the payment to the employee of 15 overtime hours over the month of December.

The package in hours is weekly, monthly or annual.

The employee's agreement is mandatory.

The employee must sign the individual lump sum agreement.

Only the following employees may conclude an individual flat-rate agreement in hours over the year, within the limit of the number of hours fixed by the collective agreement:

  • Managers whose nature of duties does not allow them to apply the collective schedule in force within the workshop, department or team to which they are integrated
  • Employees with real autonomy in the organization of their work schedule

Any employee can benefit from an individual agreement in hours scheduled on the week or on the month.

The duration of work shall be fixed in the individual flat-rate agreement. It provides in advance for a certain number of overtime hours worked and paid, not exceeding maximum daily and weekly duration of work.

If the employee works overtime in excess of the fixed amount, overtime shall be paid within usual conditions.

The employee continues to benefit from the legal guarantees provided for rest daily and weekly, of paid leave and public holidays unemployed in the company.

The remuneration of the employee who has concluded a flat-rate agreement in hours shall be at least equal to the minimum remuneration applicable in the company.

If the flat-rate agreement provides for overtime, surcharges are due.

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