Penalty payment in the private sector
Verified 19 April 2021 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
The periodic penalty payment is a period during which the employee must be able to take action in order to carry out work in the service of the company. The stand-by employee is not obliged to be at his place of work or at the permanent and immediate disposal of the employer. Periodic penalty payments shall be introduced subject to conditions. Compensation is provided for the employees concerned.
Periodic penalty payments may be fixed by treaty provisions.
In the absence of an agreement, they shall be fixed by the employer after consultation with the Social and Economic Committee (ESC) and labor inspection information.
Warning
the contract of employment may mention the periodic penalty payment, but the employer may not impose it on an employee simply because that possibility is included in the contract of employment.
The individual periodic penalty payments program shall be communicated to each employee concerned within a reasonable period of time.
That period shall be provided for in the company agreement or convention.
In the absence of a time limit, the employer must inform the employee 15 days in advance of the introduction of periodic penalty payments.
However, the time limit may be reduced in exceptional circumstances, provided that the employee is informed at least 1 free day in advance.
During the periodic penalty payment, the employee shall not be at his place of work or at the employer's immediate permanent disposal.
However, the on-call employee must be able to intervene to perform work in the service of the company.
During the periodic penalty payment, the employee is not obliged to be at or near his home. For example, they just need to be able to be reached by telephone.
The periodic penalty payments made by the employee are compensated either financially or in the form of rest.
The conditions are set out in the company agreement or convention
In the absence of an agreement, the employer shall lay down the conditions for compensation.
At the end of each month, the employer provides each employee with a document specifying the number of hours of standby duty performed and the corresponding compensation.
In the case of employee intervention during a stand-by period, the duration of the intervention shall be considered as actual working time.
The standby period shall be taken into account for the calculation of the minimum duration of the daily rest and the weekly rest, except during periods of intervention.
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- Labor Code: Articles L3121-9 and L3121-10Organization of periodic penalty payments, situation of the employee, guarantees, consequences for working hours (public policy provisions)
- Labor Code: Article L3121-11Setting up and organization of periodic penalty payments (scope of collective bargaining)
- Labor Code: Article L3121-12Setting up and organization of periodic penalty payments (supplementary provisions)
- Labor Code: Article R3121-2Organization of periodic penalty payments (public policy provisions)
- Labor Code: Article R3121-3Organization of periodic penalty payments (supplementary provisions)