Invest in France Agency germany Office

The French work on average 41 hours per week, which is more than the Norwegians (39.2), the Irish (40.2), the Finnish (40.3) or the Danish (40.4) according to Eurostat figures (2008).
Management staff in France work on average 48 hours a week which makes them one of the hardest working in Europe just after Germany (49.7) but well ahead of the UK (44.2) and Sweden (44).
Moreover, France ranks 1st in the EU and 3rd worldwide in terms of hourly productivity (behind Norway and the US), well ahead of Great Britain and Germany.

New French labour regulations have been brought in and provide incentives to work more and earn more.

Companies can raise the number of hours worked by management staff or independent salaried employees from 218 days to 235 days (and even up to 282 working days if there is collective agreement for working on Saturdays)
Also, since October 2007, employees benefit from exemptions on tax and social security contributions for overtime hours worked over and above the legal working week, effectively an increase of 25% in pay for overtime. The employer also benefits from a flat reduction in employer social security charges for each additional overtime hour.

For more information, please download the following PDF document:

• Work more, earn more