If the company experiences periods of high and low activity, it can arrange working hours over a period longer than a week and set at a maximum of 3 years. During this period, the employee may be required to work more or less than 35 hours per week, depending on the company’s activity. However, the implementation of flexible working hours depends on the existence or not of a collective agreement.
Attention ! The health crisis played an important role.
According to DARES, in 2020, 10,760 texts concluded at company level, including 76% agreements and amendments, relate to the health crisis linked to Covid-19. This represents 13.5% of the texts recorded between March and December. A third of these texts are concluded by companies employing fewer than 50 employees. The share of unilateral decisions by the employer is greater than for texts not linked to the crisis. Among agreements and amendments, the proportion of those approved by a two-thirds majority of employees is lower. Working time is addressed in more than half of the agreements, with a large majority devoted to setting leave. The salary theme concerns one in five texts.
Agreements planned for 2008
Agreements planned before August 21, 2008 and after August 21, 2008, the date of the new regulations, must be taken into account. Any collective agreement on the distribution of working hours concluded before August 21, 2008 remains applicable as long as it is not called into question by the organizations which signed it. The signed agreement provides for work in cycles, or modulation of working time, or days of reduced working time (RTT).
Arrange working time by collective agreement
According to the law of August 20, 2008, applicable from August 21, a business manager can negotiate a collective agreement to organize the distribution of the working hours of his employees, for a period greater than a week but not exceeding the year. This collective agreement must stipulate:
- The deadlines for informing changes in duration or working hours, as well as the related conditions,
- The method of counting overtime,
- Employee remuneration conditions,
- The conditions for taking into account arrivals, departures and absences during the given period.
The works council and display
This system must be approved by the works council or staff representatives, from its first application and for each modification. The employer is required to display this collective agreement in his company and benefits from a notice period of 7 days for each change in duration or working hours.
Variations in working hours
According to the regulations, the organization of working time provides for a duration and working hours depending on the week. For example, in the event of high activity during a period known in advance, the employee may be required to work more than 35 hours during certain weeks, then less than 35 hours in subsequent weeks.
These variations in working hours are planned over a period, called reference periodthe duration of which is fixed in the agreement. This reference period is longer than a week and cannot exceed 1 year. However, if a sector agreement provides for it, the reference period may be longer than 1 year, within the limit of 3 years.
The layout to carefully consider
The arrangement of working hours cannot be considered as a modification of the employment contract. Thus, the modification of working hours cannot be refused by the employee.
Arrangement of working time without collective agreement
If the employer does not use the collective agreement, he can however arrange the working time of his employees over working periods not exceeding 4 weeks. He is then required to establish what is called an indicative program for the variation in working hours, a program, which, like the collective agreement, must obtain the approval of the works council or staff delegates. before its first application and for any modification.
What is the notice period?
The notice period for each change in working hours is at least 7 working days before implementation. At least once a year, the company manager is required to present a report on the implementation of his indicative program to the works council or staff delegates.
Modulation of working time
Modulating working hours makes it possible to distribute working hours over all or part of the year, depending on the activity. Working hours are increased during periods of high activity and reduced during periods of low activity. Working hours must not exceed 1,607 hours per year (or less, if the convention or agreement so provides).
Wage smoothing
Although their working hours may therefore fluctuate, salary smoothing has been planned in order to guarantee stable remuneration for employees. The collective agreement must then provide for an annual salary, which will be divided and received each month by the employee. In the absence of a collective agreement, the monthly remuneration of employees is independent of the actual schedule and is calculated on the basis of 35 hours per week.
Individualized schedules
At the request of certain employees, in particular disabled people or those accompanying disabled, elderly or dependent people in their private sphere, the employer may deviate from collective working hours and grant the right to individualized working hours.
This arrangement of individualized schedules must first be submitted to the works council or staff representatives, as well as to the labor inspectorate. The employee will thus be able to be free about their arrival and departure times from the office, while respecting the legal working hours, and will be able to benefit from postponements. Hours postponed by the employee’s choice are neither counted nor paid as overtime. Individualized schedules may result in hours being carried over from one week to the next.
These deferrals are determined by collective company or establishment agreement (or, failing that, a convention or branch agreement). In the absence of an agreement or convention, the number of hours that can be carried over from one week to another is set at a maximum of 3 hours. In the event of accumulation, the maximum number of hours that can be carried over is set at 10. However, a collective company or establishment agreement (or, failing that, a convention or branch agreement) may provide for a maximum number different hours reported (higher or lower).