Former French minister calls for end to 35-hour week - but does it exist?

An end to France’s 35-hour working week has been proposed by an ex-minister as a way to reduce France’s deficit. 

Gérald Darmanin, currently an MP in the north of France, was most recently Interior Minister but also held the role of Minister for Public Finances between 2017 and 2020, made the comments in an interview with French media Les Echos on Sunday (October 6). 

He said that people in France “do not work enough” and that the 35-hour limit should be abolished in the private sector – allowing companies to increase the number of hours worked in return for profit sharing or other incentives.

In the public sector, it should increase to 36 or 37 hours, he added. 

This would reduce the public deficit, and could be implemented as an alternative to raising taxes, or deferring pension increases.

He also said both sectors should see the number of public holidays they benefit from scaled back (but not the number of annual days of paid leave). 

Workers in France currently benefits from 11 public holidays per year – fewer than other countries such as Italy or Spain – and in most cases, if they fall on a weekend, are lost.

Read more: Opinion: Another week off – how I love living in France

The comments by Mr Darmanin – who is widely expected to run for the presidency in 2027 – have once again brought the often-misunderstood idea about the short French working week back into public conversation. 

France’s 35-hour workweek is complicated 

In short, the 35-hour working week is somewhat of a myth in France. 

Standard full-time contracts are for 35 hours in France and usually see workers split their week into five seven-hour days with an (unpaid) lunch break. 

Roughly, this means the working day lasts from around 09:00 - 17:00, with a lunch hour included, although with shift work this can vary.

In practice, however, many people work overtime on top of the standard 35-hours, after reforms introduced by president Nicolas Sarkozy made it easier for both employers and employees to ask for overtime work.

In return, pay for overtime (heures supplementaires) is better, and can be exempt from certain social charges, netting a worker up to 30% extra per hour of overtime worked compared to their standard employment rate.

In addition, salaried managers (cadres) can work longer hours, up to 60 per week in exceptionally busy periods. 

In turn, they can receive extra paid days of leave (réduction du temps de travail, or RTT).

Read more: Explainer: How France’s 35-hour week works in practice

Full-time workers in France on average worked 37.3 hours per week in 2019 – higher than both the commonly mentioned ‘35-hour workweek’, and slightly above the EU average. 

Will a rule change save money?

An increase in working hours does not necessarily correspond to an increase in productivity. 

France’s productivity levels per hour worked outstripped rival European nations for many years despite the shorter week, although since Covid productivity rates have fallen in the country. 

A 2023 report by the Banque de France shows that despite France experiencing a higher rise in total number of hours worked than the UK, US, Italy, Spain, or Germany between 2019 and 2023, the GDP per hours worked decreased. 

Also, an increase in working hours may reduce the number of jobs available, increasing the number of people unemployed and leading to more welfare payments.

In fact, the reason the 35-hour workweek was introduced in France in 1998 through the loi Aubry was precisely to increase job-sharing and curb high unemployment.