The calculation sheetPart-time employees · private sector
Part-time work in France: your additional hours, their limit and their extra pay
A part-time employee in France can work additional hours (heures complémentaires) up to a tenth of the hours in the contract, or a third if a collective agreement allows it (Labour Code, articles L3123-20 and L3123-28). Unless an extended sector agreement sets a rate, each is paid 10% more up to the tenth, then 25% more (article L3123-29). They cannot reach full time:35 hours or a lower collective duration.
Go to the tool: the calculation sheet
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Give your contract hours, the hours you really work and what your payslip shows.
Example questions
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How much should your additional hours pay?
Enter your contract hours, the hours worked in the same week or month and your hourly rate: the calculator splits the hours between 10% and 25%, and flags hours beyond the limit or reaching 35 hours. The example: a 24-hour contract, 28 hours worked, €14 gross an hour, limit raised to a third by agreement.
Fictional example · additional hours
Additional hours within the limit: each one is paid more, 10% then 25%.
- Additional hours
- 4 h
- Limit that applies
- 8 h
- At 10%, up to a tenth of the contract
- 2.4 h: €36.96
- At 25%, from a tenth to a third
- 1.6 h: €28.00
- Gross pay for the week
- €400.96
Legal rates, used where no extended sector agreement sets a rate, which cannot go below 10%.
How many additional hours can your employer ask for?
At most a tenth of the hours in the contract, over the week or the month: 2.4 hours for a 24-hour weekly contract (Labour Code, article L3123-28). A company or site agreement, or failing that an extended sector agreement, can raise the limit to a third, that is 8 hours (article L3123-20).
The written contract must state these limits (article L3123-6). Refusing hours offered beyond the contract’s limits is neither misconduct nor a ground for dismissal; within the limits, the same applies if you are told less than 3 days ahead (article L3123-10).
Sources: Labour Code L3123-28 · Labour Code L3123-10
What happens if your hours reach 35 in a week?
Additional hours cannot bring working time up to the legal working week, or to the agreed working week if it is shorter (Labour Code, article L3123-9). If they do, the contract must be reclassified as full time from the first breach (Cour de cassation, 17 December 2014, no. 13-20.627).
The rule applies even to a single week of a contract whose hours are set by the month (Cour de cassation, 15 September 2021, no. 19-19.563). Where hours are organised over several weeks or the year, the threshold is assessed over the whole reference period.
Sources: Labour Code L3123-9 · Cass. soc. 13-20.627
Must your contract hours go up if you often work more?
Yes, unless you object, when the average hours actually worked exceed the contract by at least 2 hours a week for 12 weeks in a row, or 12 weeks out of 15. The contract is then changed with 7 days’ notice, and the new hours equal the average worked (Labour Code, article L3123-13).
The Cour de cassation takes the average over the whole period, without requiring an excess every week (4 November 2015, no. 14-16.338).
Sources: Labour Code L3123-13 · Cass. soc. 14-16.338
Which limit and which extra pay apply to your contract hours?
The tenth and the third are calculated on the contract hours, never on 35 hours.
| Contract per week | Limit without agreement (1/10) | Limit with agreement (1/3) | Extra pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 hours | 2 hours | 6 h 40 min | 10% up to 2 h, then 25% |
| 24 hours | 2 h 24 min | 8 hours | 10% up to 2 h 24 min, then 25% |
| 28 hours | 2 h 48 min | Under 7 hours, to stay below 35 hours | 10% up to 2 h 48 min, then 25% |
| 30 hours | 3 hours | Under 5 hours, to stay below 35 hours | 10% up to 3 h, then 25% |
An extended sector agreement can set another rate, never below 10% (article L3123-21). Failing to pay 25% beyond the tenth is a 4th-class petty offence (article R3124-10).
Sources: Labour Code L3123-28 · Labour Code L3123-29
What does article L3123-29 of the Labour Code say about the extra pay?
The rule that applies when no extended sector agreement sets a rate.
A défaut de stipulation conventionnelle prévues à l’article L. 3123-21, le taux de majoration des heures complémentaires est de 10 % pour chacune des heures complémentaires accomplies dans la limite du dixième des heures prévues au contrat de travail et de 25 % pour chacune des heures accomplies entre le dixième et le tiers des heures prévues au contrat de travail.
In English, briefly (our summary, not an official translation): Unless an agreement under article L3123-21 says otherwise, each additional hour worked within a tenth of the contract hours is paid 10% more, and each hour between a tenth and a third of the contract hours is paid 25% more. Since 1 January 2014, every additional hour is paid more, from the first one (article L3123-8).
What has changed for part-time work in France since 2023?
The rule on additional hours has been stable since 2016; the exceptions and the minimum wage have moved.
An employee who has reached the age for phased retirement can ask for fewer than the 24 minimum hours (law no. 2023-270 of 14 April 2023, Labour Code article L3123-7).
Source: Labour Code L3123-7
The age for phased retirement is set at 60, for pensions starting on or after 1 September 2025 (decree no. 2025-681 of 15 July 2025).
Source: Social Security Code D161-2-24
The gross hourly minimum wage (Smic) rises to €12.31: the floor for the hourly rate, additional hours included (order of 22 May 2026).
Source: Service-public F2300
What do part-time employees in France ask about their hours?
Is a contract of under 24 hours reclassified as full time?
Not automatically. The Cour de cassation rules that part time below 24 hours does not, on its own, amount to full time (22 May 2024, no. 22-11.623). Outside the exceptions, such as the employee’s written and reasoned request or a student under 26, the minimum remains due (Labour Code, articles L3123-7 and L3123-27).
Additional hours or overtime: what is the difference in France?
Additional hours are worked by a part-time employee beyond the contract, below the applicable full-time duration,35 hours or a lower collective duration. Overtime is worked beyond 35 hours: without an agreement, paid 25% more for the first 8 hours, then 50% more (Labour Code, article L3121-36).
Are hours added by a temporary contract amendment paid more?
Only if the sector agreement or the amendment says so. An extended sector agreement can allow up to 8 amendments a year, not counting cover for an absent employee; hours worked beyond the amendment are paid at least 25% more (Labour Code, article L3123-22).
Is pay for additional hours taxed in France?
It is exempt from income tax up to €7,500 a year, a limit shared with overtime (General Tax Code, article 81 quater), and it reduces the employee’s social contributions.
Which texts is this additional-hours calculation based on?
- Labour Code, articles L3123-20 and L3123-28 (limit of a tenth or a third)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, articles L3123-8, L3123-21 and L3123-29 (extra pay)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L3123-9 (never up to the legal working week)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L3123-13 (revising the contract hours)Légifrance, in French
- Cour de cassation, social chamber, 17 December 2014, no. 13-20.627Légifrance, in French
- Part-time work in the private sector (fiche F32428)Service-public.fr, in French · checked by the publisher on 21 June 2023
- Cour de cassation, social chamber, 4 November 2015, no. 14-16.338Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L3123-7 (exceptions to the minimum hours)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L3123-10 (refusing additional hours)Légifrance, in French
- Social Security Code, article D161-2-24 (age for phased retirement)Légifrance, in French
- Smic, the French minimum wage (fiche F2300)Service-public.fr, in French · checked by the publisher on 1 June 2026
Texts cited last checked: 25 September 2026