More than 57% of managers and 6% of employees in France work 49 hours or more per week. French workers are among the most numerous in Europe to exceed the 48-hour week limit.
When France has one of the lowest employment rates in Europe, the people who work don’t count their hours. This is according to a study published by Eurostat on Monday, which measured the rates of “very heavy workers” in the various countries of the European Union. These are workers between the ages of 15 and 64 who work 49 hours or more per week, including overtime.
According to this data compiled by Eurostat, France is the country with the highest proportion of workers working more than 49 hours a week after Greece. While the average in the EU is 7.3%, in France the figure is 10.2%. Only Greece has a higher rate (12.6%). Notably France is one of the few countries where this rate increased in 2022 and then increased from 10% to 10.2%, while the EU average has slightly decreased.
In the Latin countries in particular, the proportion of heavy workers is highest. Cyprus (9.7%), Italy (9.4%) and Portugal (9.4%) are the countries with high proportions after France. Conversely, the countries of northern Europe have fewer hard-working people. The rates are 6% in Finland and Germany, 5.8% in the Netherlands, 5.6% in Denmark and 4.9% in Norway.
6.3% of French workers over 49 hours
Among those in employment who work more than 49 hours a week, entrepreneurs (not subject to working time regulations) are by far the most important. This increases the share in France to 57.1%, which is the highest share in Europe after Belgium (59.4%). There are significant differences to other EU countries. In Germany it is 46% of company managers, in Italy 45.8%, in Spain 37.8% or in Portugal 33.2%.
When French bosses don’t count their hours, French white-collar workers are also among those with the highest rates of heavy labor in Europe. As a reminder, legislation in Europe limits the maximum working time of employees to 48 hours per week, including overtime. However, 6.3% of French workers work 49 hours or more. This puts them above the European average (3.8%) and most countries with the exception of Cyprus and Portugal.
These overtime workers are a daily basis system that allows employers to pay workers based on a number of days worked annually, with no weekly reference. These are mainly executives and are therefore not subject to the maximum periods of 48 hours per week or 10 hours per day.