French break rules change paid-hour totals fast. Everhour keeps calendar-based time entries organized before review and approval.
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A break calculation answers three practical questions: total time on site, break time to subtract, and paid working time. In France, that calculation also checks whether the shift respects the statutory break trigger for the worker category. Adult employees must receive at least 20 consecutive minutes after 6 consecutive hours of work. Employees under 18 must receive at least 30 consecutive minutes after 4 hours 30 minutes of continuous work.
The result matters when a timesheet feeds payroll, client billing, overtime checks, or attendance records. French law treats lunch between two periods of actual work as break time, with no separate statutory lunch length beyond the applicable break rules. Break time is generally unpaid unless it qualifies as actual working time, such as when the employee must remain available to the employer, or a collective, company, or branch agreement provides paid breaks.
Start by identifying the worker category before subtracting time. Adult employees use the 6-consecutive-hour trigger and the 20-consecutive-minute minimum. Minors use the 4-hour-30-minute trigger and the 30-consecutive-minute minimum, with collective agreements allowed to provide a longer break. A longer lunch or rest interval can satisfy the statutory break requirement if it is consecutive and actually interrupts work.
The most common mistake is subtracting every pause without checking whether the employee was free from work. A 20-minute interval spent answering calls, covering a desk, or staying available for instructions can count as actual working time. Policy also matters. A collective, company, or branch agreement can make breaks paid even when the statutory default would treat them as unpaid.
Use 24-hour time for French shifts, such as 08:00 to 19:00, and day-first dates such as 14/03/2026. Calculate elapsed time first, then subtract unpaid break time. For example, an adult employee works from 08:00 to 19:00 at €29 per hour and takes a 60-minute unpaid lunch break. Elapsed time is 11 hours, paid time is 10 hours, and straight-time gross pay is €290.00 before taxes, deductions, premiums, overtime, or agreement-specific rules.
This example also shows why break calculations are separate from schedule legality. In the general case, actual daily work in France may not exceed 10 hours, with limited derogations such as labor-inspector approval, emergencies, or collective-agreement rules allowing up to 12 hours. The break subtraction produces paid time, while the working-time rules determine whether the schedule itself needs review.
A calculator is enough for a single shift, a correction request, or a quick comparison between scheduled time and paid time. It works best when you already know the worker category, the break length, whether the break is paid, and whether an agreement changes the default rule. It also helps catch obvious entry errors, such as a missing lunch on a long continuous shift.
A managed workflow becomes necessary when break records repeat across teams, locations, and approval cycles. Everhour calendar integrations can turn Google, Outlook, and iCloud events into timesheet entries within a configurable window, excluding all-day, recurring, and pre-connection events. Separate legal review from product setup: configure break handling to match French working-time rules, then route the resulting records through approval and payroll export.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
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An adult employee in France must receive at least 20 consecutive minutes once daily work reaches 6 consecutive hours. The break can be granted before the 6-hour point is fully reached or immediately after it. A longer lunch break can satisfy this requirement if it is consecutive and interrupts actual work.
Minors do not use the same trigger. Employees under 18 must receive at least a 30-minute consecutive break after a continuous work period of 4 hours 30 minutes. A collective agreement can provide a longer break, so payroll and scheduling records should separate adult and minor worker categories.
Lunch is treated as break time between two periods of actual work. It is generally unpaid unless it qualifies as actual working time, such as when the employee must remain available to the employer. A collective, company, or branch agreement can also provide paid lunch or paid break time.
The paid or unpaid status changes the total most often. A 60-minute lunch marked unpaid subtracts 1 hour from paid time. The same lunch marked paid leaves paid time unchanged. The correct entry depends on actual working-time status and any collective, company, or branch agreement.
A break calculation can produce the paid-hours total, but payroll and scheduling review should still check French working-time limits. Full-time legal working time is 35 hours per week, and actual weekly work may not exceed 48 hours in the same week or an average of 44 hours over 12 consecutive weeks, subject to exceptional derogations.
Everhour integrates with Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, and iCloud Calendar so events with a defined start and end can become timesheet entries. Users configure whether entries are created before or after events, within a 15-minute to 3-hour window, while all-day, recurring, and pre-connection events do not sync.
Everhour timecards can record clock-in, clock-out, breaks, and automatic clock-out behavior. Admins can review daily, weekly, and monthly work-hour totals, then approve weekly timecards and export team timesheet data as PDF, CSV, or XLSX for payroll or archive workflows.
Connect calendar events to timesheet entries, then review break-adjusted hours before payroll. Everhour keeps calendar-based time capture tied to a cleaner approval workflow.
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