Everhour tracks time off and timesheets, while French break rules require careful 24-hour shift and unpaid-break math.
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A break-time calculation in France answers two separate questions: whether the shift includes the required statutory break, and how many paid hours remain after unpaid break time is deducted. For adult employees, French law requires at least 20 consecutive minutes once daily work reaches 6 consecutive hours. That break can be granted before the 6-hour point is fully reached or immediately after it.
The calculation also separates break compliance from pay treatment. Break time is generally unpaid unless it qualifies as actual working time, such as when the employee must remain available to the employer during the break. A collective, company, or branch agreement can also provide paid breaks. Lunch counts as break time between two periods of actual work; French law does not set a separate statutory lunch duration beyond the applicable break rules.
Start with the clock span, convert unpaid breaks to hours, then subtract only the unpaid break time. Use France's usual 24-hour HH:mm format so 08:00 to 17:00 reads as a 9-hour span. A duty-free lunch from 12:30 to 13:15 is 45 minutes, or 0.75 hours. If the employee earns €22 per hour, the paid time is 8.25 hours and the daily gross pay is €181.50.
The formula is: end time minus start time, minus unpaid break time, multiplied by the hourly rate. For this example, 17:00 minus 08:00 equals 9 hours. The 45-minute unpaid lunch satisfies the adult 20-minute consecutive break requirement because it is longer than 20 minutes and falls between actual work periods. A required availability break would stay in paid time because it qualifies as actual working time.
A break total can look correct while the shift still violates a working-time boundary. 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. Full-time legal working time is 35 hours per week, equal to 151.67 hours per month or 1,607 hours per year.
Weekly review matters because French rules also set a 48-hour weekly maximum and a 44-hour average over 12 consecutive weeks, subject to exceptional derogations. Adult employees generally need 11 consecutive hours of daily rest between working days and 35 consecutive hours of weekly rest in the general case. A break calculator gives the day total; scheduling review checks whether that total fits the wider week.
A one-off calculation is enough when you need to check one shift, one lunch deduction, or one pay estimate before correcting a timesheet. It works best when the start time, end time, break length, and paid-break status are already clear. For France, that usually means entering 24-hour clock times and day-first dates, then confirming whether each break was duty-free or actual working time.
A managed workflow is better when break handling repeats across teams, locations, or approval cycles. Everhour Time Off tracks vacations, sick leave, and custom leave types with partial-day durations, accrual, carryover, and per-employee balances. Keep the break calculation separate from leave balances, then let approved time-off data flow into timesheets so payroll review starts from a complete work-and-absence record.
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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Yes, lunch counts as break time between two periods of actual work in France. For an adult employee, a lunch break of at least 20 consecutive minutes satisfies the statutory break requirement once daily work reaches 6 consecutive hours. Pay treatment remains separate: the lunch is generally unpaid unless it qualifies as actual working time or an agreement provides paid breaks.
Yes. Employees under 18 must receive at least a 30-minute consecutive break after a continuous work period of 4 hours 30 minutes. Collective agreements can provide a longer break. Use the minor rule before applying the adult 20-minute standard, because the break threshold and minimum break length are both different.
No, break time that qualifies as actual working time should stay in paid time. In France, break time is generally unpaid, but the unpaid treatment changes when the employee must remain available to the employer during the break. A collective, company, or branch agreement can also make break time paid even when the break is otherwise duty-free.
French locale formats use 24-hour HH:mm time and day-first numeric dates such as dd/MM/y. A calculation based on 08:00 to 17:00 avoids AM/PM ambiguity and makes overnight or late-day entries easier to audit. Payroll and HR records should use the same format consistently across clock-in, clock-out, break start, and break end fields.
Yes. A paid-time total can be arithmetically correct while the schedule fails a working-time limit. In France, actual daily work may not exceed 10 hours in the general case, and adult employees generally need 11 consecutive hours of daily rest between working days. Review break-adjusted totals with daily, weekly, and rest-period rules.
Everhour Time Off tracks vacations, sick leave, holidays, and custom leave types alongside work time. Partial-day durations, accrual, carryover, per-employee balances, and request approval give managers the absence context they need before reviewing weekly timesheet totals.
Yes. Everhour timecards can record start times, end times, breaks, and automatic clock-out behavior. Admins can review daily, weekly, and monthly work-hour totals before payroll checks, then export team timesheet data in PDF, CSV, or XLSX format.
Track leave, partial-day absences, and approved timesheet totals in one review flow. Everhour adds time-off context to payroll checks and keeps French work records easier to audit.
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