In a decision dated 21 January 2026, the Social Chamber of the French Suprem Court (Cour de cassation) reiterated that the validity of an annual working days arrangement (forfait en jours) requires a collective agreement containing genuine, effective and regular safeguards for monitoring workload.
Brief summary of the facts
An employee was subject to an individual annual working days arrangement set at 215 days per year, concluded pursuant to a company-level collective agreement.
Following his dismissal, the employee brought proceedings before the labour tribunal (Conseil de prud’hommes) seeking, in particular, a declaration that his annual working days arrangement was unlawful and payment of overtime arrears, together with related indemnities.
The Court of Appeal dismissed his claims, holding that the collective agreement ensured adequate monitoring of workload and guaranteed compliance with the employer’s health and safety obligation. In this case, the disputed collective agreement provided for an annual meeting with the line manager and a weekly self-reporting statement of days worked and rest days.
The employee subsequently lodged an appeal before the French Suprem Court.
Decision of the French Suprem Court
After reiterating that any annual working days arrangement must be provided for by a collective agreement containing provisions that guarantee compliance with reasonable working hours and daily and weekly rest periods, the Court noted that the disputed company agreement provided for:
- a weekly self-reporting statement of days worked and rest days submitted to the manager;
- an individual account communicated monthly to the employee together with the payslip;
- an annual meeting during which workload, work organisation, and work–life balance could be discussed.
The Court concluded that these contractual provisions do not enable the employer to “remedy in a timely manner a workload that may be incompatible with a reasonable duration of work.”
In other words, purely declaratory monitoring and an annual meeting do not ensure that working time and workload remain reasonable, nor that work is properly distributed over time. Consequently, in this case, the annual working days arrangement was held null and void.
Scope of the decision
This ruling is consistent with a strict line of case law concerning annual working days arrangements.
Recent decisions confirm that, in the context of forfait en jours, workload monitoring must be concrete, effective, and regular. Declaratory tools are insufficient if they do not allow the employer to intervene promptly, and an annual meeting alone does not constitute an adequate safeguard in light of constitutional and European requirements for the protection of health.
Failing this, nullity of the arrangement exposes the company to claims for overtime arrears.
