In a ruling published on 21 January 2026 (no. 24-10.512), the French Supreme Court reiterated the limits of the relationship between collective agreements and employment contracts with regard to annual working time in days by confirming the contractual nature of the number of days worked.
In this case, an employee subject to an annual working time in days agreement refused to apply a collective agreement amending the number of days to be worked in the company over the year.
Following this refusal, the employee was dismissed and challenged the termination of his employment contract.
The Court of Appeal upheld the dismissal, ruling that the employee’s working time was based on a collective agreement rather than a contractual one. It concluded that the collective agreement, concluded on the basis of Article L. 2254-2 of the French Labour Code, was automatically applicable.
However, the French Supreme Court rejected this analysis, pointing out that an annual fixed-rate agreement in days must specify the number of days worked and that this number is an essential element of the employment contract.
Therefore, the number of days included in an agreement with an employee cannot be changed by applying a collective agreement alone and the express consent of the employee in question is required.
Therefore, the employee’s refusal cannot justify dismissal.
French Supreme Court, 21 January 2026, no. 24-10.512
