Employers in France must assure you that you will not work the day after

Mar 14, 2013 10:27 GMT  ·  By

A couple of major media outlets reported yesterday that Apple had been ordered to stop forcing French retail employees to work past closing time. Facing a €10,000 fine, Apple is reportedly not in the loop with some laws in the respective country.

Citing a person with alleged knowledge of the situation, Ars Technica reveals that Apple will indeed pay the €10,000 / $13,000 fine to the unions who complained about the issue.

It was initially thought that Apple was doing something illegal by keeping staffers at work past 9pm (closing time). This standalone practice was, in fact, in line with French regulations.

Apple’s mistake was that it didn’t offer the next day off. Below is the clarification Ars got from this person.

“[W]orking past 8pm is of course allowed in France, no matter what is your activity sector. But if you ask your employees to work at these 'night' hours, you must follow a different paying scheme as the 'day' hours. The night hours are payed more than regular over time, if you work several night hours your employer must assure you that you will not work the day after, etc.”