"My boss makes me finish at 10 p.m. on Fridays. I'm 17 and he tells me it's normal because I'm an apprentice." Training centres (CFA) and labour inspectorates receive hundreds of messages like this every September — and the answer is almost always no.
In short: an apprentice under 18 falls under the protective regime for young workers (articles L. 3162-1 to L. 3164-8 of the French Labour Code). Their working time is capped at 8 hours per day and 35 hours per week, including time spent in training at the CFA. Exceeding these limits is only possible with an exemption from the labour inspectorate, subject to the binding opinion of the occupational physician, and within a limit of 10 hours per day and 40 hours per week — and only in certain sectors (construction, hospitality and catering, bakery and pastry, live entertainment, etc.) following the relaxations introduced by the loi Travail and then decree no. 2022-1198. Night work (10 p.m. – 6 a.m. for 16- to 18-year-olds) is prohibited, except under strict sector-specific exemptions. Overtime hours, when lawfully worked, are paid with a 25% premium for the first 8 hours and then 50%, exactly as for an adult employee. An apprentice of legal age, by contrast, comes under ordinary law: 35 hours, with overtime possible, but always within the maximum working time limits and with 11 hours of daily rest.
What is an apprentice's legal working time in 2026?
First rule, often misunderstood: an apprentice is a full-time employee. Their reference working time is the one applicable within the company — most often 35 hours per week, sometimes 37 or 39 hours with RTT days depending on collective agreements.
Second rule, the one that changes everything: time spent at the CFA counts as actual working time. Article L. 6222-24 of the Labour Code leaves no room for doubt:
"The time devoted by the apprentice to training provided in apprentice training centres is included in working hours."
In other words, a 35-hour week of classes at the CFA is a full working week. The employer cannot ask the apprentice to "make up" hours on Saturday, or to come into the company in the evening after classes. This is one of the most frequent abuses, particularly in food trades and hairdressing.
Third rule: minor status takes precedence over apprentice status. As long as the young person is under 18, they benefit from the protections of the chapter devoted to young workers, whatever the company's habits may be.
Table of maximum working times
| Situation | Daily limit | Weekly limit | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apprentice under 18 | 8 hrs | 35 hrs | Art. L. 3162-1 |
| Apprentice under 18 with exemption | 10 hrs | 40 hrs | Art. L. 3162-1 (exemption) |
| Apprentice aged 14-16 (school holidays) | 7 hrs | 35 hrs | Art. L. 4153-3 |
| Apprentice of legal age | 10 hrs (12 hrs by agreement) | 48 hrs, 44 hrs over 12 weeks | Art. L. 3121-18 and L. 3121-22 |
For an apprentice of legal age, the daily limit may be raised to 12 hours by collective agreement or in the event of increased activity, but the average over twelve consecutive weeks can never exceed 44 hours, and a single week can never exceed 48 hours. These ceilings are matters of public policy: no contract may derogate from them.
Can an apprentice under 18 work overtime?
Yes, but not freely. This is where most of the litigation arises.
Since decree no. 2022-1198 of 30 August 2022, the regime has been relaxed for certain sectors: the employer may have an apprentice under 18 work up to 10 hours per day and 40 hours per week, subject to a prior declaration sent to the labour inspectorate, the occupational physician and the CFA. Previously, express authorisation was required, which held up many building sites.
The sectors covered by this simplified procedure notably include:
- construction and public works;
- landscaping and green spaces;
- hospitality and catering;
- bakery, pastry, butchery and delicatessen trades;
- live and recorded entertainment (with specific rules for children).
Outside these sectors, or beyond 40 hours, the employer must obtain an individual exemption from the labour inspector, following the binding opinion of the occupational physician. "Binding opinion" means that a refusal by the physician blocks the exemption: it is not a mere consultation.
One point many employers overlook: the exemption authorises the extra hours, but it does not make them free of charge. Hours worked beyond 35 remain full-fledged overtime, with compensatory rest or a pay premium.
How are these hours paid?
The scale is that of ordinary law (article L. 3121-36):
| Weekly hours | Statutory premium |
|---|---|
| From the 36th to the 43rd hour | + 25% |
| From the 44th hour onwards | + 50% |
Watch out for one calculation trap: the premium applies to the apprentice's actual salary, i.e. their percentage of the minimum wage (Smic) based on age and contract year. A 17-year-old apprentice in their first year receives 27% of the Smic; their overtime is calculated on that base, not on the full Smic. To check line by line, our pay simulator lets you recalculate a complete payslip.
An industry-wide agreement may provide for a lower premium, but never below 10%. In hospitality and catering, for example, the first four overtime hours are increased by 10% in certain cases: it is worth reading your collective agreement carefully. A printed copy of the collective agreement for your industry, available from legal bookshops, remains the fastest way to settle a discussion with your employer.
Night work, Sundays, public holidays: what is prohibited
This is the most protective part of the law — and the most frequently breached.
Night work
For an apprentice aged 16 to 18, night is defined as 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.; for those under 16, from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. (article L. 3163-1). Working during these periods is prohibited as a matter of principle.
Sector-specific exemptions exist, governed by article L. 3163-2 and the 2022 decree:
- bakery and pastry: work possible from 4 a.m.;
- hospitality and catering: until 11.30 p.m.;
- entertainment, horse racing, nightclubs: specific regimes;
- in all cases, compensatory rest is mandatory and the young person must be supervised by an adult.
These exemptions cannot be assumed: they require authorisation or a declaration depending on the sector. An apprentice pastry chef starting at 4 a.m. is within the law; an apprentice mechanic finishing at 10.30 p.m. is not.
For those starting before dawn, sleep becomes a central issue: a blackout sleep mask and thick curtains do more for an apprentice baker's health than any motivational advice.
Daily and weekly rest
Rest periods are the system's real safeguard:
- daily rest: 12 consecutive hours for 16- to 18-year-olds, 14 hours for those under 16 (compared with 11 hours for an adult);
- weekly rest: 2 consecutive days, including Sunday in principle;
- mandatory break: 30 consecutive minutes after 4 hrs 30 of work (compared with 6 hours for an adult).
The 12-hour daily rest rule is a matter of arithmetic: an apprentice under 18 who finishes at 11.30 p.m. cannot start again before 11.30 a.m. the next day. It is this calculation, more than the general prohibition, that trips up most poorly built hospitality schedules.
Sundays and public holidays
Young people under 18 may not work on public holidays — except in the sectors listed in article R. 3164-2: hotels, restaurants, caterers, cafés-tobacconists, bakery, pastry, butchery, delicatessen, cheese and dairy shops, fishmongers, florists, garden centres and entertainment.
1 May is an exception: it is a day off for everyone, including apprentices under 18, except in establishments that cannot interrupt their activity.
How can you check that your hours are properly recorded?
Rights are worthless without evidence. Three habits are worth more than a long lecture.
1. Keep your own record of hours. Note down your arrival time, break and departure time every day. A simple pocket-size notebook is enough, and is better than a file on a phone that can be lost. In the event of an employment tribunal dispute, a record kept regularly constitutes admissible prima facie evidence: since the Cour de cassation ruling of 18 March 2020, the employee only needs to present "sufficiently precise" evidence, leaving it to the employer to respond.
2. Check your payslip. The payslip must distinguish normal hours from premium-rate hours, with the rate applied. If the "overtime" line never appears even though 39-hour weeks keep piling up, there is a problem.
3. Raise the alarm in the right order. First the apprenticeship supervisor, who is often acting in good faith; then the CFA liaison officer, whose mediation role is provided for in article L. 6231-2; and finally, if nothing changes, the labour inspectorate (DREETS services) or the apprenticeship mediator at the chambers of trade and commerce (CMA, CCI), who can be contacted free of charge.
The apprenticeship mediator can be contacted by the apprentice or their legal representative for any dispute with the employer, without going through a lawyer or the employment tribunal.
If the situation becomes unbearable, you need to know the consequences of leaving: our article on terminating an apprenticeship contract: rights and procedure 2026 sets out the deadlines and the steps to follow.
What if the employer breaks the rules?
The penalties are not symbolic. Failure to comply with maximum working times for young workers is a 4th-class petty offence, applied as many times as there are employees concerned (article R. 3165-1 et seq.). The labour inspectorate may also suspend the apprenticeship contract, with pay maintained at the employer's expense, and impose a ban on recruiting apprentices.
On the apprentice's side, there are two routes:
- a claim for back pay before the employment tribunal (conseil de prud'hommes) for unpaid overtime, going back 3 years (limitation period under article L. 3245-1);
- judicial termination of the contract or constructive dismissal (prise d'acte), a heavier step reserved for serious breaches.
In practice, mediation resolves the majority of cases: most small-business employers are simply unaware of the 12-hour rest rule or of the prior declaration requirement.
The five most common mistakes
- Believing that the CFA "doesn't count." A week of classes is a week worked: no catching up is owed.
- Confusing an exemption with permanent authorisation. The sector declaration must be renewed and sent to the occupational physician as well as to the CFA.
- Forgetting that the premium is calculated on the apprentice's pay, not on the full Smic.
- Accepting informal "time off in lieu." Compensatory rest in place of overtime pay does exist, but it must be provided for by agreement and shown on the payslip.
- Underestimating fatigue. Irregular schedules multiply the risk of workplace accidents among the under-25s, as the INRS regularly points out in its campaigns on young people at work. Comfortable safety shoes and genuine sleep are worth more than any prevention speech.
What is changing (or not) for the 2026 school year
No new legislation has amended the protective framework for young workers in 2026: the 8-hour/35-hour ceilings and the 10-hour/40-hour exemptions remain in force. This year's debates have been elsewhere — on apprenticeship funding, the reduction in employer subsidies and contract funding levels.
This context does, however, have an indirect effect on the ground: with reduced subsidies, some companies expect more from their apprentices, sometimes beyond what the law allows. Knowing your legal working hours is becoming a negotiating tool as much as a protection. To understand the economic environment of your contract, our analysis of the 2026 apprenticeship reform puts these trade-offs in perspective.
Finally, one simple rule for those still looking for a contract: at the interview, asking about actual hours and a typical schedule has never cost anyone a placement. On the contrary, it signals a serious candidate. Work-study offers published online increasingly mention the daily span of working hours — a criterion worth comparing just as much as salary.
One last practical tip: keep your contract, payslips, collective agreement and record of hours in a ring binder with plastic sleeves. The day a discussion turns sour, everything is in one place — and that is often what makes the difference.
Sources and references: French Labour Code (articles L. 3162-1 to L. 3164-8, L. 6222-24, L. 3121-36, L. 3245-1), decree no. 2022-1198 of 30 August 2022, Ministère du Travail (travail-emploi.gouv.fr), service-public.fr, INRS, Cour de cassation, social chamber, 18 March 2020 (no. 18-10.919).