Forfait-jours: the necessary individualization of the individual agreement
Cass. soc., 9 April 2026, n° 25-12.011
Take care when drafting individual forfait-jours agreements: individualization is required.
A reminder: Article L. 3121-55 of the French Labor Code provides that setting working time under a forfait requires the employee's agreement and an individual forfait agreement made in writing, without however specifying the content of such a document.
In this case, the employee had signed an "individual charter" and had added the words "agreed" (bon pour accord).
This charter included, in particular:
a list of the provisions of the applicable company-level agreement; a reminder of work "capped at 218 days per year (including the solidarity day / journée de solidarité)";
a reference to the accrual of additional half-days of rest;
a reminder of the need to comply with daily and weekly rest periods;
a reference to an annual review on working time and to the possibility of requesting additional reviews.
The court of appeal had also noted that the employer carried out concrete and effective monitoring of the forfait-jours, in particular:
meetings on workload had been held at least once a year;
in the minutes of the periodic meetings, the employer had responded point by point to the employee's grievances and had taken them into account, sometimes reversing the department reorganization plans concerning her;
the employer had been able to ensure the reasonableness of the employee's workload and the balance between the needs of the department and respect for her family life;
the employee had been able to use the alert mechanisms provided for by the agreement;
the employee had received all of her leave and the additional half-days of rest provided for.
However, the "individual charter" signed by the employee made no reference to "the employee's contractual situation".
Accordingly, this "individual charter" was not capable of constituting an individual forfait agreement proving the required acceptance by the person concerned for the implementation of a forfait in days, and did not bar her claim for back overtime pay.
Sources: French Supreme Court, 9 April 2026, n° 25-12.011 / Douai Court of Appeal, 20 December 2024, RG n° 23/00990