These timetables are atypical only in name, so widespread are they in French society. The fact of working, in whole or in part, in the evening, that is to say between 8 p.m. and midnight, at night between midnight and 5 a.m., or on Saturday or Sunday concerns, at least once per month, no less than 10.4 million people, or 45% of employees, says the Directorate for the coordination of research, studies and statistics (Dares), in a note which has just appeared.
Working on Saturdays is the most frequent practice, with a third of employees working at least one Saturday per month, followed by evening work. Next comes Sunday work and finally night work, which concerns 10% of French workers.
The situation is very different according to socio-professional categories. Executives, who have the longest working days, are those who work most often in the evening. Employees, on the other hand, work more often on Saturdays and Sundays. This is especially true for low-skilled employees. Night work primarily concerns blue-collar workers. Five points more than the average for professions. As for self-employed workers, the self-employed or company directors, for example, they are even more affected than all the others by atypical working hours. No less than 78% of them go beyond the traditional working day.
There are also differences between the public sector and the private sector. We work more atypical hours in the public service. Public officials who ensure the protection and security of people and property as well as those who guarantee the permanence of care services are in this situation.
In the private sector, three sectors of activity concentrate workers on atypical hours: accommodation-catering, trade and transport and warehousing. Workers who have more constraints than others because their work is more often than others controlled by a clock, a badge or a time card. Their day also exceeds the planned schedules more often than that of others. A third of them work beyond the scheduled time often or every day. Result: only 29% of them think that their schedules go well with their private life.