France strengthens employer obligations during heatwaves

At a glance

• Since 1 June 2025, French employers have been required to implement specific measures to protect employees during periods of extreme heat.
• The rules require employers to take steps such as ensuring adequate workplace ventilation, providing access to drinking water and cool rest areas, and offering information and training on heat-related risks.
• Employers may also need to adapt working arrangements during heatwaves, including adjusting working hours and introducing additional rest breaks where necessary.
• Labour Inspectors are subjecting compliance with these obligations to increased scrutiny between 1 June and 15 September each year.
• Employees cannot be disciplined for refusing to work where they reasonably believe that heat conditions pose a serious risk to their health or safety.

A decree that entered into force on 1 June 2025 introduced specific obligations for French employers aimed at protecting workers from the risks associated with extreme heat. The measures also place greater emphasis on enforcement, with labour inspectors carrying out enhanced monitoring of compliance during the annual summer period from 1 June to 15 September.

Employers are required to implement appropriate preventative measures to reduce heat-related risks in the workplace. These include ensuring adequate ventilation, providing access to cold drinking water, and making available a suitably cool area where employees can take breaks. Employers must also provide employees with information and training on the risks associated with high temperatures and the measures put in place to mitigate those risks.

Where conditions warrant it, employers may also need to adapt working arrangements. This could include modifying start and finish times to avoid the hottest part of the day, introducing additional rest periods, or taking other practical steps to reduce employees’ exposure to extreme heat.

The decree does not establish a statutory maximum workplace temperature. However, temperatures exceeding 30°C in office environments are commonly regarded as potentially hazardous. Employees also retain the right to withdraw from work where they reasonably believe that continuing to work would pose a serious and imminent danger to their health or safety, and employers cannot impose sanctions for exercising that right.