Photo par Globetrotter19 via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)The metallurgy collective agreement (CCM) entered a new era on 1 January 2024, when a single unified convention replaced more than 70 regional and professional agreements that had governed the French metallurgy sector for decades. Covering around 1.5 million employees across automotive supply chains, aerospace, metalwork and industrial electronics, this reform has direct implications for HR departments and operations managers in terms of working time organisation and scheduling practices.
What the new unified metallurgy collective agreement changes
The new metallurgy collective agreement (CCM) is the result of negotiations launched in 2019 by UIMM (the French Union of Metallurgy Industries and Trades) and the representative trade unions. It consolidates more than 70 territorial and professional collective agreements that had created a fragmented regulatory landscape across regions and sub-sectors.
The most significant change concerns job classification. The former Parodi coefficient-based grid, in place since the 1970s, has been replaced by a five-stream professional classification system: Production, Maintenance, Management and support, Sales and services, and Research and development. Each employee is positioned within a level matching the actual requirements of the role, with revised conventional minimum wages.
For HR teams, this reform requires a full audit of job descriptions and salary compliance checks against the new minima. It also revises the conventional framework governing working hours, rest periods and overtime. Companies that relied on old territorial provisions have had to update their internal agreements and scheduling practices accordingly.
Working time organisation in metallurgy
The statutory working week remains 35 hours, including for companies covered by the metallurgy collective agreement. The CCM allows companies to organise working time through different arrangements, provided they are supported by the required collective agreements.
Working time modulation is one of the main flexibility tools available. It enables weekly hours to vary over a reference period without triggering overtime at each weekly excess, as long as the average remains within legal limits over the reference period. In workshops subject to fluctuating order books, this arrangement is often preferred over a standard weekly regime.
Annualisation goes further: working time is distributed over the full calendar year, with high-intensity weeks during peak activity and lighter weeks during slack periods. A company-level collective agreement is essential to implement this model.
HR departments must also ensure compliance with maximum working hours: 10 hours per day as a general rule, 48 hours in any single week, and an average of 44 hours over 12 consecutive weeks. These limits apply regardless of the chosen working time arrangement.
Overtime in metallurgy: triggers and management
In a metallurgy company on a standard weekly arrangement, overtime is triggered beyond 35 hours per week. Under modulation or annualisation, overtime corresponds to hours exceeding the ceiling set for the reference period.
The annual overtime quota allows a certain number of hours to be worked beyond the statutory limit without prior authorisation from the Labour Inspectorate. The law sets this quota at 220 hours per year, but a company agreement may modify it upward or downward.
Beyond the annual quota, each additional overtime hour triggers a compulsory compensatory rest entitlement on top of the standard overtime premium.
| Working arrangement | Overtime trigger |
|---|---|
| Standard weekly regime | Beyond 35 hours per week |
| Annual modulation | Beyond the annual ceiling set by agreement |
| Rotating shift cycles | Based on cycle and reference period count |
| Annual day-based scheme (managers) | No overtime; monitored in days |
Tracking each employee’s hour counters is a daily management obligation. A tool like Skello, designed for frontline teams, centralises these counters and triggers alerts before the annual quota is exceeded, enabling proactive management of overtime costs.
Rest and break obligations for metallurgy employers
The metallurgy collective agreement operates within the statutory framework for rest requirements. Each employee must receive at least 11 consecutive hours of daily rest between two working days, and at least 35 consecutive hours of weekly rest.
A minimum rest break of 20 minutes is mandatory after 6 consecutive hours of work. In metallurgical workshops where shifts are long and physically demanding, this requirement must be built into operational schedules from the planning stage.
Night work, common in continuous-production plants, is subject to specific rules. Night workers benefit from particular provisions on maximum duration, compensation and health monitoring, defined by the Labour Code and supplemented by collective agreements.
Professional travel between sites or to external locations may, under certain conditions, constitute effective working time. HR departments must assess these situations on a case-by-case basis to avoid disputes during inspections.
Annual day-based scheme for managers and autonomous technicians
The CCM 2024 has clarified the conditions for accessing the annual day-based working arrangement in the metallurgy sector. It applies to employees with genuine autonomy over their schedules, primarily managers but also certain senior technicians meeting the conventional criteria defined by collective agreement.
For employees on a day-based scheme, working time is not counted in hours but in working days over the year. The employer must nonetheless ensure that daily amplitudes remain reasonable and that minimum rest periods are respected. Formal monitoring is mandatory, including an annual review covering workload, work-life balance and remuneration.
Talent management software makes it easier to meet these obligations. Empowill offers structured interview modules to document workload discussions with managers on day-based schemes, ensure traceability and trigger alerts when reviews are not conducted. This traceability is a critical safeguard in the event of a dispute.
Digital tools for scheduling and working time compliance
Managing working time in metallurgy companies accumulates several constraints: rotating shifts, modulation, multi-site teams, night work, day-based schemes for managers. Building schedules manually creates significant compliance risk when inspections occur.
Planning software automates compliance checks in real time. Skello is particularly well suited to workshop and frontline teams: rotating 2x8 or 3x8 schedules, inter-shift rest monitoring, overtime quota alerts and automated payroll exports. This type of tool turns a complex regulatory obligation into a controlled process.
Other regulated sectors have adopted similar approaches. The construction collective agreement faces comparable challenges on mobile worksites. The retail collective agreement must manage strong seasonal variation. The road transport collective agreement adds driving time and rest constraints. The restaurant collective agreement shares with metallurgy the challenge of atypical working hours and split shifts.
Frequently asked questions
Does the new metallurgy collective agreement apply to all companies in the sector?
The 2024 CCM covers all companies falling within the UIMM scope, representing approximately 42,000 companies and 1.5 million employees. Companies previously subject to a regional metallurgy agreement automatically transitioned to the new CCM on 1 January 2024. When in doubt, the company NAF code provides a first indicator, to be confirmed with specialist legal counsel.
How does working time modulation work in metallurgy?
Modulation allows working hours to vary week by week over a reference period of up to one year, without triggering overtime calculations at each weekly excess. A collective company-level agreement is required to implement this arrangement. The schedule must respect maximum daily and weekly limits and minimum rest periods throughout. At the end of the reference period, hours exceeding the annual ceiling are treated as overtime.
Who is covered by the annual day-based working arrangement in metallurgy?
The annual day-based arrangement targets employees with genuine autonomy over their working schedule, primarily managers and certain senior technicians meeting the conditions set by the CCM 2024. The employer must formalise the arrangement in an individual written agreement backed by a collective agreement, and hold an annual review of workload. Without these requirements, the arrangement may be invalidated by labour courts.
Is scheduling software mandatory in metallurgy companies?
There is no legal obligation to use specific software, but employers must keep a working time record for each employee. In workshops running on rotating shifts or across multiple sites, dedicated software is practically essential to avoid violations and facilitate labour inspections. Working time management tools centralise counters, automate alerts and simplify payroll exports.
How should rotating shift teams be managed in metallurgy?
Rotating shift work, common in metallurgical plants, requires strict monitoring of rest periods between shifts and rotation cycles. Night work premiums apply under the Labour Code and any applicable company agreements. Schedules must incorporate these constraints upfront to prevent violations. Scheduling software adapted to rotating teams detects non-compliant situations automatically before the schedule is published.