The employer cannot increase or decrease the total number of hours fixed in the contract without the agreement of the employee. On the other hand, he can modify the distribution of hours. For example, if we work 8 hours a day, he has the right to decide to change the working hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you refuse, you can be fired for misconduct.
The change of schedules - which must not voluntarily harm the employee - must be based on a serious reason (change of the supplier's delivery schedules, for example). The employer must therefore request the agreement of the employees for the transition from a continuous schedule (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) to a discontinuous schedule (9 a.m. to 12 p.m. then 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.), for work on a day of WE, if this was not the case before, for the passage from a day schedule to a night schedule, except if the night work is specific to the profession (service station, clinic, etc.). In the case of a part-time contract, the schedules cannot be modified without the employee's agreement.
Thanks to Maître Julien Boutiron, lawyer and author of
"Labour Law For Dummies" (Ed. First).
