Is anyone here knowledgeable about French employment laws? I'm in a quandry...

[sagelynodding]

So, without going into too much detail...
I have a CDI 16h/sem. My colleague has a CDI 39h/sem. He is very ill and won't be back for a month.

Work have asked me to cover his hours, I said yes, as usually they are paid as heures sup, with +25% per hour.

But I arrived tonight (night shifts) to find a note from the accountant and an avenant (à durée déterminée) basically increasing my contracted hours to 39/sem for as long as my colleague is ill. This means they won't have to pay me my +25% heures supplémentaires, which were the only reason I agreed to work 7 bloody nights per week!

So I am pissed off to say the least, and I can't find decent info on the net about the legality of what they want me to do. (Will also post on a French forum when I find one that is any good).

If I refuse to sign this avenant, theoretically they can fire me?
I know it is a long shot, but I just don't know where to turn and DP (French) is just effing and blinding about my bloody work and not helping at all! So if anyone even has the slightest idea I am all ears!!

[Weta]

eek, can see why you are pissed off but I think they are kind of obliged to do it this way as normally you can't do more than 10% of your normal numbers hours as heures sup... though maybe you have been doing more than that already? have you talked to them about it?

not sure about the firing issue, sorry, though it doesn't sound as though refusing to sign the new CDD would invalidate your CDI - they would be wihtin their rights to be pissed off though since you said yes and are now saying no. but obviously that is because of a misunderstanding so maybe if you talk to them they will be understanding anyway. would a compromise be for them to offer you some extra time off to make up for it maybe?

good luck anyway!

[eslteacher]

Have you checked back through your original contract to see if it says anything useful about changes to working hours?

I regularly do heures sup, but my colleagues and I have just cottoned on to the fact that since August Hollande has reduced the tax breaks you get on them, so they are not as profitable as they once were. Need to go through the million lineson my pay slip to be sure I understand the new deductions before I go to my boss about it...