Converting a French salary to an hourly rate
This page starts with a 35-hour week. For an employee covered by the ordinary working-time rules, hours above that threshold can count as overtime. It is not a universal schedule: check the hours in your contract, and remember that a forfait jours arrangement is not calculated in the same way.
The calculator uses the default overtime premiums of 25% for the first eight extra hours in a week and 50% thereafter. A collective agreement can change those premiums, with a minimum of 10%, and equivalent compensatory rest may apply. The calculation here models pay, not compensatory rest. Service Public explains the overtime rules and exceptions.
With no overtime, annual paid hours are 35 × 52 = 1,820. Dividing €52,000 by 1,820 gives a base rate of €28.57 an hour.
With leave enabled, this page assumes 25 leave days and 11 public holidays on a five-day week. Each day represents seven hours, so estimated working hours are 1,820 − (36 × 7) = 1,568. That produces an effective rate of
€33.16 per hour worked.
The second figure is a comparison measure, not the hourly rate on a payslip. French paid leave is normally five weeks; 30 jours ouvrables correspond to 25 days on a five-day schedule. The assumed holiday count does not guarantee 11 extra days off: weekends, local rules and work arrangements affect it. Check the paid-leave rules, and read the result as an estimate based on this page's assumptions.