French minimum wage for 28 hours in 2026: gross pay, net pay and calculation
07 May 2026 · 3 min reading time
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See job offersA 28-hour weekly contract is a part-time arrangement that remains close to full-time work. In 2026, for an employee paid at the French minimum wage, this working time represents a monthly salary of around €1,458.43 gross, or approximately €1,154 net. To avoid mistakes on your payslip, it is important to understand how this amount is calculated, how many hours are used for monthly pay, and which rules apply if you work additional hours.
French minimum wage for 28 hours a week in 2026: €1,458.43 gross, €1,154 net
If you work 28 hours per week and want to check your payslip, a contract paid at the 2026 French minimum wage should give you €1,458.43 gross per month, or around €1,154 net.
| Items | Full-time 35 h/week | 28 h/week |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly hours | 151.67 h | 121.33 h |
| Monthly gross salary | €1,823.03 | €1,458.43 |
| Monthly net salary | ~€1,443 | ~€1,154 |
| Annual gross salary | €21,876 | €17,501 |
| Annual net salary | ~€17,317 | ~€13,851 |
The estimated net salary is based on an employee contribution rate of around 21%. Your payslip may show a slightly different amount depending on your company health insurance, income tax withholding or any benefits in kind.
What a 28-hour week actually represents
28 hours per week represents 80% of a full-time contract. In practical terms, this often means working four days out of five, or following an equivalent schedule set by your employer. It is often a chosen format rather than an imposed one: some employees want to free up one day per week, some parents adapt their working hours to school schedules, and others combine their job with another activity.
What changes compared with shorter part-time contracts is how close this format is to full-time work. Your salary represents 80% of that of a colleague working 35 hours, and so do your pension contributions. On a payslip, the difference with a full-time contract is visible, but not huge.
One point to check if this arrangement was made at your request: make sure your contract or amendment clearly states the weekly working time of 28 hours and how those hours are distributed across the week. Without this, changes to your schedule may be easier for your employer to impose.
How to check your salary on your payslip
Look for the gross hourly rate on your payslip and multiply it by your monthly working hours. For 28 hours per week, the monthly working time is 121.33 hours.
Monthly hours calculation:
28 × 52 ÷ 12 = 121.33 h
Formula:
Gross hourly rate × monthly hours = monthly gross salary
At the 2026 French minimum wage:
€12.02 × 121.33 h = €1,458.43 gross
Using the estimated net hourly rate of €9.51:
€9.51 × 121.33 h = €1,153.85 net
You can also check the amount by starting from the full-time monthly minimum wage:
€1,823.03 × 80% = €1,458.42
The result is the same, with only a one-euro rounding difference.
If your gross salary is below €1,458.43, your employer is not complying with the French minimum wage. If your net salary is significantly below €1,154 while your gross salary is correct, check the contribution lines on your payslip, especially company health insurance and income tax withholding.
Additional hours with a 28-hour contract
Without a collective agreement, the limit for additional hours is 2.8 hours per week, which corresponds to 1/10 of your contractual 28 hours. A branch-level agreement may increase this limit to one third of the contract, or around 9.33 additional hours per week at most. In all cases, your total working time cannot reach 35 hours.
These additional hours must appear separately on your payslip and must be paid with an increase.
| Type of additional hours | Increase | Gross hourly rate at the 2026 French minimum wage |
|---|---|---|
| Within the limit of 1/10 of the contract | +10% | €13.22 |
| Beyond that, if allowed by a branch agreement | +25% | €15.03 |
With a 28-hour contract, the gap before reaching 35 hours is only 7 hours per week. If you regularly work additional hours that bring you close to this threshold, you can ask for your contractual working time to be increased.
You can refuse these additional hours if you are not informed at least 3 days in advance, or if the requested hours exceed the limits set by your contract.
To learn more about your rights as a part-time employee, the benefits you may be entitled to and the rules that apply to reduced working time contracts, read our full guide: French minimum wage for part-time work in 2026.
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