French minimum wage for 28 hours in 2026: gross pay, net pay and calculation
01 June 2026 · 3 min reading time
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A 28-hour-per-week contract is a part-time arrangement that remains close to full-time work. In 2026, since the SMIC increase on June 1, this working time corresponds to a monthly salary of around €1,493.61 gross, or approximately €1,182.34 net. To avoid mistakes on your payslip, it is important to understand how this amount is calculated, how many hours are counted each month and which rules apply to additional hours.
SMIC for 28 hours per week in 2026: €1,493.61 gross, €1,182.34 net
If you work 28 hours per week and want to check your payslip, since June 1, 2026, a 28-hour-per-week contract paid at the SMIC should pay you €1,493.61 gross per month, or approximately €1,182.34 net.
| Items | Full-time 35 h/week | 28 h/week |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly hours | 151.67 h | 121.33 h |
| Monthly gross salary | €1,867.02 | €1,493.61 |
| Estimated monthly net salary | €1,477.93 | €1,182.34 |
| Annual gross salary | €22,404.24 | €17,923.36 |
| Estimated annual net salary | €17,735.16 | €14,188.08 |
The net salary remains an estimate. Your payslip may show a slightly different amount depending on your company health insurance, income tax withholding, benefits in kind or specific contractual terms.
What does a 28-hour contract actually represent?
28 hours per week correspond to 80% of a full-time job. You may work four days out of five, or follow an equivalent schedule defined with your employer. This is often a chosen part-time format: some employees want to free up one day per week, some parents adapt their working hours to school schedules, while others have another activity alongside their job.
Compared with shorter part-time contracts, the main difference is how close this format is to full-time work. Your salary represents around 80% of the full-time monthly SMIC, and the same applies to your pension contributions and some rights calculated on a pro-rata basis. On a payslip, the gap with a full-time salary is visible, but it is much smaller than for a 12-hour, 20-hour or 24-hour contract.
One point should still be checked if you requested this schedule yourself: your employment contract or amendment should clearly state the weekly working time of 28 hours, as well as the distribution of your working hours. Without sufficient detail, it may become harder to control changes to your work schedule.
How to check your salary on your payslip
To check your pay, start by identifying the gross hourly rate shown on your payslip. Since June 1, 2026, it cannot be lower than €12.31 gross if you are paid at the SMIC.
Then multiply this rate by your monthly hours. For 28 hours per week, the number of monthly hours is 121.33 hours.
Monthly hours calculation:
28 × 52 ÷ 12 = 121.33 h
Formula:
gross hourly rate × monthly hours = monthly gross salary
At the SMIC since June 1, 2026:
€12.31 × 121.33 h = €1,493.61 gross
You can also check the calculation using the full-time monthly SMIC:
€1,867.02 × 80% = €1,493.62 gross
The result is almost identical, with any difference due only to rounding.
For the net salary, the estimate can be calculated from the full-time monthly net SMIC:
€1,477.93 × 80% = €1,182.34 net
If your gross salary is below €1,493.61 for 28 hours per week at the SMIC, your employer is not complying with the legal minimum wage. If your net salary is significantly below €1,182 while your gross salary is correct, check the contribution lines on your payslip, especially company health insurance, benefits in kind or income tax withholding.
Please note: some sector-level collective agreements provide for an hourly rate higher than the SMIC. If your sector applies a more favorable pay scale, your employer must apply the collective-agreement minimum whenever it exceeds €12.31 gross per hour.
Additional hours on a 28-hour contract
In a part-time contract, hours worked beyond the duration stated in the contract are called additional hours. They should not be confused with overtime, which applies to full-time employees.
Without a collective agreement, the limit for additional hours is set at one-tenth of the contractual working time. For a 28-hour-per-week contract, this means a maximum of 2.8 additional hours per week.
A sector-level agreement may increase this limit to one-third of the contractual working time, i.e. around 9.33 additional hours per week for a 28-hour contract. In practice, however, the margin is limited: the total number of hours worked must never reach 35 hours per week, as the employee would then move into a full-time working pattern.
These hours must appear separately on your payslip and be paid at a higher rate.
| Type of additional hours | Increase | Gross hourly rate at the 2026 SMIC |
|---|---|---|
| Within the limit of one-tenth of the contract | +10% | €13.54 |
| Beyond that, if provided for by a sector-level agreement | +25% | €15.39 |
With a 28-hour contract, there are only 7 hours per week left before reaching 35 hours. If you regularly work additional hours that bring you close to this threshold, this may show that your employer actually needs more working time than stated in your contract. In that case, you can ask for your contractual working time to be increased.
You can refuse these hours if you are not given at least 3 days’ notice, if the requested volume exceeds the authorized limits, or if these hours are not provided for under the conditions set out in your contract.
To find out more about your rights as a part-time employee, the benefits you may be entitled to and the rules common to all reduced-hours contracts, read our full guide: Part-time SMIC 2026.
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