Yes.
Companies engaged in commercial or artisanal activities that are permitted to employ staff on Sundays are those that:
- are subject to an establishment authorization;
- have as their purpose the direct sale of goods or the provision of services to the final consumer;
- and conduct their activity at a physical point of sale accessible to the public.
All of these conditions must be met cumulatively.
Definitions
The term ‘company’ is understood in accordance with Article L. 161-2 of the Labor code, so that it refers not only to an individual company, but also to a group of companies or a set of companies whose production, activity, or occupation are of the same nature, or which together constitute an economic and social entity.
The term ‘physical point of sale’ is understood as any retail establishment that conducts an actual sales activity and carries out such activity from a dedicated sales area.
A company engaged in commercial or artisanal activities as defined above and with a workforce not exceeding 30 employees may have its employees work 8 hours on Sundays.
For companies with more than 30 employees, employees may work on Sundays for a maximum of 4 hours. This duration may be increased to a maximum of 8 hours under a collective bargaining agreement or an interprofessional agreement.
The assessment of the number of employees in the company is carried out based on the workforce employed on 31 December of the previous calendar year.
By way of exception to the preceding paragraph, for a newly established company that does not have a reference workforce on 31 December of the previous calendar year, the assessment of the number of employees is carried out on the date of its establishment for the current month. For subsequent months in the year of establishment, the workforce threshold is determined as of the last day of the preceding month. From the following calendar year onwards, the reference workforce is determined in accordance with the general principle described in the preceding paragraph
Subject to the provisions governing normal working hours, companies employing more than 30 employees may be authorized by the Minister responsible for Labor to have their employees work up to 8 hours on a maximum of 6 Sundays per calendar year, when these Sundays constitute regular opening days in the commercial sector.
Such regular opening days are those on which the majority of companies as defined above are open to the public in accordance with the usual practices of the sector
Employees included in the workforce calculation (Article L. 411-1, paragraph 2, of the Labor code)
All employees of the company engaged under an employment contract, with the exception of those under an apprenticeship contract, are taken into account for the calculation of the company’s workforce.
Part-time employees whose working hours are equal to 16 hours or more per week are fully counted in the calculation of the company’s workforce.
For employees whose working hours are below the threshold referred to in the preceding paragraph, the workforce is calculated by dividing the total number of hours specified in their employment contracts by the statutory or agreed working hours.
Employees under fixed-term contracts and temporary workers or employees seconded to the company are counted for the workforce calculation on a pro-rata basis according to their time spent in the company during the 12 months preceding the mandatory date for drawing up the electoral lists.
However, employees under fixed-term contracts and temporary workers or employees seconded by another company are excluded from the workforce count when they are replacing an absent employee or an employee whose employment contract is suspended.
Nota bene
The Law of 19 December 2025 regulating opening hours in the commercial and artisanal sector will enter into force on 19 June 2026.
More specifically regarding Sundays, opening hours will, in principle, be set from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (instead of the current opening hours of 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., or 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. for certain specific sectors).
It should be noted that these opening hours may be extended until 1:00 a.m. under a collective bargaining agreement or interprofessional agreement.
Similarly, collective bargaining agreements or interprofessional agreements may provide for continuous 24-hour opening from Monday to Sunday inclusive for certain activities that are exhaustively listed by the aforementioned law.