Should an employee recover hours of work that he or she was unable to perform?
Verified 11 August 2026 - Public Service / (Prime Minister)
Certain events, such as bad weather, can prevent all employees of a company or establishment to work. Hours that are not worked due to an interruption collective of work are called hours lost. The employer may in certain circumstances ask employees to come to work in order to recover these lost hours. We're taking a look at the regulations.
The recovery of lost hours is a device allowing the employer to postpone the completion of hours of work that could not be completed for exceptional reasons. These are hours lost as a result of an interruption collective of work.
The cases in which the employer can recover the hours are as follows:
- Accidental cause
- Bad weather
- Force majeure
- Inventory of the company
- Unemployment of 1 or 2 working days between 1 public holiday and 1 weekly day of rest or 1 day before annual leave.
FYI
The hours said hours lost in other circumstances, such as lost hours due to strike, stop illness or decrease in activity, cannot be recovered.
The recovery of lost hours is an opportunity for the employer to recover lost hours. It's not an obligation.
This means that employees cannot demand it, even if they lose their wages.
Please note
If the employer decides to recover the lost hours, this decision is binding on the employee.
Information of the labor inspector
The employer must inform the labor inspector before their implementation of the following:
- Collective interruption of work
- Rules for recovering lost hours.
Please note
If the work is interrupted by an unforeseen event, the information is given immediately.
Information and consultation of the Social and Economic Committee (CSE)
The recovery of lost hours constitutes a change in working conditions, particularly in terms of working hours.
The CSE: titleContent must be informed and consulted beforehand.
Please note
If the closure is limited in time and immediately accompanied by the principle of recovery of lost hours, prior consultation with the CSE is not mandatory.
Display of the modified schedule
In the case of a collective work schedule, the modified schedule during the recovery period must be posted in each workplace and sent in advance to the labor inspector.
Recovery period
Lost hours must be recovered within 12 months before or after their loss and cannot be evenly distributed throughout the year. However, a collective agreement may provide for other provisions.
Warning
In the agricultural sector, recovery is carried out in the period of 26 weeks the week following the week in which the collective work stoppage occurred.
Hours of work on the occasion of the recovery of lost hours
When recovering lost hours, working hours may be increased to a maximum of 1 hour per day or 8 hours per week. However, a collective agreement may provide for other provisions.
Example :
An employee works 7 hours a day from Monday to Friday. Usually he does not work on Saturdays and Sundays.
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7 hours | 7 hours | 7 hours | 7 hours | 7 hours | 8 hours | Weekly rest |
8 hours of recovery |
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
8 hours (7+1) | 8 hours (7+1) | 8 hours (7+1) | 8 hours (7+1) | 8 hours (7+1) | 3 hours | weekly rest |
1 time of recovery | 1 time of recovery | 1 time of recovery | 1 time of recovery | 1 time of recovery | 3 hours of recovery |
Please note
The maximum weekly and daily durations shall not be exceeded as a result of recovery.
Recovery hours are ordinary hours of work that are displaced. They are paid at the normal rate and do not generate incomeovertime.
One collective agreement may provide for more favorable provisions.
When the collective interruption and the recovery occur over the same pay period, the two events neutralize each other and the remuneration does not change.
When the 2 events occur over 2 different pay periods, the rules are different:
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Recovery before Collective Interrupt
The employer shall pay the hours worked as a result of the clawback together with the salary of the month in which they were completed. He will then make a deduction from the salary of the month in which the collective interruption occurred.
Recovery after Collective Disruption
The salary must be paid in return for the work provided.
The employer is not obliged to anticipate the payment of lost hours that will have to be recovered.
One collective agreement may provide for more favorable provisions.
No, The employee cannot refuse to recover hours of work that fall within the lost hours scheme.
In the event of refusal to perform these lost hours of work, the employee may be exposed to disciplinary sanction from the employer.
The employer may also make a payroll deduction for hours that have not been recovered.
However, the employer cannot sanction an employee who is unable to recover the hours lost for medical reasons.
No, employees who have recovered lost hours may not be dismissed for lack of activity, within the1 month following a recovery period.
This rule applies to employees usually employed in theestablishment or part of an establishment where recovery hours have been completed.
FYI
This rule does not apply to employees hired temporarily to cope with extraordinary extra work.
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Administrative information by telephone - Allô Service Public
For more information on this subject, you can contact Allô Service Public.
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The informants who answer you belong to the ministry responsible for labor.
Recovery of lost hours (public order)
Allocation (scope of collective bargaining)
Allocation (supplementary provisions)
Approaches, distribution (public policy)
Allocation, payback period (alternate provisions)