Penalty in the public service
Verified 12 February 2026 - Public Service / (Prime Minister)
A standby is a period during which, without being at your workplace, you must be able to intervene if your employer administration asks you to. You must stay at or near your home to be able to intervene and perform work in the service of your employer administration. We present you the information to know according to your public service of belonging (State - FPE, territorial - FPT, hospital - FPH).
EPF
On-call duty is not a period of actual work.
However, if you perform an intervention during your on-call period, the duration of the intervention and travel to the place of this intervention is considered as actual working time.
The cases in which your employer administration may resort to periodic penalty payments are fixed by ministerial decrees after consulting the ministerial social administration committees.
The list of posts concerned and the conditions for organizing periodic penalty payments shall be determined after consulting the social administrative committees.
A period of on-call duty shall give rise to the payment of compensation or to one compensatory restunder conditions laid down by decree.
However, you are not entitled to compensation or compensatory rest if you are in one of the following situations:
- You have a functional housing
- You can benefit from hourly allowances for additional works (IHTS)
- You perceive a new index increase (NBI) for the performance of functions of higher responsibility.
FPT
On-call duty is not a period of actual work.
However, if you perform an intervention during your on-call period, the duration of the intervention and travel to the place of this intervention is considered as actual working time.
The cases in which your employing authority may resort to periodic penalty payments, the conditions of their organization and the jobs concerned shall be determined by deliberation after consulting the territorial social committee.
Technical staff
Periods of on-call duty and interventions shall give rise to the payment of compensation or to one compensatory rest.
However, you are not entitled to compensation or compensatory rest if you are in one of the following situations:
- You have a functional housing
- You can benefit from hourly allowances for additional works (IHTS)
- You perceive a new index increase (NBI) for the performance of functions of higher responsibility.
As technical staff, you may be required, depending on your job, to accomplish 3 types of periodic penalty payment:
- Periodic penalty paymentholding corresponding to accident prevention or repair activities on transport infrastructure and public equipment and to activities for the monitoring or viability of transport infrastructure
- Periodic penalty payment decision if you are in a managerial capacity
- Periodic penalty payment security which can be paid for any activity and whatever your category.
Only interventions carried out during a period of on-call duty may give rise to compensatory rest or compensation.
The standby period itself can only give rise to compensation.
Compensatory Rest
When not compensated, interventions carried out during a period of on-call duty shall give rise to compensatory rest under the following conditions:
Time of intervention | Duration of compensatory rest |
|---|---|
Hours worked on Saturday or a day of rest imposed by the collective organization of work | Number of hours of actual work increased by 25% |
Hours worked at night | Number of hours of actual work increased by 50% |
Hours worked on Sundays or public holidays | Number of hours of actual work increased by 100% |
The days and hours of compensatory rest are fixed by your service manager, taking into account your request and the service requirements.
You need to take your compensatory rest within 6 months which follow the completion of the overtime hours which have given you the right to such rest.
Compensation
Periodic penalty payment period
A standby period shall give rise to compensation under the following conditions:
Type of on-call duty | Periodic penalty payment period | Amount of compensation |
|---|---|---|
Operating penalty | Full week | €159.20 |
Night | €10.75 (or €8.60 if on-call duty less than 10 hours) | |
Saturday or recovery day | €37.40 | |
Sunday or public holiday | €46.55 | |
Weekend (Friday evening to Monday morning) | €116.20 | |
Penalty payment for decision | Full week | €121 |
Night | €10 | |
Saturday or recovery day | €25 | |
Sunday or public holiday | €34.85 | |
Weekend (Friday evening to Monday morning) | €76 | |
Security penalty | Full week | €149.48 |
Night | €10.05 (or €8.08 if on-call duty less than 10 hours) | |
Saturday or recovery day | €34.85 | |
Sunday or public holiday | €43.38 | |
Weekend (Friday evening to Monday morning) | €109.28 |
Security or operating penalty imposed less than 15 clear days in advance shall be increased by 50%.
Intervention
In the event of intervention during the on-call duty (whatever the type of on-call duty), you benefit, in the absence of compensatory rest, from a additional allowance under the following conditions:
Intervention period | Amount of compensation |
|---|---|
Weekday | €16 per hour |
Night, Saturday, Sunday or public holiday | €22 per hour |
Non-technical staff
Periods of on-call duty and interventions shall give rise to the payment of compensation or to one compensatory rest.
However, you are not entitled to compensation or compensatory rest if you are in one of the following situations:
- You have a functional housing
- You can benefit from hourly allowances for additional works (IHTS)
- You perceive a new index increase (NBI) for the performance of functions of higher responsibility.
The compensatory rest period and the amount of the allowance are as follows:
Compensatory Rest
Periodic penalty payment period
If it is not compensated, a standby period shall give rise to compensatory rest under the following conditions:
Periodic penalty payment period | Duration of compensatory rest |
|---|---|
Full week | 1 day and a half |
Friday evening to Monday morning | 1 day |
Monday morning to Friday evening | Half a day |
Saturday, Sunday or public holiday | Half a day |
Night on weekdays | 2 hours |
Where the periodic penalty payment is imposed less than 15 days in advance, the hourly compensation shall be increased by 50%.
Intervention
In case of intervention during the on-call duty, you benefit from an additional compensatory rest under the following conditions:
Time of intervention | Duration of compensatory rest |
|---|---|
Hours worked on a weekday or Saturday | Number of hours of actual work increased by 10% |
Hours worked at night, on a Sunday or on a public holiday | Number of hours of actual work increased by 25% |
Compensation
Periodic penalty payment period
If it does not give rise to compensatory rest, a standby period shall give rise to compensation under the following conditions:
Periodic penalty payment period | Amount of compensation |
|---|---|
Full week | €156.95 |
Friday evening to Monday morning | €114.74 |
Monday morning to Friday evening | €48.02 |
Saturday | €36.59 |
Sunday or public holiday | €45.55 |
Weeknight | €10.55 |
Where the periodic penalty payment is imposed less than 15 days in advance, the compensation shall be increased by 50%.
Periodic penalty payment period
In case of intervention during the on-call duty, you will receive an additional indemnity under the following conditions:
Intervention period | Amount of compensation |
|---|---|
Weekday | €16.80 per hour |
Saturday | €21 per hour |
Night | €25.20 per hour |
Sunday or public holiday | €33.60 per hour |
FPH
On-call duty is not a period of actual work.
However, if you perform an intervention during your on-call period, the duration of the intervention and travel to the place of this intervention is considered as actual working time.
The head of establishment shall draw up, after consulting the social establishment committee, a list of the activities, services and categories of staff concerned by the periodic penalty payments and their organizational conditions.
Periodic penalty payments are organized by appeal priority given to voluntary staff.
The same officer may be on call for a maximum of 1 Saturday, 1 Sunday and 1 public holiday per month.
The duration of the on-call duty may not exceed 72 hours for 15 days (120 hours for organ harvesting and transplantation services).
A standby service may be common to several hospital establishments.
The on-call period shall give rise to compensatory rest or payment of compensation.
The general conditions for recourse to compensation or compensation shall be laid down by the head of establishment after consulting the technical establishment committee.
Compensatory Rest
The compensatory rest period shall be fixed at one quarter of the duration on-call.
Thus, a 72-hour stand-by gives rise to a compensatory rest period of 18 hours.
Compensation
If it does not give rise to compensatory rest, a period of on-call duty gives rise to hourly allowances.
The hourly allowance is as follows:
[¼ x (annual gross salary + annual residence allowance)) / 1820.
The gross annual salary taken into account is your gross annual salary at the time of the on-call duty.
Your gross annual salary is taken into account within the limit of the gross annual index salary of the index plus 539, i.e €31,840.56.
Your annual residence allowance is taken into account within the limit of :
- €318.41 if you are assigned to zone 2
- Or of €955.22 if you are assigned to zone 1.
The amount of the hourly allowance may, exceptionally, to be raised to your annual gross salary and residence allowance, if the constraints of continuity of service are particularly high.
The sectors of activity and the categories of staff concerned are then determined by the head of establishment after consulting the social establishment committee.