Does the dressing time of a public official count as working time?
Verified 30 May 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
You are a police officer, a nurse, a maintenance officer, etc., and you must wear special clothing to perform your duties. Depending on your public service of origin (State - FPE, territorial - FPT, hospital - FPH), the time of dressing and undressing is considered or not as actual working time.
Actual working time refers to the periods when you are at the disposal of your employer administration and must comply with its directives without being able to go about your personal activities freely.
EPF
If you have to wear a uniform to perform your duties, the time you spend before taking up your duties dressing and then, at the end of your service, undressing yourself is not considered to be actual working time.
The time you spend dressing and undressing is not considered to be actual working time even if you do so at your workplace.
The dressing and undressing time is a time during which you get ready to take up your service without being able to comply yet with the instructions of your superiors.
If, on the other hand, a period of dressing and undressing occurs when you have already taken up your service and are consequently at the disposal of your employer's administration, this period of dressing and undressing is considered to be actual working time.
This is the case, for example, for a staff member who performs, on an exclusive or non-exclusive basis, unsanitary and/or dirty work when he is required to take a shower during service.
FPT
If you have to wear a uniform to perform your duties, the time spent dressing and undressing as actual working time varies depending on whether you are a professional firefighter or not (general case).
General case
The time you spend before taking up your duties to dress and then, at the end of your service, to undress is not considered to be actual working time.
The time you spend dressing and undressing is not considered to be actual working time even if you do so at your workplace.
The dressing and undressing time is a time during which you get ready to take up your service without being able to comply yet with the instructions of your superiors.
If, on the other hand, a period of dressing and undressing occurs when you have already taken up your service and are consequently at the disposal of your employer's administration, this period of dressing and undressing is considered to be actual working time.
This is the case, for example, for a staff member who performs, on an exclusive or non-exclusive basis, unsanitary and/or dirty work when he is required to take a shower during service.
Firefighter
If you are a professional firefighter, dressing and undressing time is considered as actual working time and is therefore paid.
FPH
Where the head of the establishment makes it compulsory to wear work clothes after consulting the Social Committee, the time spent dressing and undressing shall be regarded as actual working time.
The dressing and undressing time is therefore paid.