Heat at work in France: your rights by sector (construction, office, outdoor…)

What this decode is — and is not

Every heatwave, the same lines recirculate: “You’re not allowed to work above X °C.” Or the reverse: “Until it hits 40 °C, we keep going.” Both are wrong — or, more precisely, too simple for French labour law.

This piece unpacks what public sources (INRS, Service-Public, the Labour Code via the 2025 decree, the 2026 DGT instruction) say about workers’ rights and employer duties in heat, by type of work. It is not legal advice and not a case-by-case opinion. Collective agreements, workplace rules, your company’s risk document (DUERP) and the concrete job can change the reading. If the stakes are serious: staff reps / CSE, the labour inspectorate, occupational health services, or competent counsel.

Deliberate angle: practical, not a second climate-science explainer. For why heatwaves feel worse every year, see our heatwave decode.

There is no magic thermometer in the Labour Code

Starting point that INRS and Service-Public (A18326) state clearly: there is no general maximum temperature in the Labour Code that forbids work. No “35 °C = automatic stop for everyone.”

What does exist:

• an employer safety obligation (protect workers’ health and safety — general frame of Labour Code arts. L. 4121-1 et seq.);
• since 1 July 2025, a specific frame for intense heat episodes (Decree No. 2025-482 of 27 May 2025 + the same-day order), tied to Météo-France’s heat vigilance;
• sector-specific rules (notably construction / sites without running water);
• INRS prevention markers often cited — not hard legal cutoffs.

INRS markers often repeated: on the order of 30 °C for office / sedentary work, on the order of 28 °C for physical work, as discomfort / risk cues to take seriously. INRS stresses: humidity, radiation, physical load, clothing, acclimatisation and health matter as much as the displayed number. Below 28 °C a situation can already be dangerous; above 30 °C it can be managed if organisation is right. These are markers, not legal on/off switches.

What employers must do (2025 frame)

Intense heat episodes = yellow / orange / red vigilance

According to Service-Public and the decree, an “intense heat episode” matches Météo-France vigilance levels yellow, orange or red (the 27 May 2025 order sets those thresholds). Green remains seasonal watch without particular vigilance.

Practical consequence: from yellow onward, the employer is no longer in “we’ll see tomorrow” mode. They must trigger the prevention measures planned — and adapt them if vigilance rises.

DUERP: heat risk must be in it

The employer must assess heat risk (indoors and outdoors) and include it in the single occupational risk assessment document (DUERP), with prevention measures / actions. That is not a cosmetic checkbox: it is the first document inspectors look at, and the base for knowing what to do when the Météo-France map flips.

Typical measures listed by the decree (Service-Public summary)

Without turning this into an exhaustive legal checklist, the decree notably lists:

• using work methods that reduce heat exposure;
• adapting workplaces and workstations;
• reorganising work (hours, intensity, rest breaks);
• technical means against solar radiation / heat build-up (shades, fans, misting… depending on context);
• enough cool drinking water, kept cool near posts;
• suitable work equipment / PPE;
• information and training for workers (what to do in heat, correct use of equipment).

Employers must also define how to report worrying symptoms / distress and how to organise rescue, especially for isolated posts — and adapt measures for people particularly vulnerable (age, health), with the occupational health service.

2026 inspections: not only guidance

DGT instruction 2026/68 (22 May 2026) organises the seasonal watch (roughly 1 June – 15 September) and calls for targeted inspections, with particular attention to the most exposed sectors: construction (BTP), agriculture / outdoor, catering, industry, transport, logistics, care / social support (and other high thermal-stress activities). Read that as an official inspection priority — not a promise that every site will be checked tomorrow morning.

Offices / tertiary: not “nothing to do because we’re indoors”

An office is not a building site. There is usually no construction-style 3-litre water floor. But the safety duty and the “intense heat episode” frame also apply to poorly ventilated, overheated indoor spaces, weak air-conditioning, or rooms full of heat-generating kit.

What that often means in practice (employer measures — not an automatic right to remote work):

• heat risk in the DUERP (south-facing desks, stuffy open spaces, plant rooms…);
• adjusted hours, breaks, workload, or rotation;
• ventilation / less heat build-up, accessible cool water;
• clear guidance on what to do if someone feels unwell.

Remote work, early leave or air-con are not universal magic rights in the Labour Code. They can be relevant measures — or topics for company agreements — when the DUERP and vigilance justify them. The useful ask: what measures kick in on your site from yellow onward — not only “we have AC somewhere.”

Construction / sites: water, shelter, weather stoppage

This is the sector most often cited — and where numbered rules are most concrete.

Water: 3-litre floor if no running water

Service-Public (A18326) restates: without running water, the employer must provide at least 3 litres of drinking water per day per worker — a rule aimed especially at building work, and also certain forestry / silviculture jobs. It is a standing minimum for those situations, not a ceiling: if effort and heat demand more, quantity must rise. A warm reserve far from the post, or locked away, does not meet the purpose of the rule.

In an intense heat episode, the general frame also requires enough cool water and a way to keep it cool near posts — including outdoors.

Shelter / rest

On sites, the Labour Code includes rules on shelters / rest places (often cited reference: R. 4534-142-1 and related texts): a way to shelter / rest out of weather and sun, depending on site conditions. Cross-check with the DUERP and “intense heat” measures (shade, breaks, shifted hours).

Weather unemployment / short-time work: orange and red, with conditions

Service-Public notes that “heatwave periods” that can open stoppage compensation in construction firms are characterised by orange or red vigilance. In other words: yellow already triggers prevention measures; orange / red is the tier often linked to chômage intempéries-type compensation (and, depending on the case, other short-time work routes — with tighter conditions restated in 2026 instruction / practice).

Read carefully: this is not “orange = everyone automatically goes home.” It is a possible compensation frame under conditions (prevention already in place, procedure, nature of the works, and so on). Operational detail runs through the employer, construction funds / schemes and, if contested, the inspectorate.

Agriculture and outdoor work

Fields, vineyards, market gardening, green spaces, roadside maintenance: same core logic as construction (safety duty + intense heat episode from yellow), with specific constraints — isolation, distance from water, direct sun, crop schedules, very early / late hours.

Prevention points that often come up (INRS / decree frame):

• cool water reachable at the post (not only at the farm office);
• shade / shelter / breaks in a cooler place;
• shifted hours (avoid the solar peak);
• paired work where possible (spotting heatstroke);
• suitable PPE / clothing (sun protection ≠ a suit that cooks without thought);
• attention to vulnerable workers and isolated posts.

Agriculture is explicitly in the 2026 inspection spotlight (DGT instruction). The right of withdrawal (below) remains narrow: heat alone, without a characterised serious and imminent danger, is not an automatic “leave the field” ticket.

Catering, logistics, care: heat you don’t always see

These sectors are not always under the sun — which is why they get underestimated.

• Catering / kitchens / bakeries: internal heat sources (ovens, ranges), high pace, sometimes weak ventilation. The DUERP should cover thermal conditions; breaks, hydration, peak-service organisation and extraction / cooling are classic levers.
• Logistics / warehouses / transport: docks, non-cooled vans, handling, PPE, deadlines. Heat stacks on physical load — the INRS ~28 °C marker for physical work is a useful cue here, not a statute.
• Home care / healthcare / social support: hot cars between visits, poorly insulated homes, uniforms, vulnerable clients. The 2026 instruction lists these among higher-exposure activities: the employer (or organisation) must anticipate (rounds, hydration, malaise reporting, schedule tweaks).

In all of these, the useful question is not “is there a legal temperature?” but: is the risk in the DUERP? Are measures triggered from yellow? Are water, breaks and rescue real or theoretical?

What you can do (without turning heat into needless conflict)

1. Ask for measures — concretely

Before the right of withdrawal, the first lever is often organisational:

• what measures from yellow vigilance on my site / yard / round?
• where is cool water? where to rest in shade / cooler air?
• adjusted hours / breaks?
• who to alert if someone feels unwell (colleague, manager, emergency services)?

You can also ask (via CSE, a staff rep, or directly) whether heat risk is in the DUERP and which actions sit next to it.

2. Alert early — in writing if needed

Heatstroke / dehydration signs (malaise, confusion, stopped sweating, nausea…): that is no longer an HR debate; it is an emergency. For the rest (no shade, no water, no adapted hours in orange), a clear report to management — and to the CSE if there is one — creates a record and forces a response.

3. Right of withdrawal: serious and imminent danger only

The right of withdrawal (droit de retrait, Labour Code arts. L. 4131-1 et seq.) lets a worker leave a work situation they have a reasonable ground to believe presents a serious and imminent danger to life or health.

It is not: “it’s hot, I’m going home.” It is a narrow tool, case by case, tied to a serious and close danger — not mere discomfort. Abusive use can be challenged; a real untreated danger engages the employer. In practice: alert, document, favour collective measures, and use withdrawal only if the situation truly justifies it — ideally with CSE / witnessing colleagues / the inspectorate in the loop.

4. Labour inspectorate and CSE

• CSE (if any): consultation / alert, DUERP questions, requests for measures.
• Labour inspectorate (inspection du travail): possible report for serious breaches of safety duties; in 2026, heat is an advertised inspection focus across several exposed sectors.
• Occupational health service: useful for individual vulnerabilities and prevention advice.

None of these channels replaces personalised advice if your situation is conflictual or medical.

What we can / cannot say

Going further

• Service-Public — A18326 — employer duties, Météo-France vigilance, water, DUERP, construction heatwave orange/red.
• INRS — heat regulations — Labour Code frame and prevention measures.
• INRS — key points — ~28 °C / ~30 °C markers and limits of temperature alone.
• Légifrance — Decree No. 2025-482 — official text (intense heat episodes).
• DGT instruction 2026/68 — 2026 inspection priorities and seasonal watch.