Bill No. 1125 on the working time savings account (compte épargne-temps "CET") for employees

Bill No. 1125 on the working time savings account ("compte épargne-temps", hereinnafter "CET") for employees (12 articles), arising from the amendment of Draft Law No. 262 (of parliamentary origin, adopted on 28 November 2024), was tabled by the Government with the Bureau of the Parliament on 14 April 2026.

The text tabled is not final. It may be amended during its passage through the parliamentary committee before being put to the vote.

SUMMARY

The time-saving account (CET) is a scheme that allows employees to set aside days off or sums of money derived, for example, from overtime or unused leave, in order to use them at a later date or convert them into pay.

Currently, Monegasque law provides for this mechanism to a limited extent, following Law No. 1.505 of 24 June 2021 on the concerted organisation of working time. The CET was introduced in Article 8-7 of Ordinance-Law No. 677 of 2 December 1959 on working hours, as amended, as a form of compensation that may be granted to employees whose working hours are organised over a reference period exceeding one week (compensation in the form of time off credited to the CET).

The purpose of Bill No. 1125 is to establish an independent CET scheme, the benefits of which, according to the Explanatory Memorandum, are as follows:

• For employees, the CET offers greater flexibility in managing working time. It can help to improve the work-life balance, cope with certain periods of transition, or gradually prepare for the end of one’s career.
• For businesses, it is a useful tool for organising work, enhancing the attractiveness of employment and enabling better adaptation to the needs of the business.

Bill No. 1125 adopts the structure of a framework law:

• the law sets out the essential rules and safeguards to govern its operation and protect employees, determines the fate of the CET in the event of termination or transfer of the employment contract (payment to the employee of compensation corresponding to the monetary conversion of accrued rights), and provides for criminal provisions;
• the establishment of the CET depends on a collective agreement or a company agreement which specifies the operating rules (funding of the account, use of entitlements, conditions for withdrawal, and the treatment of entitlements in the event of termination of the agreement).

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DETAILED CONTENT OF BILL NO. 1125 (prior to referral to the parliamentary committee)

Article 1. Definition of the CET, the use of which is based solely on the employee’s discretion.

• The CET is defined as “a scheme enabling the employee to accumulate paid leave entitlements or to receive remuneration, either immediately or at a later date, in return for periods of leave or rest not taken, or for rest hours accrued in respect of overtime or sums allocated to them.” The CET allows for the accumulation of entitlements in both time and money.
• The use of the CET cannot be imposed by the employer. The opening and use of a CET are subject to the employee’s request. The introduction of the CET through a collective agreement or company-level agreement must under no circumstances have the effect of compelling the employee to open an individual account.

Article 2. Procedure for establishing the CET within the company.

• The CET must be established by a collective labour agreement as defined in Article 1 of Law No. 416 of 7 June 1945 on collective labour agreements, as amended, or failing that, by a company agreement as defined in Article 2-2 of Law No. 459 of 19 July 1947, amending the status of staff representatives, as amended.
• Mandatory content of the collective agreement or company agreement: general operating procedures for the CET.
  1°) conditions and limits on the employee’s contribution to the CET in the form of time or money; and
  2°) conditions and limits under which the employer may contribute to the CET, exclusively in respect of overtime worked;
  3°) procedures for managing the CET;
  4°) conditions for the use and settlement of the CET, in particular the procedures for converting the entitlements allocated to the account;
  5°) the fate of entitlements acquired by the employee under the CET in the event of termination of the collective labour agreement or the company agreement establishing it.

Articles 3, 4, 5. Allocation of leave entitlement to the CET: through employee contributions (entitlement that the employee allocates to the CET; entitlement that the employer may credit to the CET in the specific cases provided for by law), and through employer contributions (contributions made by the employer to supplement the entitlement already held in the CET).

• An employee may allocate their entitlement in accordance with the terms set out in the collective agreement or company-level agreement. For example, the crediting of entitlement to the CET may be subject to a minimum length of service requirement, or capped.
• The employer must inform the employee annually, in writing, of the total entitlement accumulated on their CET, specifying the origin of such entitlement. The collective agreement or company agreement must specify the nature of the written document containing this information.
• Time-based entitlements that may be transferred to the CET:
  1°) all or part of annual leave exceeding 24 working days (excess leave, contractual leave such as seniority leave). Purpose of the 24-day limit: to ensure that the employee retains a minimum entitlement to leave each year, and to safeguard their mandatory rest period in accordance with Law No. 619 of 26 July 1956 establishing the annual paid leave scheme, as amended. The Labour Court reiterated that paid leave serves a dual purpose: to allow the worker to rest and to enjoy a period of relaxation and leisure (Labour Court, 19 December 2019, Mr v. G. v. Company A, relying on the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), 22 November 2011, Case C-214/10, K.H.S. A.G. v. W.S.).
  2°) unused compensatory days off, in particular those granted in respect of public holidays worked.
  3°) overtime worked.
  4°) any employer contribution* supplementing entitlements already allocated.
  excluding rest periods granted in accordance with statutory or regulatory provisions for reasons relating to the protection of
  the employee’s health or safety. For example, daily or weekly rest periods.

• Monetary entitlements that may be allocated to the CET:
  1°) Annual bonuses, including the thirteenth month’s salary and any similar bonuses.
  2°) One-off payments.
  3°) Statutory overtime pay.
  4°) Any employer contribution* supplementing entitlements already allocated.
  excluding general or individual pay rises. Objective: to ensure that these increases are not diverted from their primary purpose of immediately improving the employee’s purchasing power and remuneration.

* The collective agreement or company agreement may, for example, provide that the employer will contribute 1 day to the CET for every 10 days capitalised, or 10% of a sum of €1,000 allocated.

Article 6. Terms and conditions for using rights accrued in the CET.

• The employee may, upon written request and with the employer’s consent, use the rights accrued in the CET to supplement their remuneration or leave, or to phase out their employment.
• Use of rights accrued in the CET in accordance with the terms set out in the collective agreement or company agreement.
• The monetary value of a day is assessed on the date of payment. The purpose of establishing a valuation criterion is to avoid any ambiguity regarding the amount owed to the employee, particularly in the event of a change in their remuneration between the date the rights were allocated to the CET and the date of their use.
• The use of rights accrued on the CET (decision and manner of use) cannot be imposed by the employer. Objective: to guarantee the employee’s freedom of choice.

Article 7. Mechanism for guaranteeing rights accrued under the CET (claims held by the employee against the employer)

• The collective labour agreement or company-level agreement must provide for an insurance scheme or guarantee covering accrued rights, taken out with an insurance company or firm previously authorised by ministerial order to guarantee such sums. Purpose of taking out a private guarantee: to protect employees against the risk of losing accrued entitlements in the event of the employer’s default or the company’s financial difficulties. Entitlements recorded on the CET do not fall within the scope of the Wage Claims Guarantee Fund ("Caisse de garantie des créances de salaires").
• The employer’s obligation to notify the Labour Directorate, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, of the identity of the insurance provider with whom they have contracted and the date of the contract, without delay, from the date of entry into force of the collective agreement (Article 7 of Law No. 416 of 7 June 1945, as amended) or the company agreement (Article 2-5 of Law No. 459 of 19 July 1947, as amended).
• Obligation of the insurance provider to notify the Labour Inspectorate of contract terminations by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt.
• In the absence of an insurance scheme or provision guaranteeing acquired rights as provided for in the collective labour agreement or company agreement, unguaranteed acquired rights must be settled without delay.

Article 8. Rules applicable in the event of termination or transfer of the employment contract.

• In the event of termination of the employment contract or transfer of the employment contract pursuant to Article 15 of Law No. 729 of 16 March 1963 on employment contracts, as amended, the employee shall receive, in a single payment, compensation corresponding to the monetary conversion of all rights recorded on their CET. Objective: to avoid complex administration or staggered payments following the end of the employment relationship or in the event of a change of employer.
• The monetary value of a day is calculated on the date of payment. The aim is to avoid any ambiguity regarding the amount of compensation due to the employee.
• Termination of an employment contract refers to all forms of termination permitted by law, including: dismissal, resignation, termination initiated by an employee during pregnancy or following maternity leave, termination due to the illness of a dependent child, termination on grounds of incapacity, judicial termination, and termination by mutual agreement; as well as retirement (Labour Court, 13 February 2003, A.L. v. the Monegasque public limited company EUROPA ASSURANCES; Labour Court, 5 November 2015, Mr D.B.E. v. La S.A.M. G).
• The transfer of the employment contract refers to the scenarios provided for in Article 15 of Law No. 729 of 16 March 1963: a change in the employer’s legal status, in particular through succession, sale, merger, conversion of assets, or incorporation.

Article 9. Submission of the company agreement establishing the time-saving account to the Director of Labour ("Directeur du travail").

• Where a time-saving account is established by a company agreement, the employer must submit that agreement to the Director of Labour, in accordance with Article 2-5 of Law No. 459 of 19 July 1947, as amended. Submission must be by registered post with acknowledgement of receipt. The Director of Labour has a period of two months to rule on the agreement’s compliance with the legal provisions protecting employees. Failure to respond within this period shall be deemed a rejection of the agreement.
• The company agreement shall apply in accordance with the terms set out in this article. The employer must communicate the company agreement, once declared compliant, to all employees of the company by means of a collective notice, or by post or email. The company agreement comes into force upon completion of all these formalities. From that date, it is binding on all employees covered by the agreement.
• Any amendment to the general operating procedures of the CET must be submitted for review by the Director of Labour and must comply with the formalities set out in Article 2-5 of Law No. 459 of 19 July 1947, as amended, as detailed above.

To be noted: the bill does not provide for the Labour Directorate to verify the compliance of the collective agreement
establishing the CET, as such a power is not conferred upon it by Law No. 416 of 7 June 1945 on collective labour agreements, as amended.

Articles 10 et 11. Criminal penalties for breaches attributable to the employer.

• A fine of between €1,000 and €2,250 (Article 26(1) of the Criminal Code, doubled in the event of a repeat offence where, within the 12 months preceding the offence in question, the person has already been convicted of the same offence) for the following offences:
  - requiring one of their employees to use the CET.
  - requiring one of their employees to use the rights accrued in their CET.
  - deciding, on behalf of the employee, how the rights accrued in their CET are to be used.
  - failing to comply with the obligation to provide annual information to the employee in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 3.
  - failing to settle the rights accrued in the CET in the absence of an insurance scheme or guarantee of accrued rights provided for in the collective labour agreement or company agreement, in accordance with Article 7.
  - failing to pay the employee the compensation provided for in Article 8 in the event of termination of the employment contract or transfer of the employment contract.
  - paying the aforementioned compensation provided for in Article 8 to the employee in instalments.
  - failing to submit the company agreement establishing the CET to the Director of Labour, in accordance with Article 9.
  - making a false or inaccurate declaration in connection with the obligation to insure or guarantee acquired rights, as provided for in Article 7.
• A fine of between 15 and 75 euros (Article 29(1) of the Criminal Code) per employee and per day of delay in taking out or renewing the insurance policy intended to guarantee the rights recorded on the CET.
  LThe fine imposed may not be less than 2,250 euros (Article 26(2) of the Criminal Code) nor more than 18,000 euros (Article 26(3) of the Criminal Code).
• A fine of between 200 and 600 euros (Article 29(3) of the Criminal Code) shall be imposed where the CET is made applicable by a collective labour agreement, and the employer fails to notify the Labour Directorate of the insurance provider with whom they have contracted and the date of the contract, in accordance with Article 7.

Article 12. Amendment to Article 8-7 of Ordinance-Law No. 677 of 2 December 1959 on working hours, as amended, concerning the compensatory arrangements available to employees whose working hours are organised over a reference period of more than one week.

• The bill replaces the words "time savings account" ("compte épargne temps") with "agreed working time arrangement account" ("compte aménagement concerté du temps de travail") in Article 8-7 of Ordinance-Law No. 677.
• As a reminder, following Law No. 1.505 of 24 June 2021 on the agreed organisation of working time, the CET was introduced into Article 8-7 of Ordinance-Law No. 677 as a form of compensation that may be granted to employees whose working time is organised over a reference period exceeding one week (compensation in the form of time off credited to the CET). However, the application of the autonomous rules governing the CET appeared to be difficult to reconcile with the mechanism of the concerted organisation of working time, which is temporary in nature and subject to specific management procedures. Hence the introduction of a "concerted organisation of working time account’", thereby avoiding any confusion.

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