Employment: the advantages of working evenings, nights or Sundays

When you work staggered hours, at night – between midnight and 5 a.m. – in the evening, between 8 p.m. and midnight, or even on Sundays, this has consequences for wages. It is these wage compensations that the Directorate for the coordination of research, studies and statistics (Dares), in a note which appears Thursday, May 4. It is based on legal provisions and company agreements and distinguishes between the different categories of workers, manual workers, employees, intermediate professions and executives. First lesson: for everyone, only Saturday work does not confer any wage advantage.

Night work mainly benefits manual workers. Workers who work more than half of their hours at night receive a net salary 6.8% higher than their colleagues who work during the day. Employees who work at night receive a slightly lower benefit: +5.2%. We go down in the advantages of night work with intermediate professions, who earn only 3.7% more compared to their day colleagues.

Sunday worked, good deal for executives

It is especially the work on Sunday which pays better and especially for the executives. If they work at least one Sunday out of four, they will earn 10.6% more salary. Workers, they must work two Sundays a month to achieve a bonus of 6.1%, the same as night work. Ditto for employees: working on Sunday brings them as much as working at night, about 5% more salary. Finally, the intermediate professions are those who benefit the least from the bonus triggered by Sunday work: 4% more salary.

There is also evening work, which pays off. Dares notes that employees who work part of their working hours between 8 p.m. and midnight have a higher salary than those who do not. The greatest advantage goes to executives, ahead of employees, workers and intermediate professions. A manager who works in the evening can receive up to nearly 6% more salary.