Infosys Hit with €175,000 Penalty in France Over Workforce Time Record System

After finding that Infosys's system for documenting employee working hours was non-compliant with legal criteria, French labour authorities penalised the company EUR 175,000 (approximately INR 2 crore). This fine was handed out by the French regional labour authority, DRIEETS Ile-de-France.

In a filing with the stock exchange, Infosys revealed the news, saying it had received a message from the relevant body about the collection of the fine. The results showed that the company's method of keeping track of employees' working hours did not adhere strictly to French labour laws. Concerns about the system's dependability, auditability, and monitoring capabilities for specific personnel groups were voiced by the authority.

What French Labour Law States?

In order to ensure that their employees are working within the country's statutory 35-hour workweek, overtime limitations, and required rest breaks, French companies are required by law to keep detailed records of their employees' working hours. Accurate and, if necessary, auditable records are also necessary. The stock exchange filing is unclear on which Infosys staff groups were the focus of the investigation and whether or not the firm has been ordered to implement new time-keeping procedures. The minimum required workweek for full-time employees in France's private sector is 35 hours. The French government's public-service guidelines state that this is the point at which overtime is typically computed, rather than a hard cap on weekly work.

A tidal wave of reactions ensued as the news spread rapidly on social media. Additionally, the fine is a result of the continuing dispute over the company's working hours. The founder of Infosys, N R Narayana Murthy, has spoken out in the past in favour of increased working hours for Indian workers. Consequently, insisting that more work hours are required so the nation can maintain its competitiveness on a global scale. Murthy made reference to China's "9-9-6" work culture when he stated that no one, no group, and no nation has ever achieved success without putting in long hours. So, providing the schedule as 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week, is useful.

Infosys Failed to Fulfill DRIEETS Requirements

The 2025–26 annual report stated that Infosys had been tracking the work-hour trends of its remote and hybrid workforce in order to detect excessive or unsustainable workloads before it received the French order. According to the business, supervisors got data meant to help them spot staffing issues, uneven workloads, and employees that could use some assistance.

The yearly report failed to address the French recording mechanism that DRIEETS mentioned. With 32.1% of consolidated revenue in the year ending March 2026, Europe was Infosys' second-largest market. The annual report states that the region's revenue increased from INR 48,595 crore in the previous financial year to INR 57,454 crore this year.