Heatwave at work: the CGT union wants an urgent change to the law, the government prefers agreements by profession.

"The law is not sufficient, it must be strengthened urgently, it is not possible to wait until autumn to do this," said the general secretary of the CGT, interviewed on franceinfo.

But for the Minister of Labour, "the idea is to implement company-level agreements." "This will not be decreed from the national level," Mr. Farandou stated on France Inter.

"There will be a national framework phase very, very soon, it could last a month," he explained, then "by the end of October, all of this must be rolled out to the sectors, because we can clearly see that there is a reality for each of the professions, (...) I hope that in a few months, the social partners will be able to reach an agreement."

"We will have measures in place before the next heatwave in 2027," he assured.

A decree in 2025 strengthened the obligations of companies with the establishment of prevention plans in case of high temperatures and a gradation of measures to be taken according to the vigilance thresholds of Météo-France, but currently "the law is not being applied at all", denounced Sophie Binet.

The Minister of Labour, for his part, welcomed the fact that there had "never been so many checks", with "more than 3.600 checks" by the labour inspectorate in June, which can issue formal notices to companies, which then have eight days to put measures in place.

But "these inspections cannot lead to immediate sanctions," criticized the CGT's responsibility.

Public Health France estimated on Friday that there were more than 2.000 additional deaths in France during the week of June 22, the peak of the exceptional heatwave that hit the country, compared to the previous week.

The CGT, which for its part has recorded at least three worker deaths due to the heatwave last week, is also demanding that "the figure for excess mortality at work" be determined.

On Thursday, the CFDT, through its number one Marylise Léon, had asked the State to make it mandatory to hold negotiations on heat in companies, in order to have "real action plans negotiated by spring 2027".