The French branch of the Red Cross could be facing a huge fine and compensation payout after falling foul of the country’s strict rules on working hours, French media reported Sunday.

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According to a report by the French Labour Inspectorate, the humanitarian organisation made some 3,800 violations of working hours regulations, involving 480 employees at its Paris headquarters, Le Parisien newspaper reported.

Of these, around 3,300 cases involved employees who had worked more than the legal limit of ten hours in a single day, while the remaining 500 related to staff who had worked more than the weekly maximum of 48 hours.

The organisation had also violated rules that say workers must be given a minimum of 11 hours off between shifts, the inspectorate’s report found.

The Red Cross, which delivers aid and medical care to people affected by war and natural disasters around the world, could now face fines of €750 for each infraction, making for a total of €2.8 million.

But once staff are repaid for the extra hours they worked and compensation for damages is factored in, that bill could rise to as much as €11 million, said Le Parisien.

A union spokesperson suggested the organisation ony had itself to blame, however.

“We have been warning the management about problems relating to overtime for 16 months,” Eric Laurent, a representative of the CFE-CGC union, told Le Parisien.

“People are exhausted. Some start at 7am and finish at 8pm,” he added.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

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