According to the Penitentiary Act of 24 November 2009, inmates must be consulted on the activities offered to them.

To access activities, prisoners must make a written request and are then placed on a waiting list.

Work in prison generally takes one of three forms:

• General service. This refers to all jobs performed by inmates for the operation of the prison (maintenance, catering, upkeep of communal living areas).
• The Industrial Board of Prison Establishments (RIEP), managed by the Prison Employment Service (SEP). This service organises and markets the goods and services produced by inmates (computers, desktop publishing, printing, carpentry, clothing, metalwork, agriculture, etc.). The RIEP is present within 25 (of 185) prisons and has a total of 46 workshops.
• Concession work. Inmates work for private companies that have a workshop in the prison. The work is generally in manual operations (envelope-stuffing, packaging).

Prisoners may also work for themselves or for an organisation. Prison work benefits inmates in many ways. They earn an income for meals, provide for their family, etc.

The Prisons Act of 24 November 2009 brought certain advances in working conditions, such as the introduction of a contract of employment and the end of piecework, but these provisions are not always fully applied.
In February 2017, the Controller-General for Places of Deprivation of Liberty (Contrôleure générale des lieux de privation de liberté, CGLPL) issued an advisory in February 2017 denouncing the lack of respect for basic standards. In the same piece, she highlights the many legal loopholes in prison work that lead to violations of fundamental rights. In a 2017 advisory, the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights recommended that the right to a work contract be applied during detention. It also called for the creation of a national agency for prisoner employment that would both act as the employer and seek out contractors.

The prison population in general suffers from a low level of education. One in five individuals (20.2%) is not able to pass a reading test, one in two do not possess a diploma (49%) and, in 2016, more than three-quarters did not exceed the level of education corresponding to the certificate of vocational aptitude (81%).
The latest key figures of the prison administration, dated 1 January 2018, report that for the 2016-2017 school year, instruction was provided by 520 primary or secondary education instructors or 504.4 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs). This was supplemented with overtime and the contributions of 1,158 contract teachers. This represents 4,369 hours of overtime completed per week, across 36 weeks, in other words, 208 FTEs.

Access to online information (individual requests or for training purposes) is lacking and is subject to prisons’ security restrictions. The gap between the restrictions imposed by the prison services and technological developments is glaring. This makes it difficult for prisoners to reintegrate into society, especially those serving long sentences.

The demands of a spiritual life are not always met in prison. Inmates are not always allowed to keep their religious objects with them. Few institutions offer food in accordance with ritual requirements. Worship is sometimes interrupted due to time constraints, even when a service has had a delayed start and is not the fault of the inmates. Chaplains, notably Muslim chaplains, report that in the context of efforts to prevent radicalization in detention, the prison administration has expectations of chaplains that are not relevant to their function and may even hinder it. Following a decree on 5 May 2017, future chaplains of all religions are required to receive training in civics, a move that not all chaplains support. Not all chaplains are in favour of this training. Chaplaincies generally question the practicalities of such training and express discontent regarding the lack of consultation on the subject.

Organisations authorised to intervene in correctional facilities do so in several areas: visits, sports, cultural and religious activities, education, material support, legal access, health promotion, etc. Some actions take place outside the institutions: greeting visiting loved ones, help upon release (professional reintegration, housing).
In 2019, the administration established agreements with 24 national organisations. This partnership can come with a subsidy.

The majority of people working with these organisations outside of prison are volunteers.

Community networking is also developed at the local level. Practically every institution enjoys a community network which pitches in. The number of contributors varies greatly from one city to another, as do the methods for their access to be approved. The remoteness of certain prisons does not facilitate contribution by external parties, nor do overpopulation and staff shortages. A directory (in French) of organisations which are involved in or are about prisons is available.

Internal newspapers are sometimes produced, but they rarely report on the concerns of inmates.

Inmates are sometimes included in certain aspects of prison life, often on a volunteer basis, for example as sports assistants or “support inmates”. The latter have a say in the conception and implementation of suicide prevention measures.