France Employment Law

An employee is entitled to a leave of 2.5 working days per month of actual work with the same employer with a maximum of 30 working days. Periods equivalent to 4 weeks or 24 working days are considered to be a month of actual work for the purpose of determining the duration of the leave.

The following are considered to be periods of actual work for the purpose of determining the duration of the leave  – Periods of paid leave, period of maternity, paternity and child care and adoption leave, compulsory compensation in the form of rest provided for overtime work, days of rest granted under a collective agreement for overtime work, the periods within the limit of an uninterrupted period of one year, during which the employment contract is suspended due to accident at work or an occupational disease, the periods during which an employee is maintained or recalled to national service for any reason.

In case, the number of working days is not a whole number, the duration of the leave is increased to the next higher whole number.

Additional leave

Employees under the age of 21 on April 30 of the previous year are entitled to 2 additional days of leave per dependent child. This leave is reduced to 1 day if the statutory leave does not exceed 6 days. A dependent child is a child who lives at the home and is under the age of 15 on April 30 of the current year and any child without age condition when he lives at the home and is with disabilities.

The annual leave may be increased due to age or seniority in accordance with conditions determined by agreement or collective labor agreement.

Taking of Leave

The annual leave must be taken during the period from May 1 to October 31 (Reference period) of each year. Spouses and partners bound by a civil solidarity pact working in the same company are entitled to simultaneous leave. The duration of the leave which may be taken at one time may not exceed 24 working days. This limit may be waived for employees who justify specific geographic constraints or the presence in the household of a child, a disabled adult, or an elderly person with a loss of autonomy.

Annual leave of less than 12 continuous working days must be taken in one period. In case, the main annual leave is longer than 12 working days, it may be split with the employee’s agreement. One of the fractions is at least equal to twelve continuous working days between two weekly rest days.

Holiday Pay

The employee is entitled to 1/10th of the gross wage received over the reference period. In determining the annual leave pay, the ancillary benefits and benefits in kind which the employee would not be able to receive during the duration of their leave period shall be taken into consideration. However, this does not affect either the contractual stipulations or the practices which provide for a higher amount of leave allowance.

Termination of Employment

In case of termination of employment, the employee shall be entitled to receive a compulsory leave allowance for the amount of annual leave not taken by the employee. This is also applicable to the beneficiaries of the employee whose death occurs before they could not take their annual leave. Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L3141-1 to L3141-33.

Effective May 1, 2023, the minimum hourly gross wage is €11.52.

The minimum wage given above is subject to change and might not be up to date. Kindly access the link to get the current rates.

Employees are entitled to the initial duration of parental leave of 1 year, which may be extended until the child’s 3rd birthday. Both parents may take the parental leave either simultaneously or alternately. An employer may not refuse a request for parental leave, provided that the employee has at least 1 year of service with the employer on the date of birth or arrival of the child in case of adoption. However, during parental leave, the parent on leave is compensated by Social Security.

An employee is also entitled to parental leave if their child is suffering from an illness, a disability, or had an accident of a particularly serious nature, requiring the employee’s presence and care. Such leave can be granted for a maximum of 310 working days over a period of 3 years. In such cases, the employees are entitled to a daily parental allowance paid by the Family Allowance Fund. Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L1225-62 – L1225-65.

Employees are entitled to 16 weeks of maternity leave. An employee can take 6 weeks of leave before the birth of the child and 10 weeks after giving birth. an employee must take 8 weeks of maternity leave of which at least 6 weeks must be taken after childbirth.

Maternity leave can be extended on medical grounds related to pregnancy by a maximum of 2 weeks before and 4 weeks after the birth of the child. In the case of third and subsequent children (if the employee already has two or more children), the duration of leave is extended to 8 weeks before and 18 weeks after the expected date of childbirth. In the case of twins, prenatal leave is extended to 12 weeks while the postnatal leave is 22 weeks, making the total duration of the leave 34 weeks.

For multiple births (more than 2 children at the same time), prenatal leave is extended to 24 weeks and post-natal leave to 22 weeks, making the total duration of leave 46 weeks. When the childbirth occurs before the expected date, the maternity leave may be extended until the end, as the case may be, of the 16, 26, 34, or 46 weeks of maternity leave to which the employee is entitled to.

Women who suffer a miscarriage between the 14th and 21st weeks of pregnancy are also protected from termination for a period of 10 weeks following the miscarriage. In the event of miscarriage or stillbirth after 21 weeks, the full entitlement to maternity leave and thus protection from dismissal applies.

Pay – During the term of maternity leave (16 weeks in general cases; 26 weeks for the third and subsequent children; 34 weeks for twin births and 46 weeks for triplet or more births), employees are paid a maternity allowance which is equal to the average daily wage (100%) of 3 month period preceding pre-natal leave up to the quarterly social security maximum limit after deduction of employee’s share of statutory social security contributions and taxes. Maternity leave results in no reduction in pay and is treated as the actual working period for determining the duration of paid leave and for contractual rights acquired by the employee in respect of service in the organization.

Breastfeeding Break – During one year following the date of birth, mothers are entitled to paid breastfeeding breaks of 1 hour per day during working hours. Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art.  L1225-1 to L1225-34.

After the birth of the child, the salaried father and, where applicable, the mother’s salaried spouse or partner or the salaried person linked to her by a civil solidarity pact benefits from paternity and adoption leave of the child for a duration of 25 calendar days or 32 calendar days in the event of multiple births.

This leave consists of a period of 4 consecutive calendar days, immediately following the birth leave, and a period of 21 calendar days, increased to 28 calendar days in the event of multiple births.

The notice period of the employer as to the expected date of delivery and the dates for taking the leave and the duration of the period or periods of leave, the period within which the days of leave must be taken as well as the terms and conditions for splitting the leave period of twenty-one days and twenty-eight days are set by decree.

Paternity leaves can be taken within 6 months after the child’s birth. Paternity leave may be postponed beyond 6 months in the case of a child’s hospitalization in which case the leave may be taken within 6 months after the end of hospitalization. The leave can also be postponed in the event of the death of the mother, in which case, the leave is taken within 6 months after the end of leave granted to the father (10 weeks of leave is available to a father on the death of a newborn’s mother).

In the event of the birth of the child before the expected date of delivery and when the employee wishes to begin the period of leave during the month following the birth, they should inform their employer without delay. 

Pay – To be compensated for the leave, employees must take the paternity leave within the 6-month time frame. In addition, the employee must have worked at least 150 hours during the 3 months preceding the start of the leave (or have contributed on a salary equivalent to a certain amount (as directed by the regulation) over the last 6 months before the start of the leave). The employee must have had a social security number for at least 10 months at the start date of the leave. The first 3 days are paid by the employer and the rest of the leave is paid by Social Security. Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L1225-35 to L1225-36.

The employee whose dependent child is affected by sickness, disability, or victim of a particularly serious accident making sustained presence and restrictive care essential benefits, for a period determined by decree, shall be entitled to parental presence leave.

The number of days of leave that the employee may benefit from under parental presence leave is a maximum of 310 working days. Employees must use the 310 working days within 3 years of becoming eligible for the leave. The employee may, with the agreement of his employer, transform this leave into a period of part-time activity or divide it.

Donation of rest days to a parent of a deceased or seriously ill child – An employee may, at his request and in agreement with the employer, give up anonymously and without compensation all or part of their days off not taken, whether or not they have been allocated to a time savings account, in favor of another employee of the company who assumes the responsibility of a child under the age of 20, suffering from an illness, a disability or the victim of a particularly serious accident making constant presence and care essential binding. 

An employee may, under the same conditions, give up all or part of his rest days not taken for the benefit of another employee of the company whose child under the age of 25 has died. This possibility is also open to the benefit of the employee in respect of the death of a person under the age of 25 in their effective and permanent charge. This waiver can take place during the year following the date of death. Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L1225-62, L1225-65-1.

An employee who sets up or takes over a business is entitled to either an unpaid leave of absence, during which time the employment agreement is suspended, or to part-time employment, for a period of one year. The one-year business creation leave may be extended for one additional year. To benefit from this leave of absence, employees must have at least 24 months’ service with their employer. Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L3142-105 to L3142-124.

Employees with at least 2 years of service (whether successive or not) are permitted, with their employer’s consent, to work for a different company for a fixed period.  During this time, their original employment contract is suspended. The employee may notify the original employer that he or she wishes to return at any time during the mobility leave. The duration of leave is determined by a collective agreement between the employer and the employee. The remuneration for the leave is paid by Social Security. Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L1237-18 – L1237-18-5.

Apart from the leave provided for the death of child or spouse, an employee, in the event of the death of a child under the age of 25 or of a person under the age of 25 in employee’s effective and permanent charge, shall be entitled to bereavement leave of 8 days which may be divided under the conditions as may be provided for by decree. The leave can be taken within 1 year of the child’s death. The allowance for the leave is paid by Social Security. Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L3142-1-1.

The employee whose ascendant, a descendant, a brother, a sister, or a person sharing the same domicile suffers from a life-threatening disease or is in the advanced or terminal phase of a serious and incurable disease is entitled to a family solidarity leave. In the absence of any convention or agreement, the maximum duration of the leave is 3 months, renewable once. The conditions for splitting the leave and its transformation into a period of part-time activity are defined by decree. Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L3142-6 – L3142-15.

The employee is entitled, upon justification, to leave for the following purposes. A company collective agreement or agreement or, a branch agreement or agreement determines the duration of each of the leaves mentioned above, which may not be less than:

• 4 working days for  marriage or for the conclusion of a civil solidarity pact;
• 1 working day for the marriage of a child;
• 3 working days, for each birth. This period of leave begins to run, at the employee’s choice, on the day of the birth of the child or on the first working day that follows;
• 3 working days for the arrival of a child placed for adoption;
• 12 working days for the death of a child or 14 working days when the child is under twenty-five years of age and regardless of his or her age if the deceased child was himself a parent or in the event of the death of a person under the age of 25 in their effective and permanent charge;
• 3 working days for the death of the spouse, the partner bound by a civil solidarity pact, the partner, the father, the mother, the stepfather, the stepmother, a brother or a sister ;
• 2 working days for the announcement of the occurrence of a handicap in a child.
• 5 working days for the announcement of the occurrence of a disability, a chronic pathology requiring therapeutic training, or cancer in a child.

Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L3142-1 – L3142-4.

The employee is entitled to a caregiver leave when one of the following people has a handicap or a particularly serious loss of autonomy – spouse, partner, partner bound by a civil solidarity pact, an ascendant, a descendant, a child for whom the employee is responsible, collateral up to a fourth-degree, an ascendant, a descendant or collateral up to the fourth degree of his spouse, cohabiting partner or partner or partner bound by a civil solidarity pact, an elderly or disabled person with whom he resides or with whom he maintains close and stable links, to whom he helps regularly and frequently on a non-professional basis, to accomplish all or part of the acts or activities of daily life.

The person assisting must reside in France in a stable and regular manner and may not exceed, including renewal, the duration of 1 year for the entire career. In the event of a sudden deterioration in the state of health of the person being helped, a crisis situation requiring urgent action by the caregiver, or the abrupt end of the accommodation in an establishment from which the person being assisted was benefiting, the leave begins or can be renewed without delay. The employee may terminate the leave early or waive it in the following cases:

• Death of the person assisted;
• Admission to an establishment of the assisted person;
• Significant decrease in employee resources;
• Use of a home help service to assist the person being helped;
• Caregiver leaves taken by another family member.

The employee can, with the agreement of the employer, transform this leave into a period of part-time activity or split it. Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L3142-16 to L3142-27).

An employee has the right to paid medical leave if the doctor prescribes more than 3 calendar days of absence from the workplace. However, the collective bargaining agreements may stipulate that the employee has to be paid medical leave from the first day of absence. 

Eligibility: The employee shall be eligible if they have continuous service of one year at least with the organization.

Sick leave pay: An employee may be paid through social security, the employee’s provident fund, and sometimes from the employer. The period for which an employee is paid during sick leave varies according to the employee’s period of employment with the organization and the total duration of absence. The sickness benefit is paid for a period up to 6 months if the insured employee has at least 200 hours of employment in the last 3 months. It is payable for more than 6 months but less than 3 years, in case the employee has at least 800 hours of employment in the last 12 months.

Medical Certificate – The employee has 48 hours to notify both their employer and CPAM (the organization for basic health insurance) that they require sick leave. A form known as an ‘avis d’arrêt de travail’ is used to give this notice and it needs to be signed by a doctor. The first two pages of this document are sent to CPAM and the final third page is sent to the employer. The employer must then also notify CPAM.

Pay – The daily sickness benefit is payable from the 4th day of absence from work. It is equal to 50% of the daily wage of the last 3 months during the first 30 days of sickness. From the 31st day of absence, the daily sickness benefit for employees with 3 or more dependent children is 66.67% of the daily wage. The daily sickness benefit is paid up to 360 days in a 3-year period. In the case of chronic/serious and prolonged illness, the total payment period is 3 years. Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L1226-1 to L1226-24.

The employee is entitled to a sabbatical leave during which the employee’s employment contract is suspended. In the absence of any convention or agreement, the minimum duration of leave is 6 months and its maximum duration is 11 months. The qualifying condition for such leave is that the employee must have at least 36 months of service with the employer consecutive or not. Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L3142-28 to L3142-35.

In case, an employee is designated to sit on a commission, a council, or an administrative or joint committee called upon to deal with employment and training problems, the employer shall grant the time necessary to participate in the meetings of these bodies.

The list of these bodies is fixed by interministerial decree. When an employee is appointed to participate in a jury for examining or validating acquired experience, the employer grants the employee such leave to take part in this jury. The leave is paid by the employer. Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L3142-42 to L3142-47.

The employee residing or usually employed in an area affected by a natural disaster is entitled to leave, taken on one or more occasions, to participate in the activities of organizations providing aid to victims of natural disasters. In the absence of an agreement, the maximum duration of leave is 20 days per year. Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L3142-48 to L3142-53.

Employees under the age of 25 who wish to participate in the activities of youth and popular education organizations and sports federations and associations approved by the administrative authority intended to promote the preparation and training or improvement of executives and leaders are entitled, each year, to a training leave, which may be taken once or twice at the request of the beneficiary.

In the absence of any convention or agreement, the maximum total number of days that may be taken as leave is 6 working days per year. Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L3142-54 to L3142-59.

The employee has the right to benefit, upon justification, from a leave of absence to attend their own ceremony of welcoming French citizenship. In the absence of an agreement, the duration of the leave is half a day. Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L3142-75 to L3142-78.

The employer can provide the employee leave for the time necessary to participate in the electoral campaign for the candidature of the National Assembly or the Senate, within the limit of 20 working days. The same right is granted, on request, within the limit of 10 working days to the candidate employee in the following cases:

• To the European Parliament;
• To the municipal council;
• To the departmental council or the regional council;
• To the Corsican Assembly;
• To the council of the metropolis of Lyon.

Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L3142-79 to L3142-88.

Any employee who has made a commitment to serve in the operational reserve is granted an 8-day absence authorization per calendar year for activities in the reserve. However, for organizations with less than 250 employees, the employer can decide, in order to keep the company running smoothly, to limit the leave duration to 5 days. Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L3142-89 to L3142-101.

An employee who wishes to provide technological, professional, or higher education in initial or continuing education full-time or part-time has the right to either leave or to a period of part-time work. In the absence of the agreement, the maximum duration of the leave or the period of part-time work is 1 year. This period can be extended at the employee’s request by agreement with the employer.

The length of service required to give entitlement to leave or to a part-time work period is 1 year if the employer agrees and 24 months, consecutive or not, in the company in case of disagreement. Labor Code, 2016 (amended as of 2021), Art. L3142-125 to L3142-130.