A fundamental right of every employee in France, paid leave is a cornerstone of French labor law designed to guarantee the physical and mental rest of workers. Whether you are a foreign resident discovering the French legal system or a French national, managing professional holidays obeys strict rules governing how they are accrued, taken, and paid. Understanding this mechanism is essential to assert your rights and avoid disputes with your employer. This comprehensive guide, written by our experts, details how paid leave works in France, step by step.
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Under French law, every employee, regardless of their contract type (CDI [permanent contract], CDD [fixed-term contract], or temporary work), working hours (full-time or part-time), and length of service, is entitled to paid leave paid for by the employer. This principle is firmly anchored in the Code du travail (French Labour Code).
According to Article L. 3141-3 of the Code du travail, an employee accrues 2.5 business days (jours ouvrables) of leave per month of actual work with the same employer.
The accrual of leave is based on a reference period. Unless a company or branch agreement states otherwise, the legal reference period runs from June 1st of the previous year to May 31st of the current year (Article R. 3141-4 of the Code du travail). For example, leave accrued between June 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024, is the leave that the employee can take during the subsequent leave-taking period.
Certain periods of absence are legally treated as actual work for the purpose of calculating paid leave (Article L. 3141-5 of the Code du travail):
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Accruing rest days is one thing, but actually taking them is another. Taking leave is a regulated process where the employer retains significant management power (pouvoir de direction).
The period for taking leave must legally include the period from May 1st to October 31st (Article L. 3141-13).
The order of departures is set by the employer after consulting the CSE (Social and Economic Committee / employee representatives), taking into account:
Spouses or PACS (civil partnership) partners working in the same company are entitled to take their leave at the same time (Article L. 3141-14).
The main leave (which corresponds to 4 weeks, i.e., 24 business days) cannot be taken all at once if it exceeds 24 business days. The duration of leave taken at one time cannot exceed 24 business days (equivalent to 4 consecutive weeks), except for geographical exemptions (foreign employees or employees from overseas territories who wish to group their leave to return to their home country).
If the employee takes a portion of their main leave outside the legal period (May 1st – October 31st), they may benefit from additional splitting days (jours de fractionnement):
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While on paid leave, the employee does not receive their usual salary, but rather a "paid leave allowance" (indemnité de congés payés). The law provides two calculation methods (Article L. 3141-24 of the Code du travail). The employer must apply the method that is most advantageous to the employee.
This method consists of calculating the allowance by taking 10% of the total gross remuneration earned by the employee during the accrual reference period.
This method provides that the paid leave allowance is equal to the salary the employee would have earned if they had continued to work during their leave period. This is based on the gross salary of the month preceding the start of the leave.
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To better understand how these two calculation rules apply, let us look at two practical situations.
Marie is a medical secretary. Her gross monthly salary is €2,200. During the reference period, she did not work any overtime and did not receive any exceptional bonuses. Her total annual gross remuneration over the reference period is therefore €26,400 (€2,200 x 12). She has accrued 30 business days of leave and decides to take 2 weeks (which is 12 business days or 10 working days).
Marie works 35 hours per week (which is 151.67 hours per month). The month in which she takes her 12 days of leave has 26 theoretical business days of work.
Since the one-tenth rule (€1,056) is more advantageous for Marie than the salary maintenance rule (€1,015.38), this amount of €1,056 must be paid to her on her payslip.
John is a web developer on a one-year contract. His basic salary is €3,500 gross, but he worked a significant amount of overtime during the year, bringing his total annual gross remuneration to €45,000. He wishes to take 3 weeks of consecutive leave (i.e., 18 business days) to visit his family abroad.
The month of his departure has 26 business days. His basic salary (excluding non-structural overtime) is €3,500.
Thanks to the inclusion of his overtime in the calculation basis for the one-tenth rule, the 1/10th rule is significantly more advantageous for John (€2,700 compared to €2,423.08). His employer must pay him the allowance based on the one-tenth rule.
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To request your paid leave in full compliance and avoid friction, here is the procedure to follow:
1. *Consult the collective agreement (convention collective) or company agreement:* These texts often set specific rules (company closure periods, longer notice periods).
2. Submit the request in writing: Even if the practice in your company is informal, use HR management software (such as Lucca, Payfit) or send a formal email to your manager specifying the exact dates (e.g., "from Monday morning, August 5, 2024, to Friday evening, August 23, 2024"). Respect a reasonable notice period (usually 1 to 2 months in advance).
3. Wait for the employer's written validation: The employer has the right to refuse, justified by business needs (high activity, understaffing). A lack of response does not equal automatic approval, unless there is a specific company practice to the contrary.
4. Check your payslip: During the month the leave is taken, check that the line "Indemnité de congés payés" appears and that the calculation (maintenance or one-tenth) was indeed carried out in your favor.
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No. It is the employer who, as part of their management power, sets the departure dates for employees' leave, after consulting employee representatives. However, they must respect a notice period of at least 1 month before departure if they wish to modify dates that have already been approved.
If you fall ill during your leave, you combine the paid leave allowance with the daily allowances from the Social Security (IJSS). According to European law and recent French case law, your leave days coinciding with the sick leave must be carried over. You no longer lose your holiday days due to illness.
If your employment contract ends (resignation, dismissal, mutually agreed termination [rupture conventionnelle], or end of a CDD) before you have been able to take all the leave you accrued, the employer must pay you a compensatory allowance (Article L. 3141-28). This corresponds to the value of the untaken leave days.
Yes. An employer can decide to temporarily close the company for annual leave (for example, 3 weeks in August or between Christmas and New Year's Day). They must consult the CSE beforehand and inform employees at least 2 months in advance.
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Legal information for guidance only, not personalised legal advice. For your specific situation, ask your question free of charge on AvocatAI — answers based on French law, in your language.