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Any employee, regardless of their status, working hours, or seniority in the company, is entitled to compensation if they have not taken all their leave at the end of their contract. Note that this compensation is valid for retirement, resignation, dismissal, and even in cases of serious misconduct.
💡 Paid leave rules
Conditions and duration
Article L3141-1 of the French Labor Code states that “every employee is entitled to paid leave each year at the expense of their employer.” These days of leave are 2.5 working days per month of actual work (Any period equivalent to 4 weeks or 24 days is considered to be one month of actual work) with the same employer.
Which periods of absence are taken into account in actual work?
- Paid leave
- Mandatory compensation in rest for overtime
- Acquired rest days - RTT
- Maternity, paternity, childcare and adoption leave
- Leave for family events (birth, death of a family member, marriage or civil partnership)
- Sick leave due to occupational illness, work-related accident, commuting accident
- Training leave (skills assessment leave, individual training leave (Cif), economic, social and union training leave)
- Recall or continued national service
Unless otherwise provided for in special contractual provisions, certain other absences are not included in the workforce:
- Sick leave
- Strike
- Full-time parental leave
- Parental presence leave
- Family solidarity leave
- Layoff
The conditions for taking annual leave as an employee :
- Prove 48 weeks of actual work (including deemed absences) during the reference period to obtain 30 working days.
- Prove 4 weeks of actual work, either 20 days of actual work, or 22 days, or 24 days to acquire 2.5 working days of paid leave over each period concerned.
- The duration of paid leave given is always rounded up to the next whole number if the number of paid leave acquired is not a whole number.
- The reference period for leave in France is from June 1 of the previous year to May 31 of the current year.
- The duration of paid leave taken in one go (in one go) cannot exceed 24 working days.
💡 Two exceptions:
👉 If an employee is hired during the year, the starting point of their leave must be the date they join the company.
👉 If there is a termination of contract, the end of the reference year will be the date of termination of the contract.
🖇 Access our complete guide if you want all the information on leave management.
💰 Paying for leave: the compensation paid
As stated above, any employee is entitled to paid leave: whether they are on a fixed-term contract, a permanent contract, or temporary workers… But many people wonder about compensation when this leave is not taken during the usual reference period: for example, paid leave during school holidays or paid leave at the end of a contract (at the time of dismissal, serious misconduct, resignation, or retirement).
Leave and school holidays
As an employer, you should note that paid leave taken during school holidays would have no impact on remuneration. You are obliged to pay the employee for leave taken. However, in your accounting, record it as salary and no longer as holiday compensation.
How to calculate this compensation? You have two options:
👉 Maintain the salary at the normal remuneration that the employee would have received if they were at their job.
👉 Pay 10% of the gross salary received by the employee during the period in question.
The decision cannot be imposed by either party, and must be the subject of a joint agreement between the employee and the employer.
Leave and end of contract or ICCP
How should you manage leave earned but not taken by your employees as their contract ends?
First of all, note that it There is no distinction between a permanent contract (CDI) and a fixed-term contract (CDD): as an employer, you are required to compensate your employees for any unused vacation days with compensation. If the employee negotiates with their employer, they can of course decide to take all their vacation before leaving. This can sometimes be useful for a transition period between two positions!
When do you have to pay for unused vacation time?
It's when the employment contract ends! And it's calculated in the same way as mentioned above: either by the usual salary or by the tenth rule.
