Sick leave and paid holiday
A recent change in the law* has led to major changes in the way leave is earned during an employee's absence due to illness.
- Changes to leave entitlement
As a general rule, after 20 working days' absence (which is not equivalent to working time), an employee did not earn any paid holiday. It should be noted that some collective agreements made (partial) mention of this.
The current amendment to the law provides for partial accrual of paid leave (80% instead of 100%).
In practical terms, this means that for each month of absence due to illness, two working days of paid leave are earned, with a maximum of 24 working days per leave year (from 1 June to 31 May).
- Employer's duty to inform
The employer has up to 1 month after the employee returns to work to inform the employee of
• the number of days of paid leave to which they are entitled
• until what date this paid leave may be taken
- Taking leave
Additional leave accumulated during periods of illness must be taken within 15 months. This is the legal minimum, which may be increased by a company or sector agreement.
- Retroactivity
The law change applies retroactively since 1 December 2009.
- Rectification for the past
The answer depends on whether the employees are still employed or not:
- for employees still employed within the company, an adjustment for the current leave period (01/06/2023-31/05/2024) is automatically provided on the May 2024 pay calculation. As for past leave periods, employees can, for a period of 2 years following the law change on 24/04/2024, request a rectification from the employer.
- employees who have left the company can file a claim for rectification of their leave rights with the labour court up to 3 years from the date of termination of their employment contract
If you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.
*Law n°2024-364, 22th April 2024, article 37, Journal Officiel