* Annual leave
All employees are entitled to paid annual leave after 6 months' continuous service with the same company or employer, in accordance with Chapter IV of Title III of Book II of the French Labor Code.

Article 231 of the French Labor Code therefore provides that the number of days of monthly leave varies, after 6 months of continuous service, according to the following cases:

First, the calculation of days:
- 1 ½ days per month of actual work, i.e. (26 days or 191 hours) for employees aged 18 and over;

- 2 days per month for those under 18.

2- calculating annual leave: for example, the case of an employee over the age of 18
Annual leave is set at one and a half days' actual work per month of service, i.e. a maximum of 18 days' paid leave.

Consequently, to calculate these 18 days, we have to base ourselves on the CNSS declaration system.

The French Labor Code sets the working week at 44 hours, i.e. 8 hours a day from Monday to Friday and 4 hours on Saturday. Despite this, Saturday is still counted as a full day for CNSS declaration purposes, so cannot be declared (5.5 days). The same system is applied for vacation deductions.

The employee is therefore entitled to 18 working days per year of actual work (i.e. 3 weeks from Monday to Saturday 3 X 6 days = 18 days).

3- Obligation to take leave
Taking annual leave is compulsory. Most employers believe that leave can be replaced by a compensatory payment.

This is prohibited by article 242 of the Labour Code, which reads as follows:

"Any agreement relating to the prior renunciation of the right to paid annual leave or to the abandonment of said leave, even in exchange for the granting of a compensatory indemnity, is considered null and void."

However, paid annual leave may, by agreement between the employee and the employer, be split or accumulated over two consecutive years (article 240 of the French Labor Code).

4- Bonus for seniority leave :
Similarly, an additional 1 ½ days per year for every 5 years of continuous or discontinuous service, up to a maximum total leave of 30 working days.

5- Increase the duration of leave by as many days as there are paid days off (usually public holidays) during the leave.
Sick leave does not count as paid annual leave.

6- Period of actual work taken into account in calculating leave :

- Previous leave ;
- Advance notice;
- Military service;
- Absence due to illness or accident, duly certified ;
- The period before and after a woman gives birth;
- Periods of incapacity following an accident at work or occupational disease
- Periods of absence for family events, sports competitions or communal activities ;
- Authorized absences not exceeding 10 days/year
Last Periods of closure by judicial or administrative decision or due to force majeure.

7- Vacation pay :
This indemnity is due to any employee whose contract is terminated before he or she has benefited from the leave, and who can prove that he or she has at least 1 month's service. The indemnity is equal to 1 1/2 days per month worked, and is payable with the last salary.

Consequently, in the event of the employee's death, this indemnity will have to be paid in full to his or her spouse, for example, or to his or her descendants or ascendants.

Employees on fixed-term contracts must exhaust their leave before the contract expires.

8- Employment and work of an employee on leave :
It is then strictly forbidden to keep the employee busy during the leave, even outside the company.

It is also forbidden to employ a worker from another company while he or she is on leave.

The employee on leave is not able to perform paid work.

9- Leave for occupational injury or illness.
In conclusion, the leave of an employee who has suffered an accident at work is postponed until the injury has been consolidated.

So please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions you'd like us to answer or clarify.

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Faithfully yours,

Ilham Taha-Bouamri
Chartered accountant and tax specialist