All About Employee Leave & PTO in France
Learn what you need to know about leave requirements in France and how Justworks EOR can help you streamline hiring in France.
How an EOR Can Help with Employee Leave & PTO
When hiring in France, it’s important to be aware of protected leave and paid holidays. Justworks EOR can provide tailored guidance so you can feel confident that your business leave policies comply with national requirements and potential employee expectations. With Justworks, you’ll get support for HR tasks like payroll management, tax filings, benefits administration, compliance monitoring, and more, so you can focus on your business while you save time, money, and effort.
Employee Leave & PTO Expectations in France
French employees are entitled to mandatory vacation leave, paid holidays, sick leave, maternity and paternity leave, and a few other miscellaneous types of leave.
Personal Leave
French employees are entitled to various kinds of personal leave. The amount of time off varies across the following:
Special leave for family events: Four days for a wedding, one day for a child’s wedding, and two days for the death of an immediate family member
Adoption leave: Up to 10 weeks paid through social security like maternity leave
Leave to create a business: Up to one year of working part-time to start or create a new business, only applies to employees with 24 months of service
Sabbatical leave: One year of unpaid sabbatical leave, only applies to employees with 36 months tenure
Family solidarity leave: Three months of leave to assist a critically sick family member or child
Bereavement leave: 15 days of bereavement leave following the death of a child or spouse with payments split between the social security department and the employer
Sick Leave
Employees in France can take sick leave but may need to show a medical certificate proving their illness to their employer and the CPAM institute, local department level of the national health insurance administration. Employees will receive social security payments of at least 50% of their daily income for up to six months. Employers only provide supplemental compensation if employees are eligible. The amount of compensation the employer is required to provide will vary based on the number of days the sick employee is absent.
Vacation Leave
Employees who work a full 35-hour workweek are entitled to 2.5 days of leave per month, 30 days per year, unless covered under a collective bargaining agreement that specifies more time.
Maternity & Paternity Leave
Expecting mothers are entitled to 16 weeks of paid maternity leave. Six weeks are taken before birth and 10 weeks are taken after childbirth. New mothers have the right to modify this time for high-risk pregnancies or on a doctor's recommendation. Social security provides three months’ pay for maternity leave. New fathers can take 25 days off post-birth or 32 days of leave within four months of birth for multiple births. Social security for paternity leave is compensated and calculated in the same way as maternity leave.
Public Holidays in France
France has 11 paid public holidays that are commonly offered to employees.
Public holidays in France:
New Year's Day: January 1
Easter Monday: Varies
Labor Day: May 1
Victory Day – WW2: May 8
Ascension Thursday: Sixth Thursday after Easter
Pentecost: Second Monday after Ascension
Bastille Day: July 14
Assumption: August 15
All Saints Day: November 1
Armistice Day – WW1: November 11
Christmas: December 25
Ready to Hire Confidently in France?
Justworks EOR makes building your global team seamless by offering local expertise to help you understand the nuances of the talent market in France. Save yourself the time and hassle of international hiring today.
