How Annual Leave Works in France: The Legal Framework
Annual leave in France is governed by Article L3141-1 of the Code du travail (Labour Code). The statutory entitlement is 2.5 days of paid leave per month of actual work, capped at 30 working days (jours ouvrables) per year, the equivalent of five weeks.
This right cannot be waived. Collective bargaining agreements (conventions collectives) can improve on the statutory minimum but never reduce it.
Who is entitled to annual leave in France?
Every employee is entitled to annual leave from their very first day of work, regardless of whether they hold a permanent contract (CDI), a fixed-term contract (CDD), or are an agency worker (contrat d'intérim). Part-time employees accrue leave on the same basis as full-time staff, prorated to their actual working time.
There is no qualifying period. Any foreign company hiring staff in France must apply these rules from day one, regardless of their structure.
Annual Leave Calculation: Working Days vs Business Days
The most common source of confusion for foreign employers is France's distinction between two types of "working days". Both methods are legal; the employer chooses, but must apply the same method consistently across the workforce.
The 2.5-day accrual rate explained
Both methods translate to five weeks of leave per year, the difference only matters when counting the actual days consumed by a given holiday period.
Example, employee who joined on 1 September 2025:
Under the jours ouvrables method, they accrue leave from 1 June to 31 May each year. Joining in September, they will have worked 9 months by 31 May 2026.
9 months × 2.5 days = 22.5 days → rounded up to 23 days.
Under the jours ouvrés method: 9 × 2.08 = 18.7 days → rounded up to 19 days.
Both figures are correct; the rounding always favours the employee.
The reference period: June 1 to May 31
Unlike the UK or US, where leave years typically run January to December, the French statutory reference period (période de référence) runs from 1 June to 31 May. Leave accrued during this period must generally be taken by 31 May of the following year.
This creates a mismatch that catches out many foreign companies when they first hire in France: an employee who joins in October has already missed four months of the reference period and cannot claim a full year's entitlement until May of the year after next.
An employer may set a different reference period by company agreement (accord d'entreprise), provided the alternative does not disadvantage employees. Some sectors, notably construction (BTP) and entertainment, traditionally use an April-to-March period.
How absences affect accrual
Not all absences count as time worked for leave accrual purposes. The rules matter when an employee is off for an extended period.
Absences that count as time worked (leave continues to accrue):
- Annual leave already taken
- Maternity, paternity and parental leave
- Work accident or occupational illness
- Professional training
- Certain union duties
Absences that do not count by default:
- Non-occupational illness (ordinary sick leave)
One significant exception: since the 2024 labour law reform (transposing EU Directive 2019/1152), employees on sick leave now accrue a maximum of 2 days of annual leave per month, up to 24 days per year, during periods of non-occupational illness. This brings France into line with EU requirements and changes the calculation for long-term sick employees significantly.
Public Holidays in France in 2026
France has 11 official public holidays (jours fériés). Unlike some European countries, there is no automatic right to take a day off in lieu when a public holiday falls on a weekend.
The 11 official public holidays: dates 2026
Important legal note: Only the 1st of May (Labour Day) is mandatorily paid and off for all employees. The other ten public holidays are off by default for most companies, but this may depend on the applicable collective bargaining agreement. Employees who work on these ten days must be compensated as stipulated in the relevant CBA.
Employees in Alsace-Moselle benefit from two additional public holidays: Good Friday and 26 December (St Stephen's Day), bringing their total to 13.
How public holidays interact with annual leave
Two rules often surprise foreign employers:
Rule 1, A public holiday during leave does not count as a leave day. If an employee takes two weeks off in May and 1 May (Labour Day) falls within that period, that day is not deducted from their leave balance, provided it is a day they would normally have worked. This effectively makes leave taken around public holidays cheaper for the employee.
Rule 2, A public holiday falling on a weekend is lost. France does not apply the UK-style "bank holiday in lieu" mechanism. If 15 August falls on a Saturday (as it does in 2026), there is no compensatory day off on the following Monday. Employees simply do not benefit from that public holiday.
The Solidarity Day (Journée de solidarité): Since 2004, employees are legally required to work one additional unpaid day per year to fund care for elderly and disabled people. This day is most commonly set as Whit Monday (Lundi de Pentecôte, 25 May 2026), though the employer may designate a different day by company agreement. No leave balance is consumed; the employee simply works without additional pay that day.
Taking Annual Leave: Rules Employers Must Know
The main leave period and the 24-day rule
French law distinguishes a "main leave period" (congé principal) that runs from 1 May to 31 October. During this window:
- Employees must take a continuous block of at least 12 working days (jours ouvrables), roughly two to two-and-a-half weeks.
- No continuous block may exceed 24 working days (four weeks), except in specific cases such as overseas employees returning home.
- The employer has the legal right to set the leave dates. In practice, however, employees submit their leave requests first and managers approve them. The employer must consult the works council (CSE) where one exists, and give employees at least one month's notice before the scheduled departure date.
This legal power to fix leave dates is often unfamiliar to companies from Anglo-Saxon HR cultures. Day-to-day practice is closer to what most foreign employers expect, with employees requesting leave and managers approving it, but the employer retains the final say where scheduling constraints require it.
Split leave and bonus days (fractionnement)
French law rewards employees who take part of their leave outside the main summer window. If an employee takes leave days from their congé principal during the period 1 November to 30 April, they earn bonus days:
- 3 to 5 days taken outside the main period → 1 bonus day
- 6 days or more taken outside the main period → 2 bonus days
These bonus days (jours de fractionnement) are added to the leave balance automatically unless the employee formally waives the right in writing, or a collective bargaining agreement expressly removes them.
Example: An employee takes 3 weeks (15 jours ouvrables) in August and 2 weeks (10 jours ouvrables) in December. The 10 days in December qualify: 10 days outside the main period → 2 bonus days.
This rule is almost never mentioned by foreign employers when planning year-end leave periods, leading to unexpected leave balances at the start of the new reference year.
Carry-over rules
France operates a "use it or lose it" policy: annual leave not taken by 31 May lapses unless:
- The employer and employee agree in writing to carry it over (limited and exceptional).
- The employee was unable to take leave due to sick leave, in which case unused leave may be carried over for up to 15 months from the end of the reference period.
RTT days (see below) follow different rules: they must be taken by 31 December of the year in which they were accrued. There is generally no carry-over, though some CBAs make exceptions.
Annual Leave vs RTT: What's the Difference?
RTT (Réduction du Temps de Travail) is systematically confused with annual leave, including by experienced HR professionals from outside France. They are legally distinct entitlements.
A software engineer working 39 hours per week under a SYNTEC CBA, for example, would accrue both five weeks of congés payés and a set number of RTT days (typically 12–18 per year). These two pools are tracked separately in payroll software.
For a detailed breakdown of RTT calculation, eligibility conditions and management best practices, see our guide to RTT in France.
How Annual Leave Pay is Calculated
French law requires employers to apply the method most favourable to the employee, comparing two calculations:
Method 1, Maintenance of salary (maintien de salaire): The employee receives their normal monthly salary for the leave period, as though they had worked.
Method 2, The tenth rule (règle du 1/10e): The leave pay equals one tenth of the total gross remuneration earned during the reference period, divided by the number of leave days taken.
For most salaried employees on a fixed monthly salary, the two methods yield identical results and the salary maintenance method is applied by default. The tenth rule becomes more generous when an employee has received variable pay (commissions, bonuses, overtime) during the reference period, because that variable pay is factored into the calculation base.
Example: A sales representative earned €45,000 in total gross remuneration over the reference year (June 2024 to May 2025), including €8,000 in commissions. They take 20 days of annual leave.
- Tenth rule: €45,000 ÷ 10 = €4,500 for the full 30-day entitlement → €4,500 ÷ 30 × 20 = €3,000 for 20 days.
- Salary maintenance: monthly salary €3,083 × (20/21.67 working days in a month) = €2,845 for 20 days.
The tenth rule yields a higher amount → the employer must apply it. Payroll software should handle this automatically, but HR teams should audit the configuration at least once a year.
What Happens to Unused Leave When an Employee Leaves?
When the employment contract ends, regardless of the reason, the employer must pay an indemnité compensatrice de congés payés for any untaken leave. This obligation applies to all contract types (CDI, CDD, intérim) and all termination reasons, with one exception: gross misconduct (faute grave or faute lourde) may, depending on the circumstances, allow the employer to withhold this indemnity. HReact can advise on this position before it is taken, given the litigation risk if the ground is later challenged.
The compensation is calculated using the same rule as leave pay: the more favourable of salary maintenance or the tenth rule.
RTT days not taken at termination are treated differently. Whether they are paid out depends on the applicable collective bargaining agreement, some agreements provide for payout, others do not. Employers should check the relevant CBA before making a final settlement offer.
For any questions about leave management, termination calculations or compliance under French employment law, the HReact team provides hands-on support, from day-to-day HR advisory to full payroll outsourcing.
