Paid leave - Principle and procedure

Every employee is entitled to paid vacation. The acquisition and taking of such leave are subject to rules that the employer must respect.

Acquiring paid leave

• Number of paid vacation days for a full year: full-time or part-time employees = 5 weeks paid vacation per year (25 working days or 30 working days).
• The legal reference period: the reference period runs from June¹ of the previous year to May 31 of the current year, unless otherwise agreed by the company or your collective bargaining agreement.

Taking paid leave

Determining the period of paid leave is, in principle, a matter for the employer's management.

• Or by rotation in order to maintain its activity during the period of leave;
• Or by a decision to close the company so that the vacations can be taken collectively.

However, specific rules must be respected. Unless there is a collective agreement to the contrary, the rules are as follows:

Setting the starting order

• The employer determines the order and dates of employees' leave entitlements in accordance with the provisions of the French Labor Code (family status, seniority, etc.), unless a company agreement or collective bargaining agreement states otherwise. Where such agreements exist, the prior opinion of employee representatives is required.
• Each employee must then be informed of the order in which he or she will be taking leave one month before departure.

Taking leave

The duration of the main vacation - between May¹ and October 31 - is :

• of at least 12 consecutive working days (or 2 weeks);
• 24 consecutive working days (or 4 weeks).

The remaining paid vacations, or "^5th week", cannot be added to the main 24-working-day vacation, but can be taken (or not) during the May^1-October 31 period.

Employers have a duty to protect the health and safety of their employees. Additional split leave :

Unless there is a collective agreement to the contrary, employees who have not taken their four weeks' paid leave between May¹ and October 31 are entitled to additional leave; this is due simply by virtue of the fact that the leave has been split, regardless of whether it is taken on the employee's or the employer's initiative.

The employee's written waiver of fractional days

The employer may ask the employee to waive the right to split days. This waiver must be individual, in writing and formulated for each request for leave that would give entitlement to split days.Your accountancy firm is at your side to support you. Don't hesitate to contact us.