French paid leave rules changed significantly in April 2024, and a lot of the guidance still circulating online is either out of date or repeats advice that has since expired. If you employ anyone in France, this is worth ten minutes.
The baseline
Employees accrue 2.5 working days of paid leave per month worked, up to 30 working days a year. The reference period usually runs from 1 June to 31 May, though a collective agreement or company arrangement can set a different one.
"Working days" here means jours ouvrables, which counts Monday to Saturday, not Monday to Friday. Five weeks of leave equals 30 jours ouvrables. Getting this unit wrong is a common source of payroll errors.
Where the accrued total is not a whole number, it rounds up.
What changed in 2024
Following European case law and rulings from the Cour de cassation, France was out of step with EU law on leave accrual during sickness. Law 2024-364 of 22 April 2024 fixed it, taking effect on 24 April 2024.
Since then:
Non-occupational illness or accident. The employee continues to accrue leave at 2 working days per month, capped at 24 working days per reference period. Absences can be continuous or split. Below a full month, it prorates.
Occupational illness or workplace accident. The employee accrues at the normal 2.5 days per month, up to 30 days, for the whole duration of the absence. The previous one-year limit was removed.
This means running two counters in payroll: one at 2.5 days for time worked, one at 2 days for non-occupational sick leave. Payroll software handles it, but only if it has been configured to.
The 15-month carry-over
An employee who could not take their leave because they were on sick leave can carry it over for 15 months.
The starting point of that 15 months depends on the situation. Where the employee returns during the reference period, it generally runs from the date the employer informs them of their entitlement. Where the absence spans a full reference period, it can run from the end of that period.
That employer information obligation is important. On return from sick leave, the employer must tell the employee how many days they have and by when they must be taken. This is done in writing, usually within a month of the return. If you do not inform them, the carry-over clock does not start running against them.
The retroactive window has closed
This is the part where a lot of published content is now wrong.
The 2024 reform applied retroactively to periods going back to 1 December 2009. Employees still in post on 24 April 2024 had two years, until late April 2026, to bring a claim for leave that should have accrued during past sick leave.
That window expired in April 2026. Articles telling employees to act on it, or employers to brace for it, are describing something that has passed for current employees.
Former employees whose contracts had already ended are on a different footing, subject to the ordinary three-year limitation running from the end of their contract. So residual exposure exists, but the large retroactive wave is over.
Practical points that catch employers out
You set the dates, within limits. The employer determines the leave schedule, but must respect notice requirements, the collective agreement, and the rule that the main leave period runs between 1 May and 31 October. At least 12 consecutive working days must be available in that window.
You cannot pay leave instead of granting it, except when a contract ends.
Sickness during leave. If an employee falls ill during booked leave, recent case law has confirmed the leave can be recovered rather than lost. Worth checking your current practice against this.
Fractionation days. Taking the main leave outside the summer window can generate additional days under fractionation rules. Many employers waive these by agreement, which is possible, but it has to be documented.
Your collective agreement may be more generous. Additional days for seniority, for age, or under a company agreement all sit on top of the legal minimum. Check the IDCC before applying the statutory rules alone.
Keeping on top of it
None of this is intellectually difficult. It is just detailed, it changed recently, and the consequences of getting it wrong land in payroll where they compound quietly.
Two things reduce the risk. Payroll software configured for the current rules, which for French SMEs usually means PayFit or similar. And a reliable way to answer the "does this apply to us" questions without booking time with an employment lawyer for every one.
Mirage Cloud covers the second, with an HR agent scoped to French labour law and a PayFit integration. As with anything in employment law, use it to understand the position and check the specifics against your collective agreement, which overrides the statutory minimum wherever it is more favourable.
The reform is settled now. The main risk left is running payroll on rules from before April 2024, which some small employers still are.
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