France
Find out key information relating to France’s leave entitlements
Leave entitlement & working time regulations at a glance
Minimum Holiday Entitlement
30 days
Public Holidays
11 per year (regional differences)
Parental Leave
Up to 1 year unpaid (extendable to 3 years); state allowances available
Working Week
35 hours (full time)
Sick Leave Entitlement
Paid through social security after 3 days; requires 150 hours of work in the past 3 months
Region
EMEA
ABSENCE & LEAVE
Additional information
Annual leave
Employees in France receive 2.5 days of paid holiday for every month they work. This equates to 5 full weeks of holiday allowance a year. There are some limitations to when employees can take their holiday:
- Days taken at once cannot exceed 24 working days
- Employees must take 12 or more working days at once as their main holiday
Sick leave
If an employee is off sick, they can receive a daily allowance from their primary healthcare provider. The amount varies depending on the employee’s salary. Employees can also receive compensation of up to 90% of their salary from the employee.
Maternity and paternity leave
Maternity leave lasts for 16 weeks, with 6 weeks being taken before the expected due date and 10 weeks once the baby is born. The duration of leave depends on the number of children the mother is waiting to have and how many she has already.
For example a family of 2 and waiting for a 3rd, the mother will receive 26 weeks maternity leave, with 8 weeks being taken before the birth and 18 weeks after.
If the mother is expecting multiple babies, then extra maternity leave is allowed:
Twins: 34 weeks with 12 weeks before and 22 weeks after
Triplets: 46 weeks with 24 weeks before and 22 weeks after