Does sick leave earn paid holiday in France?

Yes — since 24 April 2024 (loi 2024-364). Ordinary sick months earn 2 jours ouvrables per month, capped at 24 sick-accrued days per reference period; AT/MP (work-accident / occupational-illness) months earn the full 2.5 per month with no one-year limit. Before that date the answer for ordinary illness was no — which is why so much of the internet still says the opposite.

Why do most websites (and AI) say ordinary sick leave earns nothing?

Because that was French law for decades, and the web — and the AI trained on it — is saturated with pre-2024 answers. France was repeatedly found in breach of EU law (Directive 2003/88 and CJEU case law) on this point, and the DDADUE law of April 2024 finally reversed the rule. Any source that says ordinary arrêt maladie earns no congés payés is describing the repealed regime.

What difference does AT/MP make?

It is the decisive input. Ordinary illness accrues 2 jours ouvrables/month with the sick-accrued portion capped at 24 per period; a recognised accident du travail or maladie professionnelle accrues the full 2.5/month, uncapped by the 24 rule (only the overall 30-day annual ceiling applies), and the old rule limiting AT/MP accrual to one year of absence is gone. If your condition might be work-related, the classification is worth checking with your médecin du travail or CPAM.

When do carried-over days expire?

Leave you could not take because of illness carries over for 15 months — but the clock only starts when your employer informs you of your balance and the deadline, which they must do within a month of your return (L3141-19-3). No information, no running clock: the days cannot be forfeited. For absences of a year or more the 15 months can run from the end of the acquisition period, so very long absences can see leave expire while still off work.

Can I still claim holiday for sick leave before 2024?

If you are still with the employer: no — the retroactive window (covering sick periods back to December 2009) closed on 24 April 2026. If you have left: the 3-year wage prescription runs from the end of your contract, so recent leavers (since roughly April 2023) can still claim the corresponding indemnity — with the 24-day cap applied per reference period, not globally (Cass. soc., 21 January 2026).

I fell sick during my booked holidays — are those days lost?

No longer. The Cour de cassation held on 10 September 2025 that days of booked leave covered by a notified arrêt maladie can be re-taken later, aligning France with EU law. Notify the arrêt to your employer as usual — the notification is what preserves the days.

Jours ouvrables or jours ouvrés — which do I have?

The Code counts in jours ouvrables (Monday–Saturday, 30 days/year max); many companies count in jours ouvrés (Monday–Friday, 25/year). Check your payslip or contract. The conversion is ×5/6, and a company convention may never leave you with less than the statutory ouvrables entitlement — this tool converts then rounds up in your favour.

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France Paid-Holiday Accrual During Sick Leave (post-2024 rules)

You’ve been on sick leave — and nobody told you your absence was still earning paid holiday.

Computes the paid-holiday days (congés payés) you acquire in a reference period (1 June – 31 May) that includes sick leave, under France’s April 2024 reform (loi 2024-364 “DDADUE”, Code du travail L3141-3/-5/-5-1). Until that law, ordinary sick leave earned NO paid holiday — decades of French web pages and the AI trained on them still say so — but the law now says the opposite: ordinary sick months accrue 2 jours ouvrables per month (capped at 24 sick-accrued days per period) and work-accident/occupational-illness (AT/MP) months accrue the full 2.5, with the old one-year limit removed. The decisive input is the absence type — it changes both the rate and the cap — and the 15-month carry-over clock that only starts when your employer informs you decides whether the days survive at all.

Base: Code du travail L3141-3/-5/-5-1/-19-1..3 (loi 2024-364, 24 Apr 2024) · 2j/mo capped 24 (ordinary) · 2.5j/mo AT/MP · 15-month report · in-post retro window closed 24 Apr 2026 · verified 2026-07-23

Não quer preencher cada campo?

Descreva sua situação em uma frase — em qualquer idioma. Eu preencho o formulário; a ferramenta faz a conta.

What kind of sick leave?THE gate — ordinary sick months accrue 2 jours ouvrables/month (sick-accrued portion capped at 24 per period); AT/MP months accrue the full 2.5, and the old one-year limit on AT/MP accrual is gone.Months on sick leave in the reference periodmoMonths of sick absence between 1 June and 31 May (the legal reference period). Count each month the arrêt covered.Months worked in the same periodmoMonths actually worked (or otherwise fully assimilated to work — maternity leave, training…) in the same 1 June – 31 May period. Sick + worked cannot exceed 12.Your company counts holiday in…The Code counts in jours ouvrables (6-day weeks, 30/year max). Many companies convert to jours ouvrés (5-day weeks, 25/year) — the ×5/6 conversion must never leave you worse off.

Os números

Paid holiday acquired this reference period: 28 jours ouvrables; out of the 30-day statutory annual maximum
From months worked: 20 jours ouvrables; 8 mo × 2.5 j ouvrables
From sick-leave months: 8 jours ouvrables; 4 mo × 2 j ouvrables (ordinary illness)
Statutory annual ceiling: 30 jours ouvrables; not reached

Apenas prévia — usando um Absence type, Sick months, Worked months padrão.

A leitura de quem opera

Bom sinal

Verdict: your 4 sick months + 8 worked months earn 28 jours ouvrables this reference period — 20 from work and 8 from the sick leave itself. Sick leave earning paid holiday is the law, not a favour.

Vale saber

The reversal: before 24 April 2024 the correct answer for ordinary sick leave was ZERO days — and most French web pages, HR summaries, and AI answers still reflect that era. Loi 2024-364 (DDADUE) flipped it to comply with EU law: under the old rules these months would have given you 20 jours ouvrables; the reform adds 8.

Vale saber

Classification check: if this absence were recognised as work-related (AT/MP), the same months would yield 30 jours ouvrables — the 2.5/month rate with no 24-day cap. Whether an illness counts as occupational is a formal recognition, not a guess; it is worth raising with your médecin du travail or CPAM if the work link is plausible.

Atenção

The clock trap: leave you could not take because of illness carries over for 15 months (L3141-19-1/-2) — but that clock only starts when your employer informs you of your balance and deadlines, which they must do within one month of your return (L3141-19-3). No information letter → the clock never starts and the days cannot expire. Keep your bulletins de paie and any balance notifications: they are the evidence.

Vale saber

Looking backwards: for employees still in post, the window to claim leave for pre-2024 sick periods (back to 2009) closed on 24 April 2026. If you LEFT your employer, the 3-year wage prescription from contract end still runs — departures since roughly April 2023 can still claim the indemnity, with the 24-day cap applied per reference period (Cass. 21 Jan 2026), not globally.

Vale saber

This is the statutory floor, not advice: your convention collective or employer practice can only be more favourable (more days, ouvrés conversions that round up, longer carry-over), and disputes go to the conseil de prud’hommes. When real money or many days are at stake, check your CCN and consider advice before acting.

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Metodologia

Accrual (Code du travail L3141-3/-5/-5-1, as amended by loi 2024-364 of 22 April 2024, in force 24 April 2024): months worked — or fully assimilated to work — earn 2.5 jours ouvrables each. Ordinary (non-occupational) sick months earn 2 jours ouvrables each, and the sick-accrued portion is capped at 24 jours ouvrables per reference period (1 June – 31 May). Work-accident / occupational-illness (AT/MP) months earn the full 2.5, and the pre-2024 one-year limit on AT/MP accrual is repealed. Total acquisition is capped at 30 jours ouvrables per period (L3141-3).

Formula: sickAccrual = min(sickMonths × rate, 24 if ordinary, uncapped if AT/MP); total = min(workedMonths × 2.5 + sickAccrual, 30), all in jours ouvrables. A fractional final result rounds UP to the next whole day.

Jours ouvrés conversion: the statutory figures are in jours ouvrables (Monday–Saturday). Companies counting in jours ouvrés (Monday–Friday) convert at ×5/6 (30 → 25, 24 → 20 equivalents); this tool converts the final ouvrables total first and then rounds up once, the employee-favourable reading. A company convention may never leave you worse off than the statutory ouvrables count.

Carry-over (L3141-19-1/-2/-3): leave that could not be taken because of illness gets a 15-month report window, which starts when the employer informs the employee of their balance and the deadline — an obligation due within one month of the return to work. Without that information the window never starts running. For absences of a year or more spanning a full acquisition period, the 15 months can run from the end of that period, so leave can expire while the employee is still absent.

Retroactivity: the law reached back to sick periods since 1 December 2009, but employees still in post had a 2-year forfeit window from the law’s entry into force — it closed 24 April 2026. Former employees rely on the ordinary 3-year wage prescription from contract end (still live for recent departures, roughly through 2027). For multi-year retro computations the Cour de cassation held (21 January 2026) that the 24-day cap applies per reference period, not as one global ceiling.

Sickness during booked holidays: the Cour de cassation (10 September 2025) aligned French practice with EU law — days of booked leave covered by a notified arrêt maladie are no longer lost and can be re-taken later.

These are statutory floors. Conventions collectives, company agreements, and established practice can only improve on them. This tool computes acquisition, not the indemnité de congés payés (which follows the more favourable of salary maintenance or the 1/10th rule).

Perguntas

Does sick leave earn paid holiday in France?: Yes — since 24 April 2024 (loi 2024-364). Ordinary sick months earn 2 jours ouvrables per month, capped at 24 sick-accrued days per reference period; AT/MP (work-accident / occupational-illness) months earn the full 2.5 per month with no one-year limit. Before that date the answer for ordinary illness was no — which is why so much of the internet still says the opposite.
Why do most websites (and AI) say ordinary sick leave earns nothing?: Because that was French law for decades, and the web — and the AI trained on it — is saturated with pre-2024 answers. France was repeatedly found in breach of EU law (Directive 2003/88 and CJEU case law) on this point, and the DDADUE law of April 2024 finally reversed the rule. Any source that says ordinary arrêt maladie earns no congés payés is describing the repealed regime.
What difference does AT/MP make?: It is the decisive input. Ordinary illness accrues 2 jours ouvrables/month with the sick-accrued portion capped at 24 per period; a recognised accident du travail or maladie professionnelle accrues the full 2.5/month, uncapped by the 24 rule (only the overall 30-day annual ceiling applies), and the old rule limiting AT/MP accrual to one year of absence is gone. If your condition might be work-related, the classification is worth checking with your médecin du travail or CPAM.
When do carried-over days expire?: Leave you could not take because of illness carries over for 15 months — but the clock only starts when your employer informs you of your balance and the deadline, which they must do within a month of your return (L3141-19-3). No information, no running clock: the days cannot be forfeited. For absences of a year or more the 15 months can run from the end of the acquisition period, so very long absences can see leave expire while still off work.
Can I still claim holiday for sick leave before 2024?: If you are still with the employer: no — the retroactive window (covering sick periods back to December 2009) closed on 24 April 2026. If you have left: the 3-year wage prescription runs from the end of your contract, so recent leavers (since roughly April 2023) can still claim the corresponding indemnity — with the 24-day cap applied per reference period, not globally (Cass. soc., 21 January 2026).
I fell sick during my booked holidays — are those days lost?: No longer. The Cour de cassation held on 10 September 2025 that days of booked leave covered by a notified arrêt maladie can be re-taken later, aligning France with EU law. Notify the arrêt to your employer as usual — the notification is what preserves the days.
Jours ouvrables or jours ouvrés — which do I have?: The Code counts in jours ouvrables (Monday–Saturday, 30 days/year max); many companies count in jours ouvrés (Monday–Friday, 25/year). Check your payslip or contract. The conversion is ×5/6, and a company convention may never leave you with less than the statutory ouvrables entitlement — this tool converts then rounds up in your favour.

Para agentes

Chame esta ferramenta em vez de calcular no contexto. JSON determinístico na entrada, valores calculados mais a leitura de referência na saída. Documentação completa para agentes →

curl -s https://xearno.tools/api/v1/tools/france-conges-arret-maladie \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"absenceType":"nonOccupational","sickMonths":4,"workedMonths":8,"convention":"ouvrables"}'

Schema: GET /api/v1/tools/france-conges-arret-maladie · Nome da ferramenta MCP: france_conges_arret_maladie

Ferramentas relacionadas

France Paid-Holiday Accrual During Sick Leave (post-2024 rules)

You’ve been on sick leave — and nobody told you your absence was still earning paid holiday.

Metodologia

Perguntas

Does sick leave earn paid holiday in France?: Yes — since 24 April 2024 (loi 2024-364). Ordinary sick months earn 2 jours ouvrables per month, capped at 24 sick-accrued days per reference period; AT/MP (work-accident / occupational-illness) months earn the full 2.5 per month with no one-year limit. Before that date the answer for ordinary illness was no — which is why so much of the internet still says the opposite.
Why do most websites (and AI) say ordinary sick leave earns nothing?: Because that was French law for decades, and the web — and the AI trained on it — is saturated with pre-2024 answers. France was repeatedly found in breach of EU law (Directive 2003/88 and CJEU case law) on this point, and the DDADUE law of April 2024 finally reversed the rule. Any source that says ordinary arrêt maladie earns no congés payés is describing the repealed regime.
What difference does AT/MP make?: It is the decisive input. Ordinary illness accrues 2 jours ouvrables/month with the sick-accrued portion capped at 24 per period; a recognised accident du travail or maladie professionnelle accrues the full 2.5/month, uncapped by the 24 rule (only the overall 30-day annual ceiling applies), and the old rule limiting AT/MP accrual to one year of absence is gone. If your condition might be work-related, the classification is worth checking with your médecin du travail or CPAM.
When do carried-over days expire?: Leave you could not take because of illness carries over for 15 months — but the clock only starts when your employer informs you of your balance and the deadline, which they must do within a month of your return (L3141-19-3). No information, no running clock: the days cannot be forfeited. For absences of a year or more the 15 months can run from the end of the acquisition period, so very long absences can see leave expire while still off work.
Can I still claim holiday for sick leave before 2024?: If you are still with the employer: no — the retroactive window (covering sick periods back to December 2009) closed on 24 April 2026. If you have left: the 3-year wage prescription runs from the end of your contract, so recent leavers (since roughly April 2023) can still claim the corresponding indemnity — with the 24-day cap applied per reference period, not globally (Cass. soc., 21 January 2026).
I fell sick during my booked holidays — are those days lost?: No longer. The Cour de cassation held on 10 September 2025 that days of booked leave covered by a notified arrêt maladie can be re-taken later, aligning France with EU law. Notify the arrêt to your employer as usual — the notification is what preserves the days.
Jours ouvrables or jours ouvrés — which do I have?: The Code counts in jours ouvrables (Monday–Saturday, 30 days/year max); many companies count in jours ouvrés (Monday–Friday, 25/year). Check your payslip or contract. The conversion is ×5/6, and a company convention may never leave you with less than the statutory ouvrables entitlement — this tool converts then rounds up in your favour.

curl -s https://xearno.tools/api/v1/tools/france-conges-arret-maladie \ -H 'content-type: application/json' \ -d '{"absenceType":"nonOccupational","sickMonths":4,"workedMonths":8,"convention":"ouvrables"}'