The government has just tabled an amendment which will allow employees on sick leave to obtain paid leave, as provided for by European law.
This is an explosive issue for the companies and employees concerned, but the outcome is beginning to emerge. On Wednesday, the Council of State indicated in its opinion that employees on leave for non-occupational illness will now acquire paid leave limited to four weeks over a year. Until now, only employees on work-related sick leave could obtain five weeks of paid leave up to a maximum of one year.
From now on, all employees on sick leave will be able to obtain up to four weeks of leave per year, the minimum duration provided for in Europe, compared to five weeks in France.
An amendment considered by the Assembly
This opinion from the Council of State comes following a series of rulings from the Court of Cassation in September 2023, which called for the alignment of French labor law with European law. A 2003 European directive states that employees should be able to accumulate leave during sick leave.
The government will therefore rely on this opinion of the Council of State and has just submitted an amendment this Friday, which must be examined next week by the Assembly within the framework of the bill containing various provisions for adaptation to European Union law.
2 days of country leave per month
Concretely, it indicates that employees on sick leave due to an accident or illness of non-occupational origin will thus be able to acquire paid leave, at the rate of two working days per month, or four weeks per year of paid leave.
The amendment also establishes a right for employees to postpone leave they were unable to take due to illness or accident. Set at 15 months, this postponement period runs from the information that the employee receives from his employer, following his resumption of activity, on the leave available to him. By way of derogation, the 15-month deferral period begins at the end of the vesting period for employees who have been on sick leave for more than a year and whose employment contract continues to be suspended, specifies the government amendment.
New information from employees
The latter provides that from now on, each employee must be informed by their employer, within ten days of resuming work after sick leave, of the number of days acquired and the period of time they have to take them.
This amendment indicates that the rules for acquiring and carrying over paid leave rights apply retroactively since December 1, 2009.
A deadline not to be missed
Once the law is published, the employee will have a period of two years to file a possible action in execution of the employment contract to claim leave which should have been acquired during periods of sick leave since December 1, 2009, indicates the text.
With regard to employment contracts terminated upon the entry into force of the law, common law applies: three years to claim in court the payment of paid leave which would not have been granted in due to sick leave since 2009.
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