Since the Law of 22 April 2024, an employee on non-occupational sick leave accrues two working days (jours ouvrables, i.e. in French law every day of the week except the weekly rest day and public holidays) of paid leave per month of absence, up to 24 days on that basis per reference period (L3141-5-1). According to three judgments of 16 September 2026, the payment in lieu of untaken paid leave (indemnité compensatrice de congés payés) due on termination is time-barred three years from the termination.
Article L3141-5 of the Labour Code lists the periods treated as actual work (travail effectif) for determining the length of leave. Law n° 2024-364 of 22 April 2024 added a 7° to it: periods during which performance of the contract is suspended because of sick leave linked to an accident or illness that is not occupational in nature. The 5° covers, for its part, absences due to a workplace accident or an occupational disease.
The number of days accrued depends on the origin of the absence:
| Situation | Leave accrued | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| Month of actual work | 2.5 working days per month, 30 working days at most | L3141-3 |
| Absence due to a workplace accident or occupational disease | Treated as actual work | L3141-5, 5° |
| Absence due to non-occupational illness or accident | 2 working days per month, up to 24 working days per reference period in respect of these periods | L3141-5, 7°, and L3141-5-1 |
The 24-day limit in article L3141-5-1 applies only to the days granted in respect of periods of non-occupational absence. The days accrued during the months worked come on top.
The French Ministry of Labour gives the following example, over an accrual period from 1 June 2024 to 31 May 2025, with an absence for non-occupational illness from 1 August to 30 September 2024 (factsheet on the Code du travail numérique, the official labour-law information site):
| Period | Calculation | Working days |
|---|---|---|
| 1 June to 31 July 2024 (work) | 2 months × 2.5 days | 5 |
| 1 August to 30 September 2024 (non-occupational illness) | 2 months × 2 days | 4 |
| 1 October 2024 to 31 May 2025 (work) | 8 months × 2.5 days | 20 |
| Total | 29 |
An employee who remained on non-occupational sick leave for the entire accrual period obtains 24 working days, i.e. 12 months × 2 days.
The paid-leave allowance (indemnité de congé) is equal to one tenth of the total gross remuneration received during the reference period (article L3141-24). For this calculation, periods of non-occupational absence are treated as having given rise to remuneration based on the establishment's working hours, up to a limit of 80% of the remuneration associated with those periods being taken into account (L3141-24, 4°). Where the length of leave differs from that provided for in article L3141-3, the allowance is calculated in proportion to the length of leave actually due.
A floor applies: the allowance may not be lower than the remuneration the employee would have received during their leave had they continued working (L3141-24, II). The employee therefore receives the higher of the two amounts: the one tenth, or continued remuneration.
If the contract is terminated before the employee has been able to take all their leave, they receive, for the portion not taken, a payment in lieu of leave (indemnité compensatrice de congé), determined according to the same rules (article L3141-28).
An employee who was unable to take their leave because of illness or accident benefits from a fifteen-month carry-over period (article L3141-19-1); a company or establishment agreement or, failing that, a sector-level agreement may set a longer period (article L3141-21-1). It begins on the date on which the employee receives, after returning to work, the information the employer owes them.
This information is regulated: within the month following the return to work, the employer informs the employee, by any means giving a certain date to its receipt, in particular the payslip, of the number of days of leave available to them and the date until which they may be taken (article L3141-19-3).
A specific rule applies to long absences. Where, at the end of the reference period in respect of which the leave was accrued during an absence, the contract has been suspended for at least one year because of the illness or accident, the carry-over period begins on that date; on the return to work, if it has not expired, it is suspended until the employee has received the information (article L3141-19-2).
Article 37, II, of the Law of 22 April 2024 makes these rules applicable to the period running from 1 December 2009 to the entry into force of the Law, subject to decisions that have become final (passées en force de chose jugée) or to more favourable provisions of collective agreements in force on the date the rights were acquired. It caps them: for each reference period, the additional leave may not exceed the number of days enabling the employee to benefit from 24 working days of leave, after taking into account the days already accrued under the former law.
The Cour de cassation (France's supreme civil court) drew two clarifications from this in a published judgment of 21 January 2026 (Cass. soc., n° 24-22.228). For these situations predating the Law, back-pay is due only on condition that 24 working days have not already been accrued during the reference period including the absence, which the court must check reference period by reference period. And leave accrued before that period and carried over because it was not taken does not count towards those 24 days.
| Since the Law | Period from 1 December 2009 to the Law | |
|---|---|---|
| Accrual during non-occupational absence | 2 working days per month | 2 working days per month |
| Cap | 24 days in respect of periods of absence | Additional leave limited to the days needed to reach 24 working days over the reference period, including days already accrued over that period |
The forclusion under article 37, II. Any action for performance of the contract seeking the grant of days of leave in respect of the 2009-2024 period had to be brought, on pain of forclusion (a strict time bar that extinguishes the right of action), within two years of the entry into force of the Law. That period expired in April 2026.
The payment in lieu after termination. In three published judgments of 16 September 2026, the Cour de cassation subjects the action to recover the payment in lieu of untaken paid leave to the three-year limitation period of article L3245-1, with time running from the termination of the contract (Cass. soc., 16 September 2026, n° 25-15.456, n° 25-12.609 and n° 25-14.826); in the first, it specifies that this payment is in the nature of a wage claim (créance salariale). All three actions decided had been brought before April 2026: these judgments do not say how the three-year limitation period and the forclusion under article 37, II, combine for an action brought since then. In the first judgment, the claim of an employee whose contract had been terminated in September 2018 and who had only brought the case before the conseil de prud'hommes (France's labour court) in March 2024 was held to be time-barred.
The third judgment sets the scope of the claim. An employee who brings an action within this period is entitled to a payment in lieu in respect of leave accrued since 1 December 2009 and carried over under the conditions of articles L3141-19-1 and L3141-19-2 that they have not taken, subject to the expiry of the carry-over period (Cass. soc., 16 September 2026, n° 25-14.826). The Court overturned the decision of the conseil de prud'hommes, which had limited the claim to the three years preceding the termination.
The valuation is built reference period by reference period: the dates of each absence and its origin, the days already accrued and taken, the days carried over, the date of termination, then the allowance using the most favourable method. The supporting documents are the payslips, the sick-leave certificates (arrêts de travail) and the information provided by the employer on the return to work.
For the rest of the case, Plato, which is extending into employment law, calculates overtime back-pay and models the termination scenarios, with each amount staying traceable back to its source: see its employment law specialisation. The final check remains the lawyer's. Paid leave comes on top of the other heads of claim in a termination, such as payment in lieu of notice or the award for dismissal without real and serious cause.
How many days of paid leave does an employee on non-occupational sick leave accrue?
Two working days per month of absence, up to 24 working days per reference period in respect of these periods (article L3141-5-1). The days accrued during the months worked, at the rate of 2.5 days per month, come on top.
And in the case of a workplace accident or occupational disease?
The absence is treated as actual work for determining the length of leave (article L3141-5, 5°). The employee therefore accrues their leave as if they had worked.
How is the paid-leave allowance calculated for periods of sick leave?
Using the one-tenth rule, taking periods of non-occupational absence into account up to 80% of the associated remuneration (article L3141-24, 4°). The allowance may not be lower than the remuneration the employee would have received had they worked during their leave.
How long does the employee have to take leave they could not take because of their illness?
A fifteen-month carry-over period (article L3141-19-1), running from the information the employer must give them within the month following their return to work: the number of days available and the deadline for taking them. A collective agreement may provide for more (article L3141-21-1). For leave accrued during the absence, if, at the end of the reference period, the contract has been suspended for at least one year because of the illness or accident, the carry-over period begins on that date; on the return to work, if it has not expired, it is suspended until the employee has received the information (article L3141-19-2).
Can an employee who has left the company claim the leave accrued during their sick leave since 2009?
The Cour de cassation has allowed it for an action brought within three years of the termination and before April 2026: a payment in lieu in respect of leave accrued since 1 December 2009 and carried over that the employee has not taken, subject to the expiry of the carry-over period (Cass. soc., 16 September 2026, n° 25-14.826). For an action brought since the forclusion under article 37, II, expired, the question is not settled by these judgments.
Can an employee still in post request days of leave for absences prior to April 2024?
An action seeking the grant of days of leave in respect of the period from 1 December 2009 to the entry into force of the Law had to be brought within two years of that entry into force, on pain of forclusion (article 37, II, of the Law of 22 April 2024). That period expired in April 2026.