Since April 2024, French labor law has been undergoing a minor revolution: employees now continue to accrue paid leave during their sick leave, whether work-related or not. This measure finally aligns France with European law but profoundly disrupts payroll practices.
A Principle from Europe
Europe had, at least since 2003, clearly positioned itself on employees’ right to rest. On the one hand, Article 7 of Directive 2003/88/EC guarantees every employee four weeks of paid leave per year, without conditions of actual presence. On the other hand, as early as 2009, the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union), in the Schultz-Hoff and Stringer cases, confirmed this by clearly stating that illness does not suspend this right.
The Great French Reversal of 2023
For years, France resisted this interpretation.
Until the Court of Cassation, in a series of rulings on September 13, 2023, made a major shift: it ruled that refusing leave during non-work-related sick leave was not in conformity with European law. Even better: it specified that the limitation period for the right to leave could only begin when the employee was actually able to exercise this right.
A Law to Bring France into Compliance with European Law
To reflect this evolution, Law No. 2024-364 of April 22, 2024, known as the DDADUE law, amends several articles of the Labor Code:
- Article L.3141-3: principle of accrual — 2.5 working days per month of actual work (reminder of the general rule).
- Article L.3141-5: periods assimilated to actual work (list of assimilation cases) — since the April 2024 reform, this provision includes a 7° which allows for the accrual of leave during sick leave periods.
- Article L.3141-10: reference period for leave accrual.
- Articles L.3141-19-1 and L.3141-24: compensation terms and calculation rules.
In 2025: The Culmination of This Paid Leave “Saga”
Until September 9, 2025, only a few Collective Bargaining Agreements provided for “re-crediting” the leave of an employee who was prescribed sick leave during their vacation time.
On September 10, the social chamber of the Court of Cassation also aligned itself with European Law, thereby granting employees the possibility, and even the right, to have their leave carried over due to sick leave.
The carry-over, provided the employer was aware of the sick leave, must therefore be applied under identical conditions.
What This Concretely Changes for Payroll
– The law determines the rules for accruing paid leave during sick leave: 2 working days per month of sick leave (and not 2.08, as in active employment), capped at 24 days per year (Article L. 3141-5-1 of the Labor Code)
– Regarding leave carry-over: an employee who is sick during their vacation or in general can therefore carry over their unused days (carry-over period often 15 months), which is an exception to the common law for most companies that reset balances at the end of the leave period.
– Regarding limitation periods: the employer can no longer invoke the limitation period if the employee has not been fully and explicitly informed of their rights.
– Concerning the calculation of compensation: the usual remuneration elements (overtime, bonuses, etc.) must be included in the calculation of compensation for paid leave accrued during periods of illness.
New Practices for Payroll Managers
1. Consistency Checks and Counter Reliability
- Ensure counter reliability: the legislative update requires verifying that sick leave now generates paid leave days during the absence period. It is therefore necessary to determine the stock of eligible employees and credit the paid leave days accrued during periods of illness. This accrual will, moreover, generate significant provisioning work in conjunction with financial departments.
- Update the configuration: in order to implement, in particular, the definition of the annual cap of 24 accrued days.
- Inform employees, through materialized communication accessible to employees within one month of their return to work.
- Plan internal audits by implementing controls (a semi-annual rhythm is recommended).
2. Ceiling Monitoring and Configuration
- Implement an automatic cap of 24 working days per year for accrual during sick leave. This implementation will naturally involve configuration tasks (and thus costs), as well as activities to ensure the reliability of the configuration, through a testing strategy, both in terms of UAT (User Acceptance Test) and monitoring of NRTS (Non-Regression Tests) over time.
- Configure alerts to signal potential overruns or abnormal accumulations.
3. Legal Security and Documentation
- Document each work stoppage (exact dates, nature of the stoppage, date of receipt of medical advice, duration) and archive the notification in the employee’s file, which will inevitably lead companies towards ever greater digitalization of HR activities (HSE/OHS portal, Core HR, EDM).
- Maintain a register or a monthly export of recalculated rights for internal control and HR audit purposes, implying a query capability for business stakeholders within the components of the company’s HRIS.
4. Communication and Traceability
- Systematically inform the employee of the update of their rights in case of prolonged illness.
- Establish a standard communication procedure upon return to work (information on accrued rights, carry-over, and applicable deadlines).
5. Internal Audits and Risk Control
- Consistency checks between sick leave and leave counters are now key vigilance points for social audits. A lack of correct integration can generate a significant recall risk (up to several years of arrears depending on the limitation period).
- Plan a semi-annual control (or even quarterly depending on volume) of all absences to verify the correct application of the 2 days/month rule and the limitation periods to be applied.
Why does this reform matter?
Beyond the technical aspects, this reform reflects a fundamental evolution: the recognition of an effective right to rest, even in case of illness. For companies, it’s time to secure their practices and adapt their payroll software.
Ultimately, the evolution introduced by the 2024 DDADUE law marks a major step in recognizing employees’ rights regarding the accrual of paid leave during non-work-related sick leave.
This reform, by aligning French law with European requirements, strengthens equity and social protection for workers. However, its implementation raises numerous challenges for companies: revision of payroll settings, adaptation of HRIS software, updating internal procedures, and managing the liability related to retroactive rights.
In this context, a consulting firm like Althéa plays a strategic role: it can support organizations in regulatory compliance, secure the processing of social data, optimize HR processes, and train your teams in new practices. Beyond mere legal application, this support promotes fairer, more transparent, and sustainable management of paid leave, ensuring social performance and peace of mind for both employers and employees.
An article written by Guillaume Benezit, Engagement Manager
