How to Claim Vacation Days Lost Due to Sickness

Employees who fall ill during their holiday leave have a limited window to reclaim lost vacation days. French regulations stipulate that workers must act within one month to ensure those days are not forfeited due to illness.

A Major Shift for French Workers on Sick Leave

For years, French labor law restricted the accumulation of paid vacation during most forms of sick leave. That landscape has changed dramatically as of April 24, 2024, when a new legal provision took effect. The move, influenced by pressure from the country’s highest court—the Cour de cassation—brings French employment law into line with longstanding European standards.

The New Rights in Detail

Under the newly enacted law of April 22, employees who take time off for any health-related reason—whether due to a non-work-related illness or an accident—are now entitled to accrue two working days of paid holiday per full month spent on leave. This benefit is capped at 24 days per year (the equivalent of four weeks). In contrast to the past, when only work accidents or occupational diseases granted this right (at a higher rate), all periods of medically certified absence are now included.

What’s more, if illness or injury previously prevented an employee from using their vacation entitlement, there is now a specific window for deferral: up to fifteen months following notification from the employer.

New Duties for Employers

Another crucial aspect: employers now have a clear obligation. Within one month after an employee returns from leave, they must communicate—by payslip or any other means—how many paid holidays remain and when those days must be taken. Several factors explain this decision:

• Legal harmonization with European requirements;
• The need to increase transparency for workers;
• An effort to minimize disputes and clarify obligations.

Failure by companies to provide this information could expose them to legal challenge.

Retroactivity and Urgent Deadlines

One unusual feature is the law’s retroactive scope. Employees whose contracts ended before April 2024 have up to three years to claim compensation for unused holidays accumulated during sick leave. Those still employed get until April 24, 2026, to assert claims dating back as far as December 1, 2009—but only for days acquired since then. After these windows close, access to labor courts will be definitively blocked.

Unions like the CGT are urging staff not to delay in seeking what they are owed and suggest quick engagement with workplace committees (CSE) if needed. With new rights come responsibilities—and both sides appear keenly aware that swift action could make all the difference under France’s updated regime.