what are the new rules?

Employees will soon benefit from a new right: that of acquiring paid leave during a work stoppage due to non-professional illness.

Parliament has definitively passed the law on the new right of employees to acquire paid leave, during work stoppage for non-professional illness. Mbut the law has not yet been published in the Official Journal.

franceinfo: In the meantime, what are the new rules?

Sarah Lemoine: The big new thing is that all employees receive paid leave during a work stoppage, whatever the cause. I say all, because certain employees already benefit from this right: those who are victims of a work accident or an occupational illness. Also those who work in companies which have negotiated an agreement more favorable than the Labor Code on this subject.

Why have the rules changed?

It had been 14 years since France ignored European law, which nevertheless required member countries to give at least four weeks of paid leave to all workers, even in the event of absence due to illness. Last September, the Court of Cassation put France up against the wall. The government therefore rewrote the rules, but limited the bill for companies, to the great dismay of the unions.

How has the impact been limited for businesses?

In the Labor Code, an employee acquires two and a half days of leave per month, which represents five weeks per year. But employees on leave for non-professional reasons are less well off. They only acquire two days per month, the equivalent of four weeks per year. The government has therefore based itself on European law, which is less generous on this point.

The law also specifies that upon returning to work, the employer has the obligation to inform the employee of the number of days acquired, before and during their leave. The employee then has 15 months to lock them. On the other hand, the situation is less favorable for employees arrested for more than a year. In some cases, earned leave may expire while still absent.

Is the law retroactive?

Yes, employees can request the regularization of their acquired and untaken leave, since December 1, 2009. But to limit legal recourse, they will only have two years, from the publication of the law, to initiate an action. action. Finally, for employees whose employment contract ended before the law came into effect, retroactivity is set at three years.