Actual working time for the acquisition of Paid Leave during work stoppage, adoption of the Law
On April 10, 2024, the law containing various provisions for adaptation to European Union law (DDADUE) was definitively adopted for entry into force which should take place during the month of May 2024 after publication of the latter in the Journal Official.
French Labor Law is now in compliance with European Labor Law regarding Paid Leave.
Concretely :
> Your employee will now have the possibility of acquiring sick leave up to:
- 24 working days per year (if employee on leave for 1 year) for sick leave of non-professional origin (MNP) or 2 working days per month (in the months in which he or she is on leave) instead of 2.5 days working hours
- 30 working days per year for work-related sick leave / work accident (MP/AT)
> Your employee suffering from a Work Accident / Occupational Illness will be able to acquire leave without limitation of duration (before the Law, the limit was 1 year);
> For stops of less than 1 year:
Your employee on sick leave or having returned to work following a work stoppage, whatever the reason for their stoppage (MNP/MP/AT) now has a deferral period of 15 months allowing them to take acquired leave that could not be taken during their normal taking period (here we are talking about days acquired in year N-1 that cannot be taken in year N, the employee being on sick leave over the year N)*;
*
Year N-1: from 06/01/2022 to 05/31/2023 Year N: from 06/01/2023 to 05/31/2024 and 06/01/024 the CP counter of year N will become the counter of year N-1
However, the starting point of the deferral period is conditional on the information that you give to your employee when they return to work and to do this you will have a period of 1 month following the return to work for them. communicate :
- The number of days of leave he has (counter N-1 indicated on the pay slip); The date until which his days of leave can be taken.
In order not to omit the correct application of the law in this area in view of the consequences which may result (reminder of compensation), we recommend that you have your employee sign a letter delivered by hand against discharge or send them an email with acknowledgment of receipt of these two pieces of information.
In fact, the deferral period starts on the date the information is received and not on the date it is sent.
> For stops of 1 year or more:
Paid leave acquired during the period of work stoppage is also carried over for a period of 15 months.
The 15-month deferral period can therefore start while your employee is still on sick leave, without waiting for the return to work and without informing your employee, since it begins at the end of the period of acquisition of rights making the subject of the postponement (June 1 of each year).
Two hypotheses are then considered:
- If your employee returns to work before the expiration of the 15-month deferral period, it is suspended until you fulfill your obligation to provide information on your employee's paid leave rights and the date until 'at which he can take them (see above).
- On the other hand, your employee loses his rights to paid leave if he returns to work after the end of the 15-month deferral period.
In other words, in the event of a prolonged work stoppage or a series of work stoppages, the employee cannot accumulate paid leave rights acquired during his work stoppage ad vitam aeternam.
> From the entry into force of the law, your employees (still in the workforce) have a period of 2 years to assert their past rights in court.
However, this does not mean that they will necessarily be able to obtain all of the rights linked to past situations. Because the law has taken great care to provide for the retroactivity of the carryover rules (see above; either after informing the employee by the employer, or from the last day of the vesting period depending on the situation), which could in certain cases lead to considering that certain past rights are lost.
The retroactivity of the Law takes effect on December 1, 2009.
Thus, your employees who are still in your workforce and who have been on sick leave since December 1, 2009 will be able to request a recall of leave for:
- The rule for acquiring paid leave during sick leave, within the limit of 2 working days per month and 24 working days per year; The period of carryover of paid leave of 15 months.
On the other hand, it does not provide for retroactive application of the removal of the 1 year limit for the acquisition of paid leave during a work stoppage for AT/MP which does not mean that employees will not be able to invoke our sense of the case law of September 13, 2023 to request their past rights and if necessary in court.
> 3-year limitation period for employees who are no longer employed when the law comes into force.
Consequently, according to the government, employees whose employment contract has been terminated for more than 3 years on the date of entry into force of the future law will not be able to take legal action to obtain payment of compensatory compensation.
Our opinion on the subject:
This Law is not without consequences on the employer/employee relationship already weakened by the current system of individual and collective protection which consists of paying those registered for absent subscribers, thus highlighting the social side of work instead of redirecting the objectives of pragmatic way, in other words: all work deserves pay (the adage did not say “all absence deserves pay”).
Likewise, recently and increasingly, insurers, HR and others are focusing their employee attractiveness and loyalty policy on the collective protection argument (yes, we are talking about foresight) > this is the logic of the 'inversion > do not define your company by advantages that catalyze actively disengaged behavior > a company is defined by its employees, of course, but by employees who are present and active.
Our advice:
As employers, highlight your work force, the quality of what you sell, the image of your company (be selective, not everyone should be able to join your establishment), your fame ; you will thus attract talented people who are also motivated and keen to learn and develop with the best.
A Quality company induces a level of requirements that is just as high.
