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Sick leave during paid holidays: the French Court of Cassation has ruled.
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On September 10, 2025, the Court of Cassation rendered a decision clarifying an important point of labor law: now any employee placed on sick leave during their paid vacation is entitled to the postponement of these days off.
French law aligns with European law.
This decision is in line with European Union law, which clearly distinguishes the purposes of paid leave (rest and leisure) and sick leave (recovery of health). Until now, French case law did not systematically allow for this carryover, contrary to European rules.
The Court has clearly responded to this issue: it believes that if the employee's health does not allow them to enjoy their rest, the leave must be postponed. It also specifies that the employee must notify their employer of their sick leave in order to benefit from the postponement. This reversal aligns French law with that of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which had already ruled to this effect in 2012.
"The employee placed on sick leave during their paid vacation is entitled to the postponement of these days, provided they inform their employer." - French Court of Cassation, September 10, 2025
What consequences?
For employees:
- This decision puts an end to inequality. The situation is now the same as for an employee who falls ill before going on vacation, for whom the postponement was already a given.
- This right to defer is not automatic: employees must notify their employer of their sick leave during their vacation within the usual time frame (identical to sick leave outside of vacation periods).
For employers:
- HR and payroll management is becoming more complex: teams will need to accurately track periods of sick leave and overlaps with paid leave in order to avoid calculation errors or forgotten carryovers.
- Deferred leave is a new absence to be planned for, which may impact team organization.
- The accumulation of days to be carried over, particularly following long periods of absence, must be monitored and provisioned for in the company's accounts.
- Employees must be informed of this new right and how it works.
And now?
The economic impact of this decision is not insignificant: it represents several million euros to be paid by French companies, depending on the conditions of application and retroactivity applied.
The Ministry of Labor specified that they have launched work to comply with this decision, without providing further details at the moment.
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