Leave for sick employees: Parliament adopts a measure criticized by unions

The provision is part of a draft law adapting to European Union law, adopted on Wednesday by 82 votes to 53.

According to the government, this is a “new right” for sick employees, whereas the labor code until now limited paid leave to cases of occupational illness or work accidents.

To comply with European law, the new law provides that employees on sick leave of non-professional origin acquire two days per month of paid leave, within the limit of 24 working days (i.e. four weeks, including Saturdays) per month. year.

In the event of occupational illness, employees continue to receive paid leave during their leave at the same rate as currently (five weeks).

The CGT, CFDT, FO and CFE-CGC union organizations denounce this “discrimination” between four weeks of leave for some and five for others. The unions also criticize the "limitation" to 15 months of the period which the employee will then have to take the acquired leave.

“The measure discriminates against workers because of their state of health,” criticized environmentalist Sophie Taillé-Polian in the hemicycle.

In September, the Court of Cassation revised French case law by ruling that employees have "the right to paid leave during their period of absence, even if this absence is not linked to a work accident or an occupational illness" , under a European directive.