Employment law
Absence: the various grounds
Fourteen grounds for suspending the contract, and three questions for each: pay, seniority, leave.
An employee is absent. Before deciding how to treat the absence in payroll, it must be understood what it does to the contract itself. The Labour Code answers with one central notion: suspension.
During the absence the contract is not terminated, it is suspended: the main obligations, providing work, paying salary, cease temporarily, but the contractual bond remains, and the employee returns to their post when the suspension ends.
1. What does a suspended contract mean?
Suspension produces three effects that must be distinguished:
| What is suspended | What remains | What varies by ground |
|---|---|---|
| The obligation to provide work | The contract itself and the post | Whether salary is maintained |
| The obligation to pay salary, unless otherwise provided | Accrued seniority | Whether the period counts towards paid leave |
| Both parties' duty of good faith | The maximum length of the suspension |
It is the third column that requires case-by-case examination. Two absences may suspend the contract identically and be treated very differently in payroll.
2. The grounds for suspension set out in the Code
The Code lists the situations that suspend an employment contract. They can be grouped by nature:
| Family of cases | Situations covered |
|---|---|
| Health | Absence for non-occupational illness or accident, up to six months; unavailability resulting from an occupational accident or disease |
| Family life | Maternity leave; widowhood of a female employee, up to four months and ten days |
| Rest and leave | Paid leave; workers' education leave; authorised absences for cultural or sporting events |
| Civic obligations | Military obligations or civic service, of the employee as of the employer; elective mandate or political office |
| Company life | Short-time working; strike and lock-out where the procedure is observed; temporary lay-off, up to eight days |
| Other | Police custody or detention, up to six months; pilgrimage to the holy places |
Two durations are worth retaining, because they bound the suspension: six months for non-occupational illness and for detention, eight days for temporary lay-off. Beyond those, the employee's situation must be resolved: suspension is not a lasting regime. Labour Code, Article L.34 (French).
3. Absences linked to family and personal life
Alongside the grounds for suspension, the Code protects exceptional permissions for family events directly affecting the employee's own household: within a limit of ten days, they may not be deducted from accrued leave.
The Code details neither the events nor their durations: marriage, birth and bereavement appear in the applicable collective agreement, with durations specific to each sector. That is the document to consult first. Absences for personal convenience, which fall under none of these regimes, follow the authorisation route: see Authorised absence. Labour Code, Article L.146 (French).
4. Is salary maintained?
There is no single answer, and this is the main management difficulty. Whether salary is maintained depends on three sources, to be examined in this order:
- the law, which provides for maintenance in certain cases : time spent on occupational health examinations must entail no loss of pay;
- the social security scheme, which takes over from salary in the form of daily allowances for occupational accidents and diseases;
- the collective or establishment agreement, which may provide more favourable full or partial maintenance.
A practical reflex: never deduct pay before checking these three levels. A deduction made in error is hard to correct and easy to challenge. Social Security Code, Article 85 (French).
5. Does the absence count towards seniority and leave?
Accrued seniority is never lost through a suspension: the contract remains in force. The real question concerns treatment as actual working time for calculating paid leave, and here again the answer depends on the ground.
Periods of paid leave, absences linked to an occupational accident or disease, and maternity leave are traditionally treated protectively. Absences for personal convenience or unpaid leave are not. Between the two, the collective agreement decides.
6. Six questions to ask for any absence
| Question | What it determines |
|---|---|
| What exactly is the ground? | The applicable regime; the starting point for everything else |
| Is it justified, and by what document? | Medical certificate, summons, civil status record, written authorisation |
| Is the contract suspended? | The parties' mutual obligations during the absence |
| Is salary maintained, and by whom? | Employer, social security, or neither |
| Does a maximum length apply? | Six months, eight days, or the length set by the agreement |
| Does the period count towards leave? | The calculation of the year's leave entitlement |
Key takeaways
| The rule | What it implies |
|---|---|
| Absence suspends the contract, it does not end it | The employee returns to their post when it ends |
| The Code sets out a list of grounds for suspension | Health, family, leave, civic obligations, company life |
| Some suspensions are time-bound | Six months for illness and detention, eight days for lay-off |
| Ten days of exceptional permissions | Not deducted from accrued leave, detailed by the agreement |
| Salary maintenance is checked at three levels | Law, social security, collective agreement |
| Seniority always survives | Only treatment towards leave varies by ground |