French legislation provides 11 public holidays :
1st January
Easter Monday
1st May
8th May
The Ascension
14th July
15th August
1st November
11th November
Christmas day
Good to know : Certain regions (Alsace Moselle, DROM-COM) or sectors of activity (mines) benefit from additional public holidays.
Non-working holidays can't be caught up on. This is a public policy provision, so there can be no exceptions.
How to pay for non-working holidays ?
1st May is the only public holiday that is paid and non-working for all employees.
Non-working on public holidays is legally compulsory only for young people under the age of 18.
Non-working public holidays that fall on a day usually worked the wage has to be maintained, provided the employee has at least 3 months' total seniority.
If the employee has less than 3 months' seniority, this day is not paid. The seniority condition applies, unless otherwise stipulated by collective agreement.
If the public holiday falls on the employee's usual day of rest, this will have no impact.
What about worked public holidays ?
Let's end the misconception !
Employers pay employees working on a public holiday (except the 1st May) normal compensation. No special remuneration is provided for, unless there are conventional or contractual provisions to the contrary.
How to manage public holidays for your daily contracts ?
Unless there is a more favorable collective agreement, a daily package working on a public holiday will not necessarily receive additional pay.
It is only at the end of the period that we will look to see if they have completed more than 218 days of work. If this is the case, the extra days worked are compensated by rest days.
If employees renounce their rest days (signed renunciation to which the employer cannot object), the extra days worked will be increased to 10%.
How to calculate the extra pay ?
Annual salary / 218 days = daily salary
It is on the basis of this daily salary that the 10% extra pay is applied.