Sick leave longer than 3 months in France: pay, sick pay and what changes

Why your pay drops as the weeks go by

During sick leave, a private-sector employee in France can receive two payments:

• daily sick pay (indemnités journalières, IJ) from the national health insurance: 50% of your basic daily wage, from the 4th day;
• your employer’s top-up, which brings the total to 90%, then to two thirds of your gross salary.

The legal top-up requires at least one year’s service and starts after 7 days off. It does not last for the whole sick leave (Service-Public):

Length of service	At 90%	Then at 66.66%
1 to 5 years	30 days	30 days
6 to 10 years	40 days	40 days
11 to 15 years	50 days	50 days
16 to 20 years	60 days	60 days
21 to 25 years	70 days	70 days
26 to 30 years	80 days	80 days
31 years or more	90 days	90 days

Days already paid by your employer in the last 12 months are deducted. A collective agreement can do better, and an income protection scheme (prévoyance, often through your employer) may take over: ask your HR department.

To see what this means for you, day by day, try our sick pay calculator.

What remains: daily sick pay only

Daily sick pay is based on your gross salary over the last 3 months, up to 1.4 times the minimum wage. For sick leave starting from July 2026, it is capped at €42.97 gross a day (Ameli).

At 6 months: new conditions

To be paid beyond 6 months of sick leave, you must (Ameli):

• have been registered with French health insurance for at least 12 months when the sick leave began;
• and have worked 600 hours in the previous 12 months, or earned at least 2,030 times the hourly minimum wage over that period.

The maximum period of sick pay

Outside long-term conditions (ALD), daily sick pay is paid for 360 days at most over 3 years. For a long-term condition, it can be paid for 3 years (Ameli).

Since 1 September 2026, each extension lasts two months at most, unless justified: long sick leave means regular appointments. See extending sick leave.

Preparing your return while on leave

Several meetings exist to help you keep your job (Service-Public):

• the liaison meeting (rendez-vous de liaison), possible after 30 days off: optional, and not a medical appointment;
• the pre-return visit (visite de pré-reprise) with the occupational doctor, to plan adjustments;
• therapeutic part-time work, to return gradually.

Details in returning to work after sick leave and therapeutic part-time work.

If the illness lasts

When difficulties last, other rights may open: an invalidity pension from the CPAM or, through the MDPH, RQTH status and the AAH allowance. These take several months: talking early with your doctor or a CPAM social worker can avoid a period with no income.