French paid-leave pay: the 1/10e rule against maintien de salaire, the higher one is due
Estimates only, not financial advice. What you type stays on your device. Checked against sources on 16 Oct 2026.French paid-leave pay is the higher of two amounts, a tenth of the reference period's gross pay scaled to the days taken, or the salary kept as if working. Service Public's example of €24,000 and 10 jours ouvrés gives €960.00 against €952.38.
2026 · Rates and rules read from the sources listed on this page (the earliest on 16 Oct 2026); they may have changed since.
Type the total gross pay of the reference period (usually 1 June to 31 May) and your monthly salary now.
Type the days of leave and choose jours ouvrés (Monday to Friday) or jours ouvrables (Monday to Saturday).
Under More options, type the working days of the month the leave falls in.
Read both methods and the amount due, the higher of the two.
This calculator works out the indemnité de congés payés, the pay an employee in France receives for days of paid leave, following Service Public's pages and articles L3141-24 to L3141-31 of the Code du travail.
Two methods, the higher one wins. The 1/10e rule takes a tenth of the total gross pay of the reference period, usually 1 June to 31 May, for a full leave of 30 jours ouvrables or 25 jours ouvrés, and scales it to the days taken. Maintien de salaire pays what the employee would have earned by working those days. The employer must pay whichever is higher.
The worked example. €24,000 of gross pay over the period, €2,000 a month, two weeks off counted as 10 jours ouvrés in a month of 21. The 1/10e gives €2,400 × 10/25 = €960.00. Maintien gives €2,000 × 10/21 = €952.38. The employee receives €960.00, €7.62 more.
When maintien wins. If pay has gone up since the reference period, maintien usually gives more: at €2,400 a month the same leave is worth €1,142.86.
What counts. Base salary, overtime and premiums, commissions, benefits in kind, monthly attendance bonuses and the previous year's leave pay count. Year-end bonuses, profit-sharing and expense allowances do not.
Jours ouvrés or ouvrables. Either count gives the same pay, as long as days taken and the full leave use the same count: 12 of 30 ouvrables equals 10 of 25 ouvrés.
Not included. Collective agreements that pay more, leave spread over months with different day counts, and the indemnité compensatrice paid at the end of a contract. An estimate, not legal advice.
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French law compares two methods and pays the higher. The 1/10e rule gives a tenth of the gross pay earned in the reference period for a full leave of 30 jours ouvrables (25 jours ouvrés). Maintien de salaire pays what the employee would have earned by working. Service Public's example gives €960.00 against €952.38.
Under the 1/10e rule the paid-leave indemnity equals one tenth of the total gross pay received during the reference period, usually 1 June to 31 May. For part of the leave it is scaled: €24,000 of pay and 10 of 25 jours ouvrés give €2,400 × 10/25 = €960.00.
Maintien de salaire wins when pay has risen since the reference period, for example after a raise or promotion. With €24,000 earned last year but €2,400 a month now, 10 days of 21 give €1,142.86 by maintien against €960.00 by the tenth, so the employer must pay €1,142.86.
Base salary, overtime and night premiums, commissions, benefits in kind, seniority and attendance bonuses, the previous year's leave pay and the end-of-contract precarity bonus all count. Year-end bonuses, profit-sharing (intéressement and participation) and expense allowances do not, according to Service Public's table.
Every employee earns 2.5 jours ouvrables of paid leave for each month of actual work with the same employer, so 30 jours ouvrables (five weeks) for a full year, part-time or full-time. A fractional total is rounded up: five months give 12.5 days, rounded to 13.
Jours ouvrables are every day except the weekly rest day and public holidays, usually Monday to Saturday, giving 30 days of leave a year. Jours ouvrés are the days actually worked, usually Monday to Friday, giving 25. Two weeks of leave are 12 ouvrables or 10 ouvrés, with the same pay.
Rates and rules change; check the source before you rely on a figure.
Still stuck? Ask about France Paid Leave Pay Calculator (Congés Payés) and anybody who knows can answer. No account needed.
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