What the labor code says about leave

Married employees have priority over single employees, and long-term employees over new hires. The hierarchy is supposed to inform staff of the set dates for the leave period and inform each employee.

Organizing leave departures is not easy. There are key points to know to avoid problems. For example, the employer must inform the staff of the dates set for the leave period and inform each employee, at least one month before their scheduled departure.

1- What to do if the employer and the employee disagree on the leave dates?
Generally, two scenarios can be encountered: the first is the closure of the entire establishment due to annual leave. In this case, the date is set according to the level of activity of the company and in agreement with the staff via the staff representatives or delegates. This date is communicated at least one month before the closing date by posting, but remains conditional on the agreement of the prefecture or province via the prefectural or provincial labor inspection. If there has been agreement, the staff cannot refuse to take their leave during the set date.
Why this prefectural or provincial agreement? This is very important for certain sectors of activity that may be strategic for the country or city and that consequently the temporary closure of their establishment must be scheduled to avoid everyone ceasing their activity at the same time, plunging the country into a shortage of goods or products.
The second concerns individual leave. Some principles remain current. For example, married personnel have priority over single people and the long-term employees, in each category, over newly hired personnel.
The hierarchy is supposed to inform the staff of the dates set for the leave period and inform each employee, at least one month before their departure, of their leave dates.
Deciding on the departure dates for paid leave is the prerogative of the employer who must take into account the company's commitments to its customers and suppliers. Consequently, the latter can refuse an employee's departure on leave on a given date while offering an alternative. Among the alternatives, the possibility of splitting the leave or simply postponing it. It should be recalled that leave can be taken throughout the year, from January to December, but we know from experience that the most popular periods are concentrated during the summer. Even if employers and employees generally try to manage leave as flexibly as possible, a little formalism does no harm, as it limits disputes.
In practice, the employer generally asks employees to set their dates after having discussed them among themselves and only intervenes in case of disagreement. But remember that the employer is supposed to inform the staff of the dates set for the leave period and to inform each employee, at least one month before their departure, of their leave dates. These can, however, be modified up to one month before the deadline. After this deadline, any change becomes impossible, except in exceptional circumstances.

2- Can the employee take five weeks of leave in a row?
The first reaction that comes to mind is to say why not if the balance of leave not taken allows it and the operation of the service to which the applicant belongs does not suffer.
The employer is free to authorize him to organize his holidays according to his wishes if the conditions allow it.
The employer is free to refuse to add a fifth week to the main four-week leave if the annual entitlement is four weeks in that company. Generally, refusal is never a pleasure, but is dictated by a concern for managing the absences of all personnel.
The employer can split the leave according to the company's priorities (low activity, long weekends...) but in no case can the duration of the leave granted be less than 12 days including two weekly rest days. In some cases, the business manager may very well authorize an employee to take five weeks of paid leave or more if circumstances require it, such as when it concerns expatriate workers returning to their country of origin.

3- Can you buy back or give up your leave?
The law prohibits any payment for leave and any waiver is null and void, even if the employee had previously received compensation.
Article 242 of the labor code stipulates that any agreement concerning the prior waiver of the right to annual leave is considered null and void, even against the granting of compensation.
The only case where annual leave is replaced by compensation is the case of the final settlement. The unused leave balance is replaced by compensation.
Of course, this is the law with which company practices are not always compliant. Thus, it is not uncommon to see companies, given the workload, have one or more of their employees sign absence notices for leave or have the leave book signed to show that these employees have gone on leave when they were actually working, the counterpart of this false absence being of course remunerated.


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