The French government has formally asked the social partners to negotiate on policy regarding sick leave absence. In a letter dated 7 October 2026 to employer and employee organizations, Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou sets out three negotiation themes. The social partners have until 19 December 2026 to reach an agreement.
What is the government asking of the social partners?
According to the French trade publication Actuel-HSE, the referral letter sets out three negotiation strands. First, employers and employees must do more on preventing sick leave absence and on preparing for the return to work after a period of incapacity. Second, the parameters of sick leave benefits (indemnisation) must be revised. Third, the government is asking the social partners to examine how the actors involved can take on more responsibility. The concrete details of these strands are left to the social partners themselves.
Why this negotiation?
The trigger is financial. Through this negotiation, the government wants to achieve savings of 1 billion euros per year within the Ondam, the national healthcare spending target that also covers sick leave benefits. The government is thus setting the financial target, while the social partners negotiate how that target is reached.
What is at stake for employers and employees?
For employers, revising the benefit parameters could affect the costs of continued wage payment during illness and the role of supplementary insurance. For employees, the outcome of the first strand is particularly relevant: better prevention and a smoother return to work are aimed at reducing absence. How the social partners work out these three strands in practice will determine whether the savings are sought mainly through prevention or through adjusting the benefit parameters.
Context
The negotiation does not come out of nowhere: sick leave absence in the French private sector has been rising for several years. According to the 2026 WTW barometer, based on data from 3,100 companies employing a combined total of more than 427,000 employees, the absence rate in the private sector rose from 4.87% in 2024 to 4.95% in 2025 – the second consecutive year of increase. An employee absent at least once was off work for an average of 38 days. Employees absent for more than 90 days (4% of staff) account for 61% of all absence days.
Rising absence and long-term incapacity are not a uniquely French issue. In other European countries too, preventing long-term sick leave and supporting the return to work rank high on the agenda, because a late or failed return to work can lead to long-term exclusion from the labour market for employees and to structurally higher spending for social security systems. Policymakers generally look for a balance between early intervention in the workplace, good medical and occupational guidance, and financial incentives for employers and employees to reduce absence without people who are genuinely ill falling through the cracks.
Source: Negotiation on sick leave: what the government is asking of the social partners, 13 October 2026
Additional research: Economie Matin, “L’absentéisme atteint 4,95% dans le privé en 2025” (based on the 2026 WTW barometer)
