What are the rights of the employee whose employment contract is suspended?
Verified 31 July 2023 - Legal and Administrative Information Directorate (Prime Minister)
What can you do during the temporary termination of your employment contract (due to sickness, maternity or adoption leave, for example)? You may be entitled to certain rights during the suspension of your contract and you may be compensated in certain situations. We present your rights.
The suspension of the employment contract means that your contract shall cease in any temporary, without causing your contract to be permanently terminated.
During this suspension, you do not work and you do not receive any salary from your employer.
The suspension may be attributable to you (e.g. due to sickness, maternity/paternity/adoption leave, company creation leave) or taken by your employer (e.g. due to layoff, temporary company closure, partial employment).
You are not paid during the period of suspension of your employment contract.
However, you can receive compensation in the following situations:
- Partial unemployment
- Disease (social security benefits or supplementary benefits paid by the employer)
- Maternity Leave
- Paternity and childcare leave
- Adoption leave
- Educational parental leave
- Leave related to Time Savings Account (TSA)
Depending on certain situations, you may be able to take part in training.
This is particularly the case during a sick leave or a short-time work.
The period of suspension shall be taken into account for the calculation of paid leave during:
- One training leave
- One maternity leave
- One paternity and childcare leave
- One adoption leave
- Leave related to the Time Savings Account (TSA)
- A leave of absence for family events
- A work stoppage following a accident at work path or occupational disease
When you return to the company, you must return to your job or a similar job with a salary at least equivalent to your previous job.
Yes, during the period of suspension of your employment contract, you can resign.
The obligation to carry out a notice varies according to your situation.
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General case
You must give advance notice unless your employer exempts you.
Pregnant female employee
You do not have to give notice if your resignation occurs during your pregnancy.
Resignation to raise a child
You do not have to give notice if your resignation occurs for raising your child.
Creating a company
You do not have to give notice at the end of a leave for company creation.
- Labor Code: Articles L1226-7 to L1226-9-1Suspension of contract and protection against breach
- Labor Code: Article L1225-34Resignation during pregnancy
- Labor Code: Articles L3142-117 and L3142-118Conditions, duration, employee's request, employer's response, employee's situation, at the end of the leave or part-time (scope of collective bargaining)