What are the rights of a local elected employee who continues to work?
Verified 20 January 2025 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
Employees who hold office as local elected representatives (municipal, departmental or regional) enjoy a number of rights and guarantees. The employee may be absent to carry out his or her duties. The employee has the right to a specific training leave as part of his or her mandate as a local elected representative. He also has an individual right to training as a local elected official at the end of his term. We present you with the information you need to know.
Any employee elected locally (municipal, departmental or regional) may cease temporarily his salary activity to exercise his mandate as an elected official.
At the beginning of his term of office as a local representative, the employee shall, at his request, be given an individual interview with his employer on the practical arrangements for exercising his mandate in relation to his employment.
The employer and the locally elected employee may agree on the measures to be implemented to facilitate the reconciliation of working life and elected office.
Please note
This interview does not replace professional maintenance.
The period of absence shall be treated as a period of actual work.
This absence time is taken into account for the calculation of the employee's seniority and paid leave entitlements.
The local elected employee has a absence credit.
The period of absence may not exceed half the legal duration of work for a calendar year.
No modification of the duration and working hours provided for in the contract of employment may be made because of the absences which have occurred.
The employer is not obliged to pay for the employee's absence.
An employee who is absent because of the exercise of his elected office may not be dismissed or dismissed or disciplined.
Every employee who is a municipal, departmental or regional councilor has the right to receive training leave adapted to his or her duties as an elected official in the exercise of his or her mandate.
The training is provided by an organization approved by the Ministry of the Interior.
The training must be organized during the first year of mandate.
Request for training leave
The local elected employee must request the leave from his employer by registered letter with notice of receipt (LRAR).
This letter should specify the following:
- Date and duration of the planned absence
- Organization responsible for training
The letter must reach the employer at least 30 days before taking the training leave.
The employer shall acknowledge receipt of this request.
Employer's response to request for training leave
In the absence of response of the employer in the 15 days prior to the start of training, leave shall be considered as granted.
The employer may, however, refuse leave if it considers that the presence of the employee in the company is indispensable during the period of the leave desired.
In the event of refusal of leave, the employer must inform the employee of the reasons for his decision.
In this case, the employee will be able to benefit from the leave in case of a new request 4 months after the refusal.
Remuneration during training leave
The local authority covers training, travel and subsistence expenses.
The community compensates for the loss of income during the leave.
The local elected employee must justify to his community, by any means, that he has suffered a reduction in his income as a result of the exercise of his right to training.
Length of training leave
The maximum duration of the training leave is 18 days for the duration of the term, regardless of the number of terms held by the elected official.
The leave shall be renewable in the event of re-election.
Every elected member of a municipal, departmental or regional council has an individual right to training.
The training taken may be unrelated to the exercise of the mandate.
In particular, they enable local elected employees to acquire new skills for his return to the company at the end of his term.
An employee elected locally shall enjoy the individual right to training throughout his term of office.
Where the locally elected employee exercises several terms of office giving individual rights to training, his rights shall be calculated taking into account the term to which he has been elected or re-elected which he has been holding for the longest period.
Amount of individual training entitlement
Every elected member of a municipal, departmental or regional council shall enjoy an individual right to the formation of an amount of €400 per year of mandate.
Financing of the individual right to training
The individual right to training is financed by a compulsory contribution levied on the official allowances received by the members of the council (municipal, departmental or regional).
A national collecting agency collects the levy.
The contribution rate for each elected official may not be less than 1%.
Duration of the individual right to training
The duration of the individual right to training depends on the type of training carried out.
Application to benefit from the individual right to training
The request for an individual right to training of the local elected employee may be made by post or by mail.
It must be accompanied by the copy of the training organization registration form.
The request must be sent to the manager of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations financing fund no later than 6 months following the end of the mandate.
Who shall I contact
Please note
travel and subsistence expenses are reimbursed.
Who can help me?
Find who can answer your questions in your region
Telephone administrative information - Allo Public Service
For more information on this topic, you can contact Allô Service Public.
Attention: the service does not have access to users' personal files and cannot therefore provide information on their status.
He does not respond questions relating to unemployment compensation and representations to France Labor (formerly Pôle emploi), the officials or contractual of the fpublic service, the amount or payment of contributions social, wage or management.
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The informants who answer you belong to the ministry responsible for labor.
- Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC)
Guarantees during the term of office of the employee (elected municipal)
Guarantees during the term of office of the employee (elected departmental)
Guarantees during the term of office of the employee (elected regional)
Guarantees at the end of the term of office of the employee (elected municipal)
Guarantees at the end of the employee's term of office (elected departmental)
Guarantees at the end of the employee's term of office (elected regional)
Training of municipal elected officials
Formation of departmental elected representatives
Training of regional elected representatives