Employees covered by the Syntec collective bargaining agreement are entitled to paid vacations, which they can earn and take over different periods. The period in which these paid vacations are taken determines their entitlement to additional paid vacations, known as “split days”.
What are fractional days?
Employees with at least one year’s continuous service with the company are entitled to 25 days’ paid leave.
Employees who have not completed one year’s continuous service are entitled to a number of paid vacation days calculated on a pro rata basis, based on 25 working days per year.
The period taken into account to determine the presence of employees in the company and the acquisition of these days is laid down in the Syntec collective bargaining agreement, and runs from June 1 of the previous year to May 31 of the current year.
These paid vacations can be taken over a period starting on May 1 and up to a maximum of 13 months.
Employees are free to take their vacations during this period.
However, in order to encourage employees to take their paid vacations outside the legal period (which runs from May 1 to October 31), the Syntec collective bargaining agreement provides for additional days off for paid vacations taken outside the legal period, known as fractioning days.
What does the Syntec collective bargaining agreement cover?
The Syntec collective bargaining agreement provides for additional days off, known as fractional days, when paid leave has not been taken in the period between May 1 and October 31.
The first 4 weeks of paid vacation, known as “main leave”, can be taken outside this period, giving entitlement to additional leave.
Please note: the 5th week of paid leave taken outside the legal period does not give entitlement to split days.
Split days are therefore granted to employees according to the number of paid vacations taken outside the period from May 1 to October 31, as follows:
- when 5 working days of paid vacation have been taken outside this period, 2 additional working days of paid vacation are granted;
- when 3 or 4 working days of paid vacation are taken outside this period, 1 additional working day of paid vacation is granted.
How do you set up this system within your company?
The implementation of paid leave splitting must be the subject of a company agreement or an agreement between the employer and the employee concerned.
Caution: according to the French Supreme Court, entitlement to these additional days of leave arises solely from the fact of splitting, whether the employer or the employee has taken the initiative (Cass. soc., Oct. 10, 2018, no. 17-17.890; Cass. soc., Dec. 14, 2022, no. 19-23.843).
One exception:
The employee’s agreement is not required when paid leave is split up due to the company being closed.
Finally, it is still possible to adapt, or even abolish, the right to split leave by company or establishment agreement.
In the absence of a company agreement, the waiver of fractional leave must be the subject of an individual written agreement with the employee.
Naturally, Cabinet DESRUMAUX is available to help you with any questions you may have about your entitlement to paid leave and split days, and their implementation in your company.
