Local Public Holidays and the 5th Week of Leave: Allowed to Accumulate

Imagine: you are employed in a garment factory in Chalon-sur-Saône. Your collective agreement already grants you two additional days of leave for seniority, and by company agreement, you benefit from Easter Monday as a paid day off. In 1982, a national agreement introduced a fifth week of paid leave. Your employer then announces that, to compensate, he is abolishing the payment for Easter Monday. Is this legal?

This question has been asked by thousands of employees and employers. The answer came from the Court of Cassation in a judgment of 19 November 1987. The judges ruled: local public holidays (such as those of Saint-Martin in Paray-le-Monial) remain due, even if you now benefit from five weeks of leave. Why? Because a public holiday is not additional paid leave. Simple? Not so much.

In this article, I decipher this decision and its consequences for employees and employers, particularly in the region of Chalon-sur-Saône. You will see how the Court distinguished between the different types of days off, and what this means concretely for your pay.

The Facts: A Story Like Many Others

Mr. X, an employee of a clothing company in Paray-le-Monial, had for years benefited from local public holidays as paid days off, in accordance with a local custom. In 1982, the clothing industry signed a national agreement introducing a fifth week of paid leave. Mr. X's employer then considered that this new week "absorbed" the local public holidays: he stopped paying for them.

Mr. X brought the matter before the employment tribunal. He argued that local public holidays are not paid leave, but distinct rights. The employer retorted that the 1982 agreement stipulates that "the new right to a fifth week of paid leave does not accumulate with rights to additional paid leave days already existing". For him, local public holidays are indeed "additional leave".

The employment tribunal ruled in favour of Mr. X. The employer appealed. The Douai Court of Appeal upheld the judgment in 1986. The case went up to the Court of Cassation, which dismissed the employer's appeal in 1987. The employee won: local public holidays remain due, in addition to the five weeks.

The Reasoning of the Court — Analysed

The Court of Cassation examined the national agreement of 7 April 1982. It looked at its key article, which provides for the non-accumulation of the fifth week with "rights to additional paid leave days already existing". But what is an "additional paid leave day"?

The Court answered: a public holiday taken off is not paid leave. Paid leave is a period of paid rest freely chosen by the employee, whereas a public holiday is a day off imposed by law, agreement or custom. The legal nature is different. Consequently, the 1982 agreement does not cover public holidays.

The judges specified that the agreement distinguishes three categories of additional rights:

• Those arising from local customs or company agreements: they do NOT accumulate with the 5th week.
• Those arising from the collective agreement, its annexes or riders: they are MAINTAINED.
• Local public holidays: they are NOT paid leave, so the agreement does not concern them.

In this case, the disputed public holidays were granted by local custom. But the Court excluded them from the scope of the agreement by classifying them as non-paid leave. This is a strict but logical interpretation: two distinct legal concepts cannot be equated.

This judgment is a confirmation of previous case law: public holidays are autonomous rights. There is no reversal, but a welcome clarification.

What This Changes for You — Concretely

For employees: if you work in a company where local public holidays are taken off and paid (for example, Easter Monday in Chalon-sur-Saône, or Saint-Martin in Paray-le-Monial), your employer cannot abolish them on the pretext of granting you a 5th week of leave. On the other hand, if you benefit from additional leave days (for example, 2 days for seniority), these may be absorbed by the 5th week, unless they are provided for by the collective agreement.

For employers: be careful not to confuse public holidays and paid leave. If your company is located in an area where local customs exist (such as in the region of Chalon-sur-Saône), you must respect them. An employee who loses a public holiday could claim back pay for 3 years (limitation period for wages). For example, if a local public holiday is worth €100, the back pay over 3 years could reach €3,600 for 12 days.

For property professionals: you are not directly concerned, but your employer or employee clients may approach you. Knowing this case law allows you to refer them to a specialist lawyer.

Four Tips to Avoid This Type of Dispute

• Check local customs: inquire with the town hall or chamber of commerce to find out which local public holidays are in force in your municipality (Chalon-sur-Saône, Paray-le-Monial, etc.).
• Consult your collective agreement: it may provide for additional leave days which, on the other hand, can be absorbed by the 5th week. Do not confuse them with public holidays.
• Draft a clear company agreement: if you wish to modify leave entitlements, clearly specify what is paid leave and what is a public holiday. Avoid ambiguous wording.
• Keep a written record: retain payslips and collective agreements. In the event of a dispute, you will be able to prove the existence of local public holidays.

Further Reading: Related Case Law and Developments

Before this judgment, the Court of Cassation had already ruled on the accumulation of paid leave with other rights. For example, in a judgment of 12 June 1986 (No. 84-41.234), it held that additional leave days granted by local custom could not be accumulated with the 5th week. The 1987 decision confirms this logic, but excludes public holidays from the scope of the agreement.

Since then, case law has not evolved on this point. The distinction between public holidays and paid leave is well established. However, the question of "bridge days" (days off between a public holiday and the weekend) sometimes remains contentious. Courts generally treat them as public holidays if provided for by custom or agreement.

For the future, legislative developments on paid leave (such as the 2016 Labour Law) have not called this case law into question. Local public holidays therefore remain protected.

Checklist Before Taking Action

If you are an employee and your employer abolishes a local public holiday:

1. Check the existence of the local custom with your town hall or trade union.
2. Consult your collective agreement to see if it mentions this public holiday.
3. Gather your payslips for the last 3 years to calculate the loss.
4. Send a recorded delivery letter to your employer asking for the reinstatement of the public holiday and back pay.
5. If refused, bring the matter before the employment tribunal. You have 3 years to act.

If you are an employer:

1. List the local public holidays applicable in your geographical area (Chalon-sur-Saône, Paray-le-Monial...).
2. Check that your company agreement or collective agreement does not implicitly abolish them.
3. If in doubt, seek legal advice before modifying your employees' rights.

Are you in a similar situation? A first 30-minute consultation with Maître Zakine (€45) can save you months of proceedings — and often much more. Book an appointment →