Each employee acquires 2.5 working days days of paid leave for each month of actual work done in the company. The total duration of the leave may not exceed 30 working days per year. If the number of days of paid leave is not is not a whole number, it is rounded up to the higher number. For example: an employee having worked 3 months during the year will have 8 days of paid leave (3 x 2.5 = 7.5).
During the paid leave period, the employer must pay the employee a leave indemnity. This indemnity can be calculated according to two different methods: 1)” Maintenance” method - the salary maintenance method: the indemnity is equal to the amount of remuneration that would have been received during the period of leave if the employee had continued to work; 2) The “1/10 method”: the indemnity is equal to one tenth of the total gross remuneration received by the employee during the reference period. The employer must compare these two methods of calculation and choose the most advantageous amount for the employee.
The organization of paid leave is the responsibility of the employer's power of direction. The employer has the possibility of imposing paid vacations to the employee. The employee must necessarily take his/her days off during a specific day of leave during a specific period, normally the country’s normal holiday season. In principle, this period is fixed by a company agreement or, by a default collective bargain agreement. The legal period adjusting the vacation balances in France is between May 1 to October 31.
Short anwswer is yes. In the absence of a collective agreement or convention it is the employer who defines the dates of the paid leave. The employee is not free to determine the dates of his or her leave. The employee must make a request to the employer the employer. The latter may refuse. In this case, the paid leave must be taken on another date.
