Paid vacations

Definition of paid vacations: it is a leave during which one is paid by the employer.

Appeared in France the June 20th 1936 and in Belgium as of the July 8th according to, the paid vacations are a major social innovation whose certain first steps had appeared in collective agreements in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. This social conquest, related to the advent of the Popular front in France, was constantly fought by the Patronat. At the beginning of the 21e century, it is still relatively not very widespread in the world.

Intended to improve the living conditions of the Working class and to give access of the popular masses the Culture, with the Tourism, the Sports and in a general way to the Leisures, paid vacations involved the sudden development of a whole economic sector: the Tourism of mass.

History

In France

The idea of paid holidays was born in the years 1920. In France, there exist examples of initiatives at that time. The experiment initiated within the newspaper “information”, (daily economic policy and Parisian financier) proves it: its chief technical officer, J.J. Durand, trade unionist of long time, obtained administration of the newspaper, since 1922, the granting of holidays paid to the personnel, showing that the solution was advantageous for everyone. Leon Blum then wrote articles for “Information” and discovered this initiative which interested it highly. It was undoubtedly one of the germs of this Cultural revolution which was the creation of paid vacations.

The victory of the Popular front to the legislative elections of the May 3rd 1936 caused a dash of hope in the workers. Indicator that their claims could be listened, they launched a strike movement and of occupation of factories through all France, implying nearly 2 million workers. These strikes, paralyzing all the country, involved opening of negotiations with the Patronat under the supervision of the new government. They led first of all to the Accords of Matignon, then with the creation of paid vacations.

Fixed at twelve days in the beginning, obligatory paid vacations minimum did not cease lengthening by the trade-union action : from two weeks in 1936, they pass to 3 in 1956, then to 4 in 1969 and finally at 5 weeks in 1982.

In the world

On a world level paid vacations profit with a growing number of people since, according to the International organization of work (ILO), one counted 3,5 billion recipients at the end of the years 1980 and 4 billion at the end of the second millenium.

In China, paid vacations are recent: the Communist government granted one week of holidays in 1999; today, the Chinese have three weeks of paid vacations per annum. However, 76% of the peasant-workmen working in the factories and the building sites do not benefit from these paid vacations. The Tourism and consumption strongly increased in the country: in 2003, one estimates that more than 100 million Chinese traversed and visited their country.

Social consequences

The generalization of paid vacations in many industrialized countries strongly contributed to the rise of what one calls the tourism of mass .

The existence of paid vacations also gradually engaged series of measure social or private initiatives aiming at supporting them:

generalization of the annual reductions on the railroads;
creation of a ministry for Tourism;
creation of popular cultural organizations;
promotion of the summer camps by the companies;
development of the sea bathings.

Opening of the right to the vacation

In France, only the employees profit from the right to paid vacations. The self-employed persons and the independent professions are not covered.

For all the recipients, the right to paid vacations is proportional to the working time carried out during the year under review. For the majority of the employees, this year is the period ranging between on June 1st of the previous year and on May 31st of the current year.

Example: For the vacation 2006, the year under review lies between on June 1st, 2005 and on May 31st, 2006.

For others paid (those which profit from a case of paid vacations, EDF, etc), the year under review court from April 1st to March 31st.

NB: Until now, the right to paid vacations existed only if one paid had carried out at least a month of work for the base period. Because of the decision of the European Court of justice on June 26th 2001 and of the Court of Appeal of Paris, this condition is not necessary any more.

The right to the leave is given according to the accomplished manpower workdays. Thus an employee, even present since more than one year, can have less than the five legal weeks.

Generally, the periods of suspension of the work contract are not comparable to effective work (sick leave, absence for personal suitability, parental leave of education, sabbatical leave, leave for creation of company, etc).

However, the law (inter alia, it) provide that certain absences are regarded as effective working time for the calculation of the duration of the acquired vacation:

vacation for maternity (the leave paternity and the leave of adoption are not quoted by the texts but seem to have to be comparable with the leave for maternity);
vacation for family events (birth, marriage, death, etc);
vacation of professional training;
absences for industrial accident and occupational disease, within the one year limit;
periods of maintenance or recall to the colors and day of call of preparation with defense.

The collective agreements or the company agreements can also lay down more favorable provisions which compare working times noneffective to effective working time. It is often the case of the stops diseases compensated by the company, for example.

Duration of the leave

Au préalable, it is important to define 2 concepts:

business days: they are the travaillables days in the company, generally of the Monday to Saturday.
working days: they are the real days of opening of the company, generally of the Monday to Friday.

Legal duration of the annual leave in France east five weeks. The practice wants that each employee profits from 5 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc It is advised with the employers to take care that each employee does not see himself deducting more than 5 times the business day not worked (generally saturdays).

In the system of calculation known as " ouvrables" days; , the days off are acquired at a rate of 2,5 business days per month of effective work within the 30 days limit. The concept of month of effective work corresponds to 4 working weeks effective. (An employee having worked 48 weeks out of the 52 one year will thus profit from its 5 weeks of paid vacations). The number of days off calculated must always be round with the higher unit.

In the system of the " calculation; ouvrés" days; , each employee acquires 2,08 days off per month of effective work within the 25 days limit. The only obligation for this type of calculation is that it is not more unfavourable to the employees than the system of the " ouvrables" days;.

The company functions according to one of these two methods and the bracket with all the employees.

The starting date of leave of an employee begins at the first day when it would have had and did not work and finishes themselves the day before the day of recovery.

Example of calculation:

The employee goes away one week:

in business days: 6 days of paid vacations are deducted to him;
in working days: 5 days of paid vacations are deducted to him.

The part-time employees profit from the same rights to leave as the full-time employees and the calculation is done according to the same methods (5 weeks Principle of vacation and not 30 business days).

Example: The employee works 4 days per week and goes away one week:

in business days: 6 days of paid vacations are deducted to him;
in working days: 5 days of paid vacations are deducted to him.

The employee not having exhausted his balance of days of paid vacations loses of it the benefit beyond the year under review according to that justifying the acquired rights: any leave not taken at the conclusion of this year is lost. Exceptions exist and concern:

the employee not having had the possibility of exhausting its right to leave because of its employer or for maternity leave (see European jurisprudence);
personnel originating in departments or foreign country or overseas territories, for which regroupings of period of vacation are possible to compensate for the distance.

Finally the employer with always the possibility of granting the carryforward of the balance of the days not taken. To note in this respect the pay slip making appear the carryforward is regarded as a tacit authorization of the employer (jurisprudence of the Court of appeal of the 3/30/1999, 97-41257).

Compensation for the leave

For the calculation of the compensation for paid vacations, one uses either the rule of the maintenance of the wages, or the rule of the tenth . From both, one retains most favorable to the employee.

In this last rule known as of the tenth, it is retained rising wages perceived during the period of acquisition of the vacation. Only the perceived sums remunerating of effective work are retained. The premiums of Christmas, of holidays, participation, etc are not taken into account. The annual elements of remuneration are also excluded (ex: 13th month). The amount obtained is then multiplied per 1/10 to obtain the compensation corresponding to the total number of acquired days.

Example: an employee perceives 1.400 euros rough per month and worked during all the base period. This last thus profits 30 days off.
Allowance = (1 400 X 12) X 1/10 = 1.680 => is 56 euros per business days of vacation (1 680/30 days)

The French labor regulation specifies that the employee taking of paid vacations must perceive a compensation at least equal so that it would have perceived if it had worked. It is what is called the rule of the maintenance of wages . The amount of what the employee should have perceived calculates by taking for reference the previous wages of the period the departure on leave. (In practice, the companies often appoint the month of the effective catch of leave).

It is necessary thus to make 2 calculations and to adopt the most advantageous method for the employee. The same method must be retained for the whole of the vacation relative to one period; to know which is most advantageous is generally possible only at the time of the balance of the vacation. For these reasons, it is usually practiced the method of the maintenance of wages then a regularization at the time of the balance.

Note: the method of the tenth is in theory more advantageous for the safe employee in the event of significant growth.

On the level of the pay slip, the absence for paid vacations is deduced from the wages, the allowance is added. To simplify the pay slips, it is admitted by the administration that the company does not reveal the reduction and the allowance when the rule of the maintenance is observed. This tolerance is not allowed that if it is mentioned application of the rule of the maintenance.

The pay slip must comprise the number of days of paid vacations taken by the employee and the number of days that it remains to him to take.

If an employee leaves the company before to have taken all his paid vacations (resignation, dismissal, etc), those are versed for him in the form of an allowance called compensation allowance for vacation not taken .

International laws

The number of obligatory paid vacations varies country to country. The collective agreements, negotiated between employers and wage earners associations, often guarantee a number of days of paid vacations superior at least legal.

Canada

The labor regulation recognizes that the employer must pour 4% of his wages to an employee for his holidays, that is to say the two weeks equivalent of paid vacations for each 50 worked weeks.

See too

Internal bonds

External bonds

On-line computer of legal calculation of the days off
paid vacations (Ina Tele Files)
complete Article on paid vacations site of the Ministry of Labor

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