Obligations, procedures, benefits... Everything you need to know about managing early leave

Contrary to popular belief, managing leave in advance is not necessarily synonymous with disorganization for an employer.

Encompassed by the Labour Law known as El Khomri since 2017, they are mainly known for offering new employees greater flexibility in taking leave following their arrival at the company.

We tell you more! 👇

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Early leave: what is it and how does it work?

The principle of early leave has always more or less existed within companies. But it was the Labour Law enacted in January 2017 that really defined its contours.

Early leave: definition

Advance leave corresponds to paid leave taken by an employee before the end of the vesting period, generally set at the date of May 31 each year.

In other words, early leave enables a new employee to take paid leave as soon as he or she joins the company, as and when he or she acquires days of leave (2.5 working days per month).

The Labour Law: rules to be respected

The Labor law - also known as the El Khomri law - has largely contributed to democratizing early leave.

• Prior to its enactment on January ¹, 2017, a new employee in a company could find themselves in an unenviable situation, where they were obliged to wait a long time before taking their first leave, usually an entire reference year. ⏲️

👉 For example, if your contract started on June 1, you had to wait a whole year before you were entitled to your first days of leave, as the end of the acquisition period was often set at May 31.

Since the implementation of the French Labor Law, all employees have been able to take early leave in the first year of employment. However, they must have a sufficient balance of accumulated leave days.

If this is not the case, then he or she must take what is known as unpaid leave (a period during which you are not paid) 💸.

💡 Good to know: the terms and conditions governing early leave may vary from one company to another , depending on the collective agreements in force.

The rules governing the taking of paid leave in advance do not differ from those for a traditional request. In other words, you must :

• obtain the employer's agreement;

• comply with the time limits and practices in force at the company (for example, a request made via an internal software program 2 months before the actual holiday is taken).

To avoid any confusion, it is strongly recommended that you keep an up-to-date diary of your paid leave requests and acceptances, which constitutes a written record.

💡 Good to know: the entry into force of the Labor Law also gives employers the right to impose paid leave on their employees in the event of a temporary closure or any other exceptional circumstance.

Employer obligations

When it comes to paid leave, employers are obliged to comply with certain rules. They must :

• notify all employees of the vacation period at least 2 months before the start of the period (from May ¹ to October 31 in most cases, but this can be extended according to company agreements);

• communicate the order in which leave will be taken (priority according to family situation, seniority, etc.) at least 1 month in advance.

It should be noted that the leave-taking period and the order of departure can be established in two different ways:

• by the collective bargaining agreement or by a company agreement;

• by the employer directly, after consulting the Social and Economic Committee (CSE), in the absence of a collective agreement or company-wide agreement.

Advantages and disadvantages for the employer

From the employer's point of view, employees taking early leave has a number of advantages. These include

• making the company more attractive to new employees ;

• smoother management of the vacation schedule (employees can take vacation more regularly, thus avoiding bottlenecks when all employees want to take vacation at the same time);

• greater adaptability in the event of imposed vacations.

However, for a company that is poorly equipped or organized, the democratization of early leave can generate difficulties in keeping track of employees' days off.

How to simplify the management of early vacations?

In addition to communicating the company's position on the subject and regularly reminding employees of their entitlement to early leave, employers need to find a reliable and practical system for managing their employees' vacation schedules.

In this case, it's advisable to opt for specialized software in view of the limitations of the constraints imposed by a simple spreadsheet 💻.

Deploying the right IT solution can deliver a number of benefits:

• time-saving for HR teams ;
• employee empowerment;
• accessibility at any time (an employee can apply for early leave outside working hours, or while traveling on business);
• centralization of documents and information on a single platform;
• real-time monitoring of each employee's leave;
• elimination of human error in leave processing;
• access to request history to avoid conflicts and misunderstandings;
• greater transparency for employees and employers alike, etc.

In other words, using leave processing software is a real plus for a company. It helps to streamline the processing of requests, and offers greater visibility in the monitoring of leave for all employees.

⚒️ My Silae, a leave and absence management solution directly integrated with payroll, enables you to process all types of leave requests from a single platform, automating the entire process. Employees make their requests directly from the software, managers validate them, and all data is then transmitted to payroll. What better way to save time and minimize the risk of error?

FAQ: everything you need to know about early leave

Do you have questions about early leave and would like to know more? The following FAQ is here to help! 👇

Is it possible to take paid leave in the first year?

It's perfectly possible to take paid leave in your first year with the company. In fact, that's the whole point of taking paid leave in advance!

However, to take paid leave, you need to have a sufficient balance. For example, if your contract starts on June ¹, you'll have 2.5 working days to take from July ¹.

If your balance is zero or insufficient, you must apply for unpaid leave.

Can requests for early leave be refused?

Advance leave is an employee's right. As such, the employer is entitled to refuse them. However, any such refusal must be justified to the employee concerned. It is essential to specify that the criterion of anticipation is not recognized as a valid reason for refusal.

Criteria which may justify non-acceptance of requests for early leave include a busy period (tourist season, for example), the need to ensure continuity of service or, more simply, compliance with the order of departures ✈️.

Can an employee request that leave be carried over from one year to the next?

If the employee is not subject to annualized working hours (the general case), it is possible to carry over leave from one year to the next. However, acceptance is subject to the employer's decision, unless otherwise agreed.

If the employee's request for deferral is refused, the days of leave are not lost. They may be paid for by the employer, depending on the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement.

The situation is somewhat different for employees with annualized working hours. Only a change in the length of working hours can lead to the acceptance of a deferral of paid vacations until December 31, if not October 31.

Note that this postponement must be provided for in the company's collective bargaining agreement 📖.

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Advance leave: what you need to know

In short, the democratization of early leave contributes to satisfying both employees and employers. Based on a more flexible model, companies gain greater fluidity in managing employee absences.

But to ensure optimal organization, the deployment of leave management software remains the essential solution!