Temporary worker sick leave in France: rights, IJSS and 2026 rules

On sick leave as a temporary (intérim) worker, the IJSS social security allowances are paid from the 4th day, after a 3-day waiting period. Send parts 1 and 2 to the CPAM and part 3 to your agency (ETT) within 48 hours. The contract is suspended, not terminated. Maximum: 42.97 euros gross per day since 1 July 2026.

Falling ill during a temporary assignment raises a set of practical questions that most workers cannot answer without guidance: who do you notify, who calculates the benefit, and what happens to the contract if the mission was due to end in a fortnight?

The triangular structure of temporary work complicates every step. The temporary employment agency (ETT, for entreprise de travail temporaire) is the legal employer, but the worker was performing duties at the client company's site. The French health insurance fund (CPAM) is a third actor that pays the daily allowances without direct knowledge of the mission structure. This is where delays, missed deadlines, and lost income arise.

When a temporary worker goes on sick leave, they are entitled to IJSS daily allowances (indemnités journalières de la Sécurité sociale) from the 4th day of absence for a non-occupational illness, after a 3-day waiting period. The ETT remains the legal employer and must receive part 3 of the sick note within 48 hours, while parts 1 and 2 go to the CPAM. The contract is suspended, not terminated, and the ETT cannot end it solely because of illness. Since the April 2025 reform, the salary base for calculating IJSS is capped at 1.4 times the monthly minimum wage (SMIC), 2,613.83 euros gross since 1 July 2026, giving a maximum daily benefit of 42.97 euros gross.

The temporary work arrangement involves three parties with clearly defined responsibilities. Confusing their roles is the most common source of administrative error.

This structure is set out in articles L1251-1 et seq. of the French Labour Code. In practice, many temporary workers send their sick note only to the client company and forget the agency. The result: the salary certificate is not produced on time, and the CPAM cannot process payment for weeks.

Our reading: the bottleneck is almost never the IJSS calculation itself, which is mechanical once the salary data is filed. The bottleneck is the documentation circuit. The salary certificate that the ETT must send to the CPAM through the DSN arrives late whenever the worker sent their paperwork only to the client company, or the agency has no written process for this type of absence.

Eligibility conditions are the same as for any employee in the French system. They are based on hours worked or the level of contributions paid in the months before the sick leave begins.

For absences up to 6 months#

To receive IJSS during the first 6 months of sick leave, one of the following conditions must be met, and the two reference periods are not the same:

• at least 150 hours worked over the 3 calendar months (or 90 days) preceding the absence, or
• contributions paid on earnings equivalent to at least 1,015 times the hourly minimum wage over the 6 months preceding the absence.

This distinction is very often misreported: the hours test runs over 3 months, the contributions test over 6 months. For a temp worker with an irregular pattern of assignments, the second test is sometimes what saves the claim.

For absences beyond 6 months#

Beyond 6 months, the thresholds increase. The worker must have worked at least 600 hours or have contributed on earnings equivalent to 2,030 times the hourly minimum wage over the preceding 12 months, and must have been affiliated with the French social security system for at least 12 months.

For temporary workers moving between short assignments, the 150-hour threshold over 3 months is worth checking before assuming entitlement. A two-week mission immediately before an absence may not be sufficient if the preceding months were inactive.

This is the most overlooked change since the April 2025 reform, introduced by decree no. 2025-160 of 20 February 2025 (published 21 February 2025). The salary cap for IJSS calculation was reduced from 1.8 times the monthly SMIC to 1.4 times the monthly SMIC, for allowances paid in respect of sick leave starting on or after 1 April 2025. Any worker earning more than 2,552.24 euros gross per month (sick notes from February to June 2026), or 2,613.83 euros gross since 1 July 2026, is directly affected.

Step-by-step calculation#

Where pay is settled monthly and work is continuous, the base daily salary (salaire journalier de base, SJB) is determined as follows:

1. Total the gross salaries for the 3 months preceding the absence (or the actual mission duration if shorter).
2. Divide by 91.25 to obtain the average daily salary.
3. Cap that figure using the 1.4 SMIC ceiling: 2,552.24 euros gross/month for sick notes issued from February to June 2026, 2,613.83 euros gross/month since 1 July 2026.
4. Apply 50% for non-occupational illness, the allowances running from the 4th day.

Non-continuous work: the 1/365 rule over twelve months#

This is the rule that general articles overlook, although it targets precisely the temp worker moving between assignments separated by periods without a contract. Article R323-4 of the Social Security Code provides, in its point 3, that where work is not continuous or is seasonal in nature, the prior earnings used as the basis for the allowances equal 1/365 of the earnings of the twelve calendar months preceding the date the work was interrupted, not 1/91.25 of the last three months.

Two regimes therefore coexist, and the worker does not get to choose:

The question to ask before any calculation is therefore not only "what did I earn over the last three months?" but "was my activity continuous over the period?". The two methods give very different results when the year contains gaps, in both directions: three full months following six inactive months produce a high SJB on 91.25 and a much lower one on 365.

Work accidents and occupational illness: a separate calculation#

Allowances for a work accident or an occupational illness do not follow that mechanism. The basis is the salary of the month preceding the absence divided by 30.42, and the allowance runs from the day after the accident, the day of the accident itself being paid in full by the employer. The rate is 60% for the first 28 days, then 80% from day 29, with no waiting period.

The monthly social security ceiling (PMSS) for 2026 is 4,005 euros (annual PASS: 48,060 euros), set by the ministerial order of 22 December 2025. This ceiling governs many social contribution calculations but no longer directly caps the IJSS daily base salary since the 2025 reform.

Two worked examples#

Profile A, temp worker earning 2,800 euros gross/month

Total gross over 3 months: 8,400 euros. Theoretical SJB: 8,400 / 91.25 = 92.05 euros/day. Capped salary base: (2,552.24 x 3) / 91.25 = 83.91 euros/day. IJSS at 50%: 83.91 x 50% = 41.95 euros gross/day. For a sick note issued since 1 July 2026, the same calculation with the 2,613.83 euro cap gives an SJB of 85.93 euros and 42.97 euros gross/day.

Profile B, temp worker earning 2,200 euros gross/month

Total gross over 3 months: 6,600 euros. SJB: 6,600 / 91.25 = 72.33 euros/day. This figure sits below the cap, so no reduction applies. IJSS at 50%: 72.33 x 50% = 36.16 euros gross/day.

The reform affects only workers above the 1.4 SMIC cap. For a skilled technician on 3,000 euros gross/month, the allowance would have reached 3,000 x 3 / 91.25 x 50% = 49.32 euros/day under the previous rules, that salary staying below the old 1.8 SMIC ceiling. The real gap is therefore 7.37 euros per day for a sick note issued from February to June 2026 (49.32 less 41.95) and 6.35 euros per day since 1 July 2026 (49.32 less 42.97).

2026 IJSS sickness benefit: amounts, waiting period and rates in force#

These figures reflect the 1 June 2026 SMIC increase: since 1 July 2026, the 1.4 SMIC cap and the daily maximum have both been raised.

Sources: Ameli, Service-public.gouv.fr, LégiSocial (1 July 2026 uprating).

Respecting the sequence and the deadlines is what determines whether the allowances are paid on time.

1. Consult a doctor, who issues a three-part sick note.
2. Send parts 1 and 2 to the CPAM within 48 hours (via the Ameli online account or by recorded-delivery post). Their receipt by the CPAM triggers the IJSS entitlement.
3. Send part 3 to the ETT within the same 48-hour window. Where the doctor files the sick note electronically, only this part 3 remains to be sent. The agency must then produce the salary certificate for the CPAM through an event DSN sick-leave signal. Where there is no subrogation, that signal must be filed within 5 days of the employer learning of the absence: without it, the fund holds no salary data and the allowance cannot be settled.
4. Notify the client company by email or phone so it can reorganise cover. This step has no formal legal weight, but it prevents misunderstandings about availability.
5. For each extension, repeat the same circuit: parts 1 and 2 to the CPAM, part 3 to the ETT.

Missing the 48-hour deadline does not trigger an automatic reduction, contrary to a widespread belief. On a first late filing, the fund sends a letter noting the delay and the penalty that a repeat would carry. The 50% reduction applies only on a further late filing within 24 months, and only to the allowances covering the period between the date the sick note was issued and the date it was sent. It is set aside in case of hospitalisation or justified impossibility. The Ameli online declaration is the fastest option and creates an auditable record.

A common misconception: a mission ending on its contractual date is not an early termination. The contract was fulfilled in full. Early termination by the worker, serious misconduct and force majeure are what put the end-of-mission indemnity at risk, never the sick leave itself.

Sick leave and the end of the assignment: what changes and when#

The same questions come back every time a sick note overlaps the end date of an assignment. The answers do not depend on how long the absence lasts, but on where it sits in relation to the contractual end date.

One point is worth anticipating: the 10% base is the gross remuneration due. Days of absence that the agency does not pay do not feed it. A long absence at the end of an assignment therefore reduces the precarity indemnity, without ever removing it.

The end-of-mission indemnity#

Known in French as the indemnité de précarité, this payment represents at least 10% of the total gross remuneration due to the worker during the mission (Labour Code, article L1251-32). It is payable at the end of every temporary mission, except in the cases set out by law: contracts concluded under point 3 of article L1251-6 (seasonal work and sectors of usage), wage portage, early termination at the worker's initiative, serious misconduct, force majeure, and immediate hiring on a permanent contract by the client company.

Sick leave does not remove the entitlement once the mission reaches its initial term. However, since the base is the gross remuneration due, days of absence that the agency does not pay do not feed it: the longer the absence, the smaller the final indemnity. It is a point rarely explained, and a decisive one on a long assignment interrupted by sick leave.

All of this belongs to the temporary work framework, in which the agency remains the legal employer of the worker it places with the client. A company that puts one of its own employees at the disposal of another business is on different ground, with its own validity conditions and its own penalties: see lending staff between companies.

Beyond the IJSS, some temporary workers can claim a supplementary payment from the ETT under their applicable collective agreement (convention collective). This top-up depends on the specific agreement covering the agency and on seniority conditions that workers frequently do not know exist.

The national collective agreement for the temporary employment sector includes provisions on incapacity for work. The exact conditions (seniority thresholds, salary maintenance rates) vary and must be checked in the agreement text applicable to the specific ETT.

Key questions to ask your agency:

• Which collective agreement applies? (shown on the payslip)
• Is there a group insurance (prévoyance) policy? Some agencies have cover that supplements the IJSS.
• How is seniority calculated, continuously or by cumulating successive missions?

Where no top-up exists, the worker receives only the IJSS. The level of coverage can vary considerably from one agency to another.

A temp-work specificity to know: article L1226-1 of the Labour Code (the statutory salary maintenance from the "mensualisation" law) expressly excludes temporary workers, alongside seasonal, intermittent and home-based workers. The "90% then 66.66%" scale of article D1226-1 therefore does not apply to a temp worker: any top-up comes from the temporary-work sector agreements or a group insurance (prévoyance) policy, not from statutory maintenance. Check this case by case in the agency's collective agreement and insurance cover.

The ETT cannot terminate the contract on the sole ground of the absence while it is suspended for sick leave. For a mission contract, article L1251-26 of the Labour Code opens only two doors:

• the worker's serious misconduct, unrelated to the health condition;
• force majeure.

Outside those two cases, an agency that terminates before the contractual term must offer a new mission contract taking effect within a maximum of three working days; failing that, it owes the worker the pay they would have received until the scheduled term, plus the end-of-mission indemnity. Article L1251-27 further states that termination of the supply contract, in other words the client cancelling the assignment, is not force majeure: a client who no longer wants the worker does not release the agency from its obligations.

The reasoning differs for a CDI intérimaire, which is a permanent contract: its termination follows dismissal law, where a reason unrelated to the illness may be invoked. Transposing that regime onto a mission contract is the most common error on this subject. If an ETT ends an assignment solely because of the absence, the worker may challenge this before the employment tribunal (conseil de prud'hommes).

• Parts 1 and 2 of the sick note to the CPAM within 48 hours
• Part 3 to the ETT within 48 hours
• Extension certificate (same circuit) for each renewal
• Return-to-work certificate to both the ETT and the client company before resuming
• Salary certificate: filed by the ETT through the DSN sick-leave signal, within 5 days of the agency learning of the absence where there is no subrogation (follow up if the deadline passes)

The failure pattern is always the same, and it is administrative rather than legal. The worker sends the sick note only to the client company. The client passes it internally without alerting the ETT within the deadline. The ETT does not file its DSN sick-leave signal within 5 days. The fund, holding no salary data, cannot settle the allowance. The worker waits, and nothing in the circuit flags the problem until they chase the agency themselves.

The second point to check involves collective agreement top-ups. Seniority conditions can be applied restrictively, excluding periods of successive short missions from the count. The method is to take the text of the collective agreement applicable to the agency, check how it defines seniority, then compare that definition with the full record of assignments worked.

For user companies employing significant numbers of temporary workers, our social and payroll service can cover an audit of absence management processes and the design of a documented procedure. Our articles on payroll outsourcing and therapeutic part-time work address similar process challenges.

Up to date as of 2026-07-17. This article is for information purposes and does not replace personalised professional advice. For your specific situation, consult a registered expert-comptable or employment law specialist.