The CCN 51, the national collective agreement for private hospitals, care, rehabilitation, and non-profit childcare (FEHAP), regulates the treatment of public holidays according to rules distinct from the Labor Code. Article 11.01 of this agreement sets the terms for recovery and compensation applicable to employees who work on a public holiday, with mechanisms that establishments must align with common law.
Distinction between non-working public holiday and working public holiday in CCN 51
Before discussing recovery, the agreement requires distinguishing between two situations. A non-working public holiday refers to a day when the employee does not work even though it falls on a typically worked day. In this case, the employee retains their pay without any specific seniority condition.
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A working public holiday pertains to employees who ensure the continuity of care. It is this second situation that triggers the right to recovery or compensation, according to the terms of Article 11.01.3 of the agreement.
The differences in treatment depending on whether the employee works during the day, at night, during the week, or on weekends directly affect the calculation of compensation. To better understand the disparities in recovery of public holidays CCN 51 according to these configurations, one must first master the compensatory rest mechanism provided by the agreement.
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Compensatory rest or indemnity: the mechanism of Article 11.01.3
Article 11.01.3 of CCN 51 stipulates that an employee who has worked on a public holiday is entitled to either a compensatory rest or an indemnity. The choice between these two options depends on the organization of the establishment and internal agreements.
Compensatory rest translates into the granting of an additional day off, to be taken within a period defined by the employer. This rest is added to annual leave and cannot be confused with a weekly day off.
The compensatory indemnity, when it replaces rest, corresponds to an increase in the pay for the day worked. The two options are not cumulative for the same public holiday.
The specific case of May 1st
May 1st follows a legal rule that takes precedence over the collective agreement. May 1st worked must be paid double, in accordance with the Labor Code. The CCN 51 cannot substitute a simple compensatory rest for this legal obligation. An establishment that would grant only a recovery day without the salary increase for May 1st would be in violation of common law.
Counting the eleven legal public holidays and impact on the annual schedule
France has eleven legal public holidays each year. Under CCN 51, each employee is entitled to benefit from these eleven days, whether they are non-working or worked with compensation.
A common pitfall concerns part-time employees. Their right to public holidays is proportional to their contractual working time, but the calculation of compensatory rest does not always follow the same logic. An employee working three days a week does not lose their rights on a public holiday falling on a day they are not scheduled: the agreement provides that a public holiday coinciding with a day off does not generate additional compensation.
For employees on fixed-term contracts, the counting is done pro-rata based on the duration of the contract. A six-month fixed-term contract covering a period that includes five public holidays entitles the employee to the same compensations as a permanent contract for those five days.
Coordination with paid leave
A public holiday falling during a paid leave period is not counted as a day of leave, provided it is usually non-working in the establishment. This rule, derived from the Labor Code, fully applies in CCN 51.
Since Law No. 2024-120 of February 19, 2024, FEHAP establishments must also consider the new rules on paid leave accrued during sick leave. A public holiday included in a leave postponed after illness must respect the enhanced guarantees imposed by compliance with European Union law.
Common errors by FEHAP establishments regarding the recovery of public holidays
Several common practices in establishments under CCN 51 pose problems in light of the conventional text.
- Forcing the taking of compensatory rest in the same week as the worked public holiday, without respecting a reasonable timeframe or consulting the employee on their preferences
- Confusing compensatory rest with weekly rest by scheduling the recovery day on a pre-planned day off, which effectively cancels the compensation
- Omitting the mandatory increase for May 1st by offering only a recovery day, while the law requires the doubling of pay
- Not applying the pro-rata to part-time employees or those on fixed-term contracts, mistakenly believing that only full-time employees benefit from recovery
These errors expose the establishment to salary recalls before the labor court. The Court of Cassation has already reminded that the conventional provisions on public holidays cannot derogate from the minimum legal guarantees in a manner unfavorable to the employee.
Establishments wishing to prioritize compensatory rest over indemnity must formalize this choice through a collective agreement, specifying the terms for taking the rest and the applicable deadlines. The digital Labor Code confirmed in 2024 that this option remains valid under CCN 51, provided that the compensatory terms are clearly defined and at least equivalent to the legal guarantees.
The management of public holidays in CCN 51 relies on a balance between collective agreement and common law. Article 11.01.3 offers real flexibility to establishments, but this flexibility does not exempt them from respecting the legal minimums, particularly for May 1st and the rules arising from the 2024 paid leave reform.