Parenting

Absence permits for employees engaged in an adoption procedure

Publié le 09 janvier 2026 - Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Employees with an adoption plan now have the right to be absent, to attend the interviews necessary to obtain the approval required to adopt in certain situations. These absences do not result in any decrease in pay.

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Image 1Crédits: Dragana Gordic - stock.adobe.com

If you wish to adopt a child ward of the Government or a child foreigner who is not that of your Civil partnership, your partner or the person with whom you live in cohabitation, you must obtain an authorization; this official authorization is issued by the president of the departmental council of your place of residence.

Accreditation certifies that you have the ability to meet a child's basic physical, intellectual, social and emotional needs.

Since 2 January, employees have been entitled to leave of their company to attend the interviews necessary to obtain approval. It is possible to use up to 5 absence authorizations per approval procedure.

These absences do not lead to any reduction in pay and are treated as a period of actual work, in particular for the determination of the duration of paid leave.

Public officials also benefit from these absence permits.

Please note

You can find the different steps to follow to obtain an adoption approval on our fact sheet “Adoption: how to apply for approval?”.

The granting of an approval to a person does not mean that a child will be directly entrusted to him or her afterwards, nor that an adoption will necessarily be granted to him or her.

Once the approval is obtained, the persons wishing to adopt are entered on a departmental list which allows them to be chosen by the prefect as adopters of wards of the State.

For the adoption of a child abroad, after obtaining approval, you must contact the French Adoption Agency (AFA) or an authorized adoption agency (OAA).

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