Medal of Honor for Work
Verified 01 October 2025 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
The medal of honor for work is an honorary distinction. It rewards, among other things, the length of service of a private sector employee. Would you like to know the conditions for obtaining the medal or if you can benefit from a bonus from your employer? We present you the information to know.
The medal of honor for work is a distinction honorary.
Its purpose is to reward the length of service of a private sector employee, the quality of his initiatives taken in the exercise of his profession or his efforts to acquire a better qualification.
The employees (whether or not they are French nationals) or retired workers may, subject to conditions, obtain the medal of honor for work.
Please note
The following people cannot to be awarded the medal of honor for work:
- A worker who is entitled, by reason of his or her occupation or that of his or her employer, to an honorary distinction for seniority of service from another ministerial department (e.g. a national police officer)
- Judicial magistrate and civil servant in the central State administrations, the dependent external services and the State's public institutions.
The services taken into account for the calculation of seniority may have been performed with a number of unlimited of employers.
FYI
Periods of unemployment don't count in calculating seniority.
Certain periods of absence shall be considered as working periods. These are the following periods:
- Time spent in national service
- Maternity leave, paternity leave and adoption leave (up to a maximum of one year)
- Paid internship for vocational training, learning, career transition project (formerly Individual Training Leave - Cif), conversion leaveFixed-term contracts concluded in the context of employment policy.
Please note
Years spent in the public sector are not taken into account for the medal. An exception exists for pensioners who can no longer claim a pension seniority medal of the public body in which they worked.
However, the following individuals may obtain the medal without the required seniority:
- Employees of French nationality who have resided overseas or abroad for periods of activity outside mainland France
- Mutilated from work with a disability rate of at least 50%
- Employees whose activity is of a hardship that justifies the possibility of early retirement for permanent incapacity.
The medal of honor for work includes 4 steps. They depend on the age of the services performed:
- Silver medal: 20 years
- Vermeil medal: 30 years
- Gold medal: 35 years
- Great gold medal: 40 years.
Please note
These medals can be awarded after 18, 25, 30, 35 years of work if the activity carried out by the employees presents a character of hardship (for example, chain work) and allows a early retirement.
The length of service shall be reduced by one third for employees of French nationality who have worked outside metropolitan France or abroad, and half for the mutilated from work with a disability rate between 50% and 75%.
The process can be done by you or by your employer.
The approach differs depending on whether you live in France or abroad:
In France
Depending on where you live, it can be done online (exclusively) or by mail:
Côte-d'Or, Lozère, Savoie, Reunion, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Mayotte
The request is to be made by post.
According to your department of residence, the application shall be examined by one of the following bodies:
- Departmental Directorate in charge of employment, labor and solidarity (DDETS or DDETS-PP, former Director)
- Prefecture
- Sub-prefecture.
You should consult the websites of these organizations (or contact at least one of them) to find out which organization you should send your request to.
You must make a file with the following documents:
- Form cerfa no. 11796 completed, dated and signed
- Photocopy of ID (double-sided)
- Photocopies of each employer's work certificates
In the event that the employer has disappeared, the work certificate may be replaced by a certificate drawn up by two witnesses. The certificate must then be certified by the mayor. - Recent certification from your last employer
- For persons who have performed military (or similar) services, attestation of services performed under the national service or photocopy of the military booklet
- For the mutilated from work, photocopy of the pension statement.
Hautes-Alpes
You must use an online service:
Request for a medal of honor for Hautes-Alpes work
You must have the following supporting documents:
- Photocopy of ID (double-sided)
- Certification dated and signed by the employer of the medal services
- For persons who have performed military (or similar) services, attestation of services performed under the national service or photocopy of the military booklet
- For the mutilated from work, photocopy of the pension statement.
Please note
All supporting documents must be scanned.
French Polynesia
The request is to be made by post.
You must apply to the High Commission of the Republic in French Polynesia.
You must make a file with the following documents:
- Form cerfa no. 11796 completed, dated and signed
- Birth certificate extract
- Photocopy of ID (double-sided)
- Photocopies of each employer's work certificates
In the event that the employer has disappeared, the work certificate may be replaced by a certificate drawn up by two witnesses. The certificate must then be certified by the mayor. - Recent certification from your last employer
- For persons who have performed military (or similar) services, attestation of services performed under the national service or photocopy of the military booklet
- For the mutilated from work, photocopy of the pension statement.
New Caledonia
The request is to be made by post.
You must apply to the Directorate of Labor, Employment and Vocational Training (DTEFP).
You must make a file with the following documents:
- Form cerfa no. 11796 completed, dated and signed
- Photocopy of ID (double-sided)
- Photocopies of each employer's work certificates
In the event that the employer has disappeared, the work certificate may be replaced by a certificate drawn up by two witnesses. The certificate must then be certified by the mayor. - Recent certification from your last employer
- For persons who have performed military (or similar) services, attestation of services performed under the national service or photocopy of the military booklet
- For the mutilated from work, photocopy of the pension statement.
Other department
You must use an online service:
Request for a Medal of Honor for Work
You must have the following supporting documents:
- Photocopy of ID (double-sided)
- Certification dated and signed by the employer of the medal services
- For persons who have performed military (or similar) services, attestation of services performed under the national service or photocopy of the military booklet
- For the mutilated from work, photocopy of the pension statement.
Please note
All supporting documents must be scanned.
Abroad
Documents to be provided
You must make a file and attach the following documents:
- Form cerfa no. 11797 completed, dated and signed
- Photocopy of your ID (double-sided)
- Photocopies of each employer's work certificates
In the event that the employer has disappeared, the work certificate may be replaced by a certificate drawn up by two witnesses. The certificate must then be certified by the mayor. - Recent certification from your last employer
- For persons who have performed military (or similar) services, attestation of services performed under the national service or photocopy of the military booklet
- For the mutilated from work, photocopy of the pension statement.
Sending the file
The file must be sent to the embassy.
Who shall I contact
The medal is awarded by decree of the Minister of Labor or, on delegation, of the prefect on the occasion of the 1er January and July 14 of each year.
The file must reach the addressee:
- Before 1er May to get the medal on july 14
- Before 15 October from the previous year to get the medal on 1er January.
Please note
Seniority is calculated on the date of 1er January or July 14, not the date the request was sent.
Depending on the medal you receive, you get a ribbon tricolor simple (silver medal) or ribbon with a tricolor rosette (gold medal, gold medal and gold medal).
You also receive a diploma recalling the services for which you are rewarded.
A medal can be minted and engraved at your expense or at the expense of your employer (if the latter agrees), by order sent to the Monnaie de Paris or to one private manufacturer.
Following the publication of the prefectural decree, a diploma is also awarded to you. It is sent either to the headquarters of your employer or to your town hall.
Depending on the promotion chosen (1er January or July 14), the diploma is issued in February or August.
Warning
It is not possible to obtain a duplicate of the diploma.
According to what is written in the collective agreement or the company collective agreementHowever, the employer may pay you a sum of money to reward your services or grant you one or more days of leave.
You can check whether you are entitled to a sum of money or leave via an online service:
Search for an extended collective agreement
If the amount paid by the employer is less than the amount of a monthly salary, it is not part of the taxable wage earners.
You may lose the Medal of Honor for work in one of the following cases:
- Withdrawal of French nationality
- Criminal conviction.
Who can help me?
Find who can answer your questions in your region
To help you in your efforts
National Federation of Decorated Workers of France
By email
Access to contact form
Date on which seniority is taken into account (Article 8)
Service-Public.fr