Sick leave: steps to be taken by the employee
Verified 01 September 2026 - Public Service / (Prime Minister)
When you are on sick leave, certain procedures must be carried out with your employer and your social security organization (CPAM: titleContent or MSA: titleContent). These procedures apply in the event of a first stoppage or extension. We provide you with useful information and explain how to complete the process on time.
Initial shutdown
When your state of health does not allow you to work due to illness, you must prevent, without delay, your employer, by any means: either orally (telephone) or in writing (email, SMS,...).)
If the collective agreement in force or a company agreement does not set a time limit, it is customary for this information to be given to the employer within 48 hours following the start of your stop.
You must justify this information by sending to your employer the sheet n°3 of the medical certificate established by a doctor specifying the dates and reasons for the work stoppage.
The work stoppage may be prescribed by any doctor, and not just by your doctor. For example, it may be an emergency physician, a specialist or a doctor on call. In some cases, a midwife or a dental surgeon may also issue a sick leave, in connection with her area of intervention.
Warning
If you work for more than one employer, and the doctor has determined that you are not allowed to do business, you must notify each employer. To do this, you need to send photocopies of pane 3.
Since the 1er September 2026, a doctor may not prescribe an initial work stoppage for a period longer than 31 days where that judgment entitles the applicant to payment of daily subsistence allowances.
This period of 31 days constitutes a limit for the same prescription. It does not mean that your work stoppage cannot exceed 31 days in total.
When your health condition requires a longer stop, the doctor may prescribe a duration of more than 31 days. In this case, he must then justify this duration on the prescription.
The duration of a prescribed work stoppage during a teleconsultation in principle may not exceed 3 days to be compensated. Exceptions are provided for in particular when teleconsultation is carried out with the treating physician or his replacement or with the referring midwife.
If you do not comply with the obligation to provide information and information to your employer, you may be at risk of disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. Unjustified absence may constitute a real and serious cause of dismissal.
You have a deadline of 48 hours to inform your Social Security organization (CPAM: titleContent or MSA: titleContent).
In principle, when the doctor gives you the 3 sheets, you must send sheets n°1 and n°2 to your Social Security organization.
Warning
If your work stoppage is established on paper, only the secure cerfa form (n°10170*08) with reinforced authentication devices will be accepted by your Social Security organization. This new form includes a holographic label and other security features to combat fraud.
Since the 1er September 2025, old paper forms, photocopies and scans are no longer accepted by the Health Insurance.
This approach allows you to perceive social security benefits and, if you are entitled, compensation from your employer.
Please note
In many cases, especially when you have had a teleconsultation, the doctor will automatically send the first and second parts of the work stoppage to your health insurance fund. You will only receive Part 3, which you must send to your employer.
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You depend on the CPAM
You depend on MSA
If you report your work stoppage after the 48-hour deadline, your health insurance fund will inform you of the delay and warn you of the consequences in the event of a new late shipment.
In the event of a new late shipment within 2 years, your daily allowances may be reduced by 50% for the period between the prescription date of the stop and its date of dispatch.
In the event of a further delay, a larger reduction may apply. Since 1er in january 2026, when the stop is received by the caisse after the end of the prescribed period, the daily allowances can be reduced by 100% for the entire period concerned.
No discount is applied if you prove hospitalization or the inability to transmit your discontinuation within 48 hours.
During the work stoppage, you must comply with the following obligations:
- Follow your doctor's prescriptions
- Submit to medical checks organized by your employer and/or Social Security
- Comply with the exit ban or authorized hours of outings
- Abstain from any activity, unless authorized by your treating physician
If you do not comply with these obligations, the payment of daily allowances is suspended.
In addition, if you engage in a paid activity not authorized by your attending physician, you may be subject to a financial penalty.
Extension
Since the 1er September 2026, each extension of a work stoppage giving rise to the payment of daily allowances shall be limited to 62 days.
This limit relates to the duration of each extension and not the total duration of the work stoppage. Several extensions can therefore be prescribed if your state of health justifies it.
However, the healthcare professional may prescribe an extension of more than 62 days if justifies on the prescription the need for a longer duration with regard to your state of health.
Where the duration of an extension exceeds 3 months, the health professional may seek the opinion of the medical control department of the Health Insurance.
In principle, only your doctor or the doctor who prescribed your initial work stoppage can extend it. However, exceptionally, the extension of your work stoppage may be authorized if it has been established by one of the following persons:
- Alternate of your attending physician
- Replacement for the doctor who prescribed your initial work stoppage
- Specialist doctor consulted at the request of the attending physician
- Doctor who follows you during a hospitalization.
Yes, the extension of a work stoppage can also be carried out during a teleconsultation provided that the doctor who prescribes it meets one of the following criteria:
- This is your attending physician,
- This is the doctor who prescribed the initial stop
- This is the replacement for one of these 2 doctors
- It is a specialist doctor consulted at the request of the attending physician
- It is a doctor following you in the context of a hospitalization.
In addition to one of these criteria, for the discontinuation to be compensated, the doctor must have you already seen in face-to-face consultation in the last 12 months or act in the context of a exceptional situation (emergency or inability to access care).
Teleconsultation must be carried out via an authorized and secure platform, ensuring the correct transmission of the judgment to the Health Insurance.
The duration of a renewed work stoppage during a teleconsultation cannot in principle exceed 3 days to be compensated. Exceptions are provided for in particular when teleconsultation is carried out with the treating physician or his replacement or with the referring midwife. In the event of an extension, an exception is also provided where the insured person justifies the impossibility of consulting in person.
If your initial stop is prolonged, you should keep your employer informed of the progress of your illness. You must send him the documents concerning your possible extension of the work stoppage.
It is customary to notify your employer within 48 hours following the extension. The information can be made by any means: either by oral (telephone for example) or in writing (mail, SMS,...).)
If you do not comply with the obligation to provide information and information to your employer, you may be at risk of disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. Unjustified absence may constitute a real and serious cause of dismissal.
You must send slips 1 and 2 of the certificate of extension to the CPAM: titleContent or to the MSA: titleContent and leaflet n°3 to your employer.
Warning
If the extension of the stop is prescribed on paper, the doctor must use the new secure Cerfa form with reinforced authentication devices, including a holographic label. Old paper forms, photocopies or scans will no longer be accepted, and their use may result in the refusal to take charge of the work stoppage.
However, in the context of a teleconsultation, leaflets No. 1 and No. 2 are generally automatically and digitally transmitted to the CPAM by the doctor via a secure system. The section 3 is then directly addressed to you (by e-mail, via the teleconsultation platform or your Ameli account), and you must send it yourself to your employer within the required deadlines.
Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement
You depend on the CPAM
You depend on MSA
If you report your work stoppage after the 48-hour deadline, your health insurance fund will inform you of the delay and warn you of the consequences in the event of a new late shipment.
In the event of a new late shipment within 2 years, your daily allowances may be reduced by 50% for the period between the prescription date of the stop and its date of dispatch.
In the event of a further delay, a larger reduction may apply. Since 1er in january 2026, when the stop is received by the caisse after the end of the prescribed period, the daily allowances can be reduced by 100% for the entire period concerned.
No discount is applied if you prove hospitalization or the inability to transmit your discontinuation within 48 hours.
During the work stoppage, you must comply with the following obligations:
- Follow your doctor's prescriptions
- Submit to medical checks organized by your employer and/or Social Security
- Comply with the exit ban or authorized hours of outings
- Abstain from any activity, unless authorized by your treating physician
If you do not comply with these obligations, the payment of daily allowances is suspended.
In addition, if you engage in a paid activity not authorized by your attending physician, you may be subject to a financial penalty.
On the same subject
Who can help me?
Find who can answer your questions in your region
For information about your social security compensation or medical checks
French primary health insurance fund (CPAM)If you fall under the farm plan
Agricultural social mutual fund (MSA)For any information regarding your work stoppage or extension
DoctorFor information on labor law
For more information on this subject, you can contact Allô Service Public.
Please note: the service does not have access to users' personal files and cannot therefore provide information on their progress.
He does not respond questions concerning unemployment compensation and the approach to the France Labor (formerly Job center), public servants or contract workers of the fCivil Service, the amount or payment of contributions social, wage or employer.
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The informants who answer you belong to the ministry responsible for labor.
Obligations of the employee: Article L323-6
Extension of the judgment (conditions for maintaining compensation): Article L162-4-4
Initial judgment and extension (procedure to be followed): article R321-2
Sending the work stoppage out of time: article D323-2
Extension of the judgment (conditions for maintaining compensation): Article R162-1-9-1
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National Health Insurance Fund (Cnam)
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