What are the rights of a locally elected employee who continues to work?
Verified 01 January 2026 - Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
The employee who holds a mandate as a local elected official (municipal, departmental or regional) benefits from a number of rights and guarantees. The employee may be absent to carry out his mandate. The employee has the right to a specific training leave within the framework of his mandate as a local elected official. He also has an individual right to training as a local elected official at the end of his term. We present you the information to know.
Any employee elected local (municipal, departmental or regional) can stop temporarily his salary activity to exercise his mandate as an elected official.
At the beginning of his term of office as a local elected official, the employee receives, at his request, an individual interview with his employer on the practical modalities of exercising his mandate with regard to his employment.
The employer and the locally elected employee may agree on the measures to be implemented to facilitate the reconciliation between professional life and elected office.
Please note
This interview does not replace professional maintenance.
Time away is considered to be a period of actual work.
This time of absence is taken into account for the calculation of the employee's seniority and paid leave entitlements.
The locally elected employee has a absence credit.
The period of absence may not exceed half of the legal working time for a calendar year.
No change in the duration and hours of work provided for in the employment contract may be made because of absences.
The employer is not obliged to pay for the employee's time away.
An employee who is absent because of the exercise of his mandate as an elected official may not be dismissed or dismissed or be subject to disciplinary action.
Each employee who is a municipal, departmental or regional councilor has the right to receive a training leave adapted to his duties as an elected official in the context of the exercise of his mandate.
The training is provided by a body approved by the Ministry of the Interior.
The training must be organized during the first year of the mandate.
Request for training leave
The local elected employee must request the leave from his employer by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt (LRAR).
This letter should specify the following:
- Date and duration of the envisaged absence
- Body responsible for training
The letter must reach the employer at least 30 days before taking leave for training.
The employer acknowledges receipt of this request.
Employer's response to the request for training leave
In the absence of a response of the employer in the 15 days prior to the start of the training, the leave shall be considered as granted.
The employer may, however, refuse leave if it considers that the employee's presence in the company is essential during the period of the desired leave.
In the event of refusal of leave, the employer must inform the employee of the reasons for his decision.
In this case, the employee will be able to benefit from the leave in the event of a new request 4 months after the refusal.
Remuneration during training leave
The local authority covers the costs of training, travel and subsistence.
The community compensates for the loss of income incurred during the leave.
The local elected employee must justify to his community, by any means, that he has suffered a decrease in his income due to the exercise of his right to training.
Duration of training leave
The maximum duration of training leave is 24 days for the duration of the term of office, regardless of the number of terms held by the elected official.
The leave is renewable in case of re-election.
Validation of prior learning (VAE)
The validation of experience linked to the exercise of a local mandate is possible for all members:
- of municipal councils
- departmental councils
- and regional councils.
Every elected member of a municipal, departmental or regional council has an individual right to training.
The training taken may be unrelated to the exercise of the mandate.
In particular, they enable the local elected employee to acquire new skills for his return to the company at the end of his term.
The locally elected employee has the individual right to training throughout his term of office.
When the locally elected employee holds several mandates giving individual rights to training, his rights are calculated by taking into account the mandate to which he has been elected or re-elected that he has held for the longest time.
Amount of individual training entitlement
Every elected member of a municipal, departmental or regional council has an individual right to formation in the amount of €400 by year of mandate.
Financing the individual right to training
The individual right to training is financed by a compulsory contribution levied on the civil service allowances received by the members of the council (municipal, departmental or regional).
A national collecting body shall levy the levy.
The contribution rate for each elected official may not be less than 1%.
Duration of the individual right to training
The duration of the individual right to training depends on the type of training carried out.
Application to benefit from the individual training right
The request for an individual right to training of the local elected employee can be made by post or by email.
It must be accompanied by the copy of the training organization registration form.
The request must be addressed to the manager of the Caisse des dépôts et consignations financing fund no later than 6 months following the end of the term.
Who shall I contact
Please note
travel and subsistence expenses are reimbursed.
Who can help me?
Find who can answer your questions in your region
For more information on this subject, you can contact Allô Service Public.
Attention: the service does not have access to users' personal files and therefore cannot provide information on their progress.
He does not respond questions on unemployment compensation and approaches to the France Labor (formerly Pôle emploi), the 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 in charge of labor.
- Caisse des dépôts ou consignations (CDC)
Guarantees during the term of office of the employee (elected municipal)
Guarantees during the term of office of the employee (departmental elected)
Guarantees during the term of the employee (elected regional)
Guarantees at the end of the employee's term (elected municipal)
Guarantees at the end of the employee's term (elected departmental)
Guarantees at the end of the employee's term (elected regional)
Training of municipal elected officials
Training of departmental elected officials
Training of regional elected officials