From July 1st 2026, new rules on parental leave come into effect in France. This is what it means for new parents.
The Social Security budget that hobbled through the French Parliament at the end of last year included an important change to parental leave, as the country struggles with a declining birth rate and an ageing population.
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In an effort to improve parents’ work-life balance, and promote greater equality between new mothers and fathers following the birth of a child, the new law – which comes into effect on July 1st – allows each parent to add a period of one or two months paid leave to their existing maternity, paternity, and child-rearing or adoption leave entitlements.
Each parent may take the leave at the same time, or separately, and the extended leave period may be split into two one-month periods. It must be taken in a set time-frame.
Who benefits
The extended leave is available to the parent of any child born on or after January 1st, 2026 – or, in certain circumstances, one born prematurely if the expected due date had been on or after that date. It also applies to adoptive parents of children in 2026.
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The additional leave will only kick in after existing maternity, paternity, and child-reception or adoption leave allowances have been used up.
It’s paid
For employees and civil servants taking parental leave, the amount they receive will be on a sliding scale: the first month will be compensated at 70 percent of the previous net salary, and the second month at 60 percent of the previous net salary, up to the Social Security ceiling.
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Self-employed workers will receive a flat-rate daily allowance subject to a reduction in the same proportions as that applied to employees.
For self-employed agricultural workers, the replacement allowance will be maintained at current levels for maternity, paternity, and adoption leave.
Timeframes
For parents of children born or arriving in the household between January 1st and June 30th, 2026, the additional parental leave may be taken within nine months from July 1st, 2026, so until March 31st, 2027.
For all parents of children born or arriving in the household on or after July 1st, 2026, the period for taking this additional birth leave will be nine months from the child’s birth or, for adoptive parents, the child’s arrival in the household.
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In cases where maternity, paternity, or child-reception or adoption leave is extended – for example, in the case of multiple births – the nine-month validity period is extended accordingly.
When must you tell your boss?
If you’re already on parental leave and wish to take up the additional time off, you may need to act fast.
Parents who wish to take this leave must notify their employer within one month, specifying the desired start date of the leave, its duration, and how it will be taken – in a single block or across separate periods.
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This notice period is reduced to 15 days when the additional birth leave immediately follows paternity, foster care, or adoption leave and it is not possible, given the duration of that first leave, to comply with the standard one-month notice period.
