PUBLIC HOLIDAY. What does the calendar of public holidays have in store for you from the start of the 2023 school year? And when do the 11 public holidays of the year 2024 fall? What possible bridges?
[Mis à jour le 28 août 2023 à 17h32] All Saints’ Day, November 1, is the next public holiday in the school calendar for the year 2023. Then comes November 11 for the Armistice and the Christmas holiday to close the year. What days fall this year?
If the dates of the remaining 2023 public holidays still make it possible to take advantage of a last extended weekend at All Saints’ Day, the 2024 calendar should be even more appreciated by lovers of large bridges. Consult the list of public holidays in France in 2023 then in 2024, and the 2023-2024 calendar of school holidays with public holidays.
Consult the dates of the next 2023 public holidays in France, in order to better plan long weekends and possible bridges:
- Wednesday, November 1, 2023 : Toussaint
- Saturday November 11, 2023 : 1918 Armistice
- Monday, December 25, 2023 : Christmas
What days to ask in 2023 to bridge the gap?
A last bridge is possible in the 2023 calendar of public holidays: if you want to put two days in a row to make the bridge, in October, ask on Monday 30 and Tuesday 31 October, because All Saints Day falls on Wednesday 1 November. So you can enjoy the Halloween evening as it should be!
Every year the November, 1st, which corresponds to the Christian feast of All Saintsand the November 11, which corresponds to the Armistice of 1918, are public holidays. All Saints’ Day was celebrated on Wednesday November 1, 2023. The Armistice of 1918 will fall on Saturday November 11…
Here is the official calendar for the 2023-2024 school year which contains, in addition to the traditional holiday periods by zone, the dates of public holidays in France:
Consult the dates of the 11 public holidays in 2024 in France, in order to plan holidays well in advance!
- Monday, January 1, 2024 : New Year’s Day
- Monday, April 1, 2024 : Easter Monday
- Wednesday, May 1, 2024 : Labor Day
- Wednesday, May 8, 2024 : Armistice 1945
- Thursday, May 9, 2024 : Ascent
- Monday, May 20, 2024 : Pentecost Monday
- Sunday July 14, 2024 : National Holiday
- Thursday, August 15, 2024 : Assumption
- Friday, November 1, 2024 : Toussaint
- Monday, November 11, 2024 : 1918 Armistice
- Wednesday, December 25, 2024 : Christmas
How many public holidays are there in France each year?
Public holidays commemorate a civil or religious holiday or a significant event, the list of which is defined by the Labor Code. In France, the year has 11 public holidays, compared to 10 in Belgium, 12 in Spain and 9 in Germany. In Europe, Cypriots have the most public holidays with 15 days per year. Conversely, in the United Kingdom, there are only 8. These dates have been determined according to the history and culture of the country. There are therefore two types of public holidays, civil and religious.
There are 5 civil holidays: New Year’s Day since the 1st Empire in 1810, May 1 (Labor Day) declared non-working in 1919, May 8 which commemorates the capitulation of Germany, July 14 which celebrates the capture of the Bastille and who has been unemployed since July 6, 1880, and November 11, World War I Armistice Day. And 6 religious holidays: Assumption, Ascension, All Saints, Christmas, Pentecost and Easter are the 6 religious holidays in France.
The first four became public holidays from 1802 following the signing of the Concordat between Bonaparte and the papacy. Easter Monday and Pentecost Monday were added in 1886. Note: there are some local particularities: in Alsace-Moselle, Good Friday and December 26 are also public holidays and in the overseas departments, the abolition of slavery.
Are public holidays paid?
May 1, Labor Day, is in France the only day that companies must have a day off and be paid for (but there may be professions that make exceptions.) For other public holidays, the law provides that when day n is not working in a company, the employee must be paid from 3 months of seniority. If the public holiday is worked, the employer is not obliged to remunerate his employee more, on the other hand certain collective agreements provide for an increase.
It is therefore advisable to consult your collective agreement to find out your situation. With regard to bridges, there is no obligation for the employer to grant them. If the collective agreement does not specify this feature, the employer remains free to decide. In any case, he is not forced to pay his employee that day. On the other hand, the employer can impose a bridge on the employees.
Is a public holiday a day off?
A public holiday is not necessarily a day off (not worked). The employer has the right to ask his employee to work on a public holiday, with the exception of May 1, Labor Day. Indeed, May 1st is the only compulsory public holiday for all employees of all companies in France. It is therefore necessarily non-working and paid unlike other public holidays. But if May 1st falls on a usual rest day in the company (for example, a Sunday), it will not be paid and it does not give rise to the right to additional rest.