Sick leave in France: sending your sick note to the CPAM and your employer

Step by step

1. Tell your employer straight away. As soon as you know you cannot work, tell your employer by any means (phone, email, text). Unless your collective agreement or a company agreement sets a deadline, the custom is to do so within 48 hours of the start of your leave. An unjustified absence can lead to disciplinary action, up to dismissal.
2. Get the sick note. Any doctor can sign you off, not only your regular GP (médecin traitant). Since 1 September 2026, a first paid sick note is limited to 31 days, unless the doctor justifies a longer one. In a video consultation, the note is in principle limited to 3 days to be paid, unless it comes from your regular GP (or their stand-in) or your designated midwife.
3. Send parts 1 and 2 to your fund within 48 hours. Often the doctor sends parts 1 and 2 online straight to your CPAM (or MSA), so you have nothing to send them. Otherwise, post them within 48 hours. A paper note is only accepted on the secure form (cerfa no. 10170*08, with a holographic label): since 1 September 2025, old forms, photocopies and scans are refused.
4. Send part 3 to your employer. Part 3 justifies your absence: send it to your employer, also within 48 hours. After a video consultation, you receive it by email, on the platform or in your ameli account. If you have several employers, send a copy of part 3 to each of them.
5. Follow the rules while off sick. Follow the doctor's instructions and do no work at all, not even remotely, unless the doctor authorises it. If outings are allowed with set hours, you must be at home from 9am to 11am and 2pm to 4pm, weekends and public holidays included (except for treatment or tests). Staying somewhere else? Give that address on part 1 (or ask the doctor to enter it); before going abroad, check with your fund.
6. Keep track of your sick pay. Social Security pays daily sick benefit (indemnités journalières, IJ) from the 4th day off (3 waiting days), every 14 days, if you meet the hours-worked or contributions conditions. With at least 1 year's service, your employer tops it up from the 8th day (7 waiting days), unless your collective agreement is more generous. You get a statement with each payment, which you can also download.
7. If it is extended, do it all again. An extension is in principle made by your regular GP or by the doctor who signed the first note. Since 1 September 2026, each paid extension is limited to 62 days unless justified. Same routine: parts 1 and 2 to your fund, part 3 to your employer, within 48 hours.

Documents to prepare

• The sick note (3 parts), on the secure form if it is on paper
• Your carte Vitale and your Social Security number
• Your CPAM (or MSA) address for a paper note
• The name of your collective agreement (on your payslip), to see whether it maintains your pay more generously
• Proof that you sent or handed part 3 to your employer

Pitfalls to avoid

• Sending the note late: the fund warns you the first time; another late note within 2 years can halve your IJ, and since 1 January 2026, a note received after its end date may not be paid at all.
• Sending a photocopy or scan of a paper note: only the secure form has been accepted since 1 September 2025.
• Working during your leave without the doctor's agreement, even a little or remotely: you will have to repay the IJ and you risk a financial penalty.
• Being out during the compulsory hours at home without proof of a reason: the fund can suspend your IJ, and your employer its top-up after a check visit.