Loading…
Your working life · 9 steps
A birth sets off a series of deadlines: declaring the pregnancy, telling your employer, booking your leave, reporting the child to the tax office and CAF, planning parental leave or part-time work. Both parents have rights, and most are lost if they are not claimed in time. Here is the order, for the mother and for the second parent.
The doctor or midwife following your pregnancy issues the certificate confirming the pregnancy and the expected due date; your declaration goes to your CPAM and CAF (or MSA) within the first 14 weeks. That expected date is what everything else is worked out from.
For a first or second child: 6 weeks before the birth and 10 after. From the third child, or for twins, it is longer, and your collective agreement may give more. At least 8 weeks of leave are compulsory, including 6 after the birth; with the approval of the health professional following you, you can move up to 3 weeks of prenatal leave to after the birth.
Mother-to-be: a recorded-delivery letter or one handed over against a receipt, with the expected start and end dates of your leave and the pregnancy certificate. Second parent: give at least 1 month's notice before the due date, then 1 month before each period of leave; with that notice, your employer cannot refuse. Both letters are ready to fill in.
At the birth, you first take the 3 days of birth leave, then straight after, the 4 compulsory days of paternity leave. The remaining 21 days (28 for a multiple birth) can be taken in one go or in two periods of at least 5 days, but within 6 months of the birth to be paid. Send your fund the birth certificate or the updated family record book (livret de famille).
Your salary is suspended: the CPAM (or MSA) pays daily benefit every 14 days if you meet the registration and hours-worked or contributions conditions, and your collective agreement may go as far as keeping your full salary. This benefit is taxable and is declared with your salary. If you're a jobseeker, declare your leave days to France Travail.
Within 60 days, report the child's arrival online (“Signaler un changement”): a new withholding rate is worked out at once, without waiting for your return, and the extra share counts for the whole year. Tell CAF too: your housing benefit may change, and the in-work benefit depends on who is in your household.
For a child born since 1 January 2026, each parent can follow on with 1 or 2 months of paid additional birth leave, to be taken within 9 months of the birth, telling the employer 1 month ahead. Parental leave, open with at least 1 year's service, can last until the child turns 3; your employer does not pay it, but CAF may pay the PreParE, which cannot be combined with the additional leave allowance.
Send your request at least 1 month before the end of maternity leave if parental leave follows straight on, otherwise at least 2 months before it starts; to extend it, give notice 1 month before the current period ends. Part-time, you keep at least 16 hours a week: the part-time tool shows what happens to your pay. The PreParE is claimed from CAF once maternity or paternity payments have ended.
You get your job back, or a similar one with at least the same pay, and you are offered a career interview; after maternity leave, the return-to-work check-up takes place within 8 days of your return. If you stay part-time, you can ask to pay pension contributions on a full-time basis, and you have priority for a full-time job that comes up.
Describe your situation: Nego tells you where to start, follows the checked steps of each procedure, does the calculations with the site's tools and drafts your letters. It does not replace the administration: each procedure is completed on the official service.
16 weeks for a first or second child (6 before the birth, 10 after), 26 weeks from the third child (8 before, 18 after), 34 for twins and 46 for triplets or more. Your collective agreement may give more, and pregnancy-related complications add up to 2 weeks before and 4 after.
3 days of birth leave, then 25 days of paternity and childcare leave (32 for a multiple birth), 4 of them compulsory straight after the birth leave. The rest is taken in one or two goes, within 6 months of the birth. There is no length-of-service or contract-type condition.
No, if you give the required notice: 1 month before the birth and before each period for paternity leave, 1 or 2 months ahead depending on the case for parental leave, which also requires at least 1 year's service. If they refuse, you can go to the employment tribunal (conseil de prud'hommes).
No. Throughout the leave, and during any paid holiday taken straight after, protection is absolute, even for gross misconduct. During the following 10 weeks, dismissal is only possible for gross misconduct or if the contract cannot be kept for a reason unrelated to maternity.
Yes: it gives you an extra half-share or share for the whole year of the birth, even for a child born in December, and the site's income tax simulator works out what that changes for you. For your withholding to follow straight away, report the birth online within 60 days.
Your employer pays no salary, unless an agreement says otherwise. CAF (or MSA) may pay the PreParE if you have enough contribution quarters; for a first child, in a couple, each parent can receive it for 6 months, up to the child's first birthday.
Every rule mentioned here is explained and sourced in its procedure or guide; amounts are calculated by the site's tools. All procedures