FranceService Public
Daily sick-pay caps in force since 1 July 2026 restated
The service-public round-up restates the daily social-security allowances in force since 1 July 2026: €42.97 a day for illness, €104.02 for maternity and paternity, and €240.49 then €320.66 for work accidents.
By Taxxa AI OyPublished 8 October 2026
Employees and jobseekers on sick leave receive daily social-security allowances (indemnités journalières) whose amounts have applied since 1 July 2026, following the Smic increase
Service Public. A service-public round-up published in January 2026 and updated on 1 October 2026 restates the caps payroll teams must apply.
The standard daily allowance equals 50% of the salaire journalier de baseService Public, computed from gross pay for the 3 months before the stoppage divided by 91.25Service Public. Gross pay counted for the calculation cannot exceed 1.4 times the monthly Smic in force in the last month before the stoppageService Public, i.e. €2,613.82 at 1 July 2026Service Public. Since 1 April 2025 a decree of 20 February 2025 sets that salary cap at 1.4 times the Smic, down from 1.8 times.
Since 1 July 2026 the daily allowance cap stands at €42.97 gross per day for illnessService Public and at €104.02 per day for maternity and paternity leaveService Public. For work accidents the caps track the annual social-security ceiling: €240.49 per day over the first 28 days of absence, at 60% of the base daily wageService Public, then €320.66 per day from the 29th dayService Public, at 80%Service Public.
Allowances start from the 4th day of absence, after a 3-day waiting period during which nothing is paid. Where the employer maintains pay during the stoppage, the employer receives the allowance directly instead of the employee. People without employment may also receive daily allowances, subject to conditions, to offset lost unemployment benefits: the round-up covers salaried employees and jobseekers alike.
A branch collective agreement or a company-level deal may maintain salary even across the 3 waiting days, so payroll teams should check the applicable agreement before applying the waiting period to net pay. In the public sector, separate rules govern how pay is treated during sick leave. The round-up points readers to the service-public sick-leave sheet for the full calculation method.
Legal basis: the figures derive from the Smic-indexed salary cap of 1.4 times the Smic and the annual social-security ceiling for work accidents.
Payroll teams should check that sick-leave valuations since 1 July 2026 use the restated caps — €42.97 a day for illness, €104.02 for maternity and paternity — and that the salary base is capped at 1.4 times the Smic (€2,613.82).