Parents resigning to raise a child keep rehire priority plus training right

An employee who resigns to raise a child can leave without working noticeService Public and without paying the employer compensation for the untaken notice periodService Public, provided the employer is told at least fifteen days in advanceService Public by lettre recommandée avec avis de réception or by hand delivery against receipt.

The resignation must fall in one of two windows: at the end of congé de maternité or congé d'adoption, or within the two months following the child's birth or arrival in the household.Legifrance A resignation after the birth or adoption in order to join another firm follows the ordinary resignation rules instead, including the normal notice period.Service Public

After the break, the former employee holds a one-year priority right to be taken back onService Public for jobs matching personal qualifications.Service Public The request for priority re-employment must itself be sent within the year following the end of the contractService Public, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or hand delivery against receipt, and the employer's subsequent priority offers travel by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, with any refusal sent in that same form.

On re-employment, two guarantees combine. The returning employee recovers every advantage held at the moment of departureService Public, and separately holds a right to vocational training (droit à une action de formation professionnelle), in particular where working techniques or methods have changedLegifrance. The training limb matters in practice after a break of up to a year, when techniques or methods at the firm may have moved on.

Each step leaves a paper trail: the initial resignation notice and the priority re-employment request go by lettre recommandée avec avis de réception or remise contre récépissé, while the employer's offers and the employee's reply go by lettre recommandée avec avis de réception.

Legal basis is articles L. 1225-66 to L. 1225-68 of the Code du travail on resignation to raise a child and priority re-employmentService Public, with the formalities in articles R. 1225-18 and R. 1225-19 of the same code.