Sick leave, workplace accidents, paid holiday: what you lose (and what you don't) as an apprentice in 2026

You wake up on a Monday morning with a 39°C fever. Except that this particular Monday you're not at the company: you're supposed to be at the CFA (apprentice training centre), and you have a continuous-assessment test at the end of the week. Who do you notify? Do you need a sick note even though you weren't going to be at work? And what happens to your pay?

These questions come up again and again, because the work-study status is a hybrid one: an employee in the eyes of the Labour Code and Social Security, a student in the eyes of the training body. In practical terms, an apprentice or an employee on a professionalisation contract who falls ill comes under the general scheme, exactly like an ordinary employee — but with pay-related particularities and a dual duty to inform that trips up a great many people. Let's go through it all, updated for the 2026 academic year.

The basic principle: time at the CFA is working time

This is the rule that governs everything else, and it is far too little known. Article L. 6222-24 of the Labour Code states that "the time devoted by the apprentice to training provided in apprentice training centres is included in working hours". In other words: when you're in class, you're deemed to be working. You're paid, you pay contributions, and you're covered.

The practical consequences are considerable:

• An absence from the CFA is an absence from work. It must be justified to the employer, not just to the school.
• An accident occurring during a practical session at the CFA is a workplace accident.
• A sick leave covering a week of classes has exactly the same effects as one covering a week at the company.
• You can't "make up" missed CFA hours at the company, or vice versa.

For the professionalisation contract, the logic is identical: training activities are carried out during working time (Article L. 6325-1 et seq.), with pay maintained.

Key point: there is no such thing as a "school day" that falls outside the employment contract. Any absence, wherever it occurs, is treated as an employee absence.

Sick leave: the 48 hours that count

The process is the same as for any employee, with one additional constraint: the supporting document has three destinations.

The steps, in order

1. See a doctor. A backdated sick note is frowned upon and often refused by the health insurance fund: have it issued the same day or the next day.
2. Send sections 1 and 2 to your health insurance fund within 48 hours (or let the doctor transmit it electronically, which has become the norm).
3. Send section 3 to your employer within the same 48-hour deadline.
4. Notify your CFA or your school and send it a copy of section 3. This isn't a courtesy: your absence from training must be justified so that it isn't recorded as unjustified in your attendance record, which sometimes determines whether your funding is maintained.

Sending it late to the fund risks a reduction in your daily sickness benefits (the Assurance Maladie applies a penalty of up to 50% of the benefit amount for the period concerned in cases of repeated lateness). The exact conditions and deadlines are set out on ameli.fr, under "Arrêt de travail pour maladie".

What you receive during the leave

Three building blocks stack on top of each other, and it's their combination that determines what you actually have to live on.

Building block	Who pays	Starting point	Indicative amount
Waiting period	Nobody	First 3 days	€0
Daily sickness benefits	CPAM / MSA	From the 4th day	≈ 50% of the basic daily wage
Employer top-up (monthly pay act)	Employer	Depending on length of service and collective agreement	Up to 90% of gross pay for the first few days

Three clarifications that change everything:

• The three-day waiting period has not been abolished for apprentices. It can, however, be neutralised by a company agreement or a more favourable collective bargaining agreement — many do exactly that. Check your collective agreement; the information appears on your payslip.
• The employer's statutory top-up (Article L. 1226-1 of the Labour Code) in principle requires one year of service. A first-year apprentice is therefore often excluded, unless a more generous collective provision applies. That's the real gap in the safety net.
• Calculating daily benefits on a small salary gives a low amount in absolute terms. On apprentice pay of €900 gross, the benefit works out at around €15 a day. Hence the value of knowing whether your employer operates subrogation: in that case, it continues to pay your salary and is reimbursed directly by the fund. You never have to front the cash yourself. Ask HR the question before you need to.

One administrative detail that costs people weeks: daily benefits can't be paid if your ameli account isn't up to date (bank details, salary certificate sent by the employer). Many work-study employees discover the problem just as they're waiting for the money. Create your account as soon as you sign the contract, with a Vitale card reader if you prefer to manage your reimbursements offline, and check that your card is up to date.

Workplace and commuting accidents: a far more protective regime

Never confuse ordinary sick leave with a workplace accident. The differences are huge, and in your favour.

For a workplace or commuting accident:

• No waiting period. You're compensated from the very first day of leave.
• Enhanced daily benefits: around 60% of the basic daily wage for the first 28 days, then around 80% thereafter.
• 100% coverage of medical costs related to the accident, with no upfront payment thanks to the workplace accident form issued by the employer.
• Protection against termination of the contract during the suspension, apart from a strictly limited list of cases.

What's covered is broader than people think:

• an accident in the company's workshop;
• an accident on CFA premises, including in a practical workshop or during a PE class that forms part of the training;
• an accident on the journey home ↔ company, home ↔ CFA, and company ↔ CFA;
• an accident during an assignment or a business trip.

The declaration must be made by the employer to the fund within 48 hours (excluding Sundays and public holidays) after becoming aware of it. You, for your part, must inform the employer within 24 hours, except in cases of force majeure. If the accident occurs at the CFA, it is the CFA that informs the employer without delay — but in practice, you're the one who has to make sure the information circulates. Send a written email to both, the same day: the paper trail is your best protection if there's a dispute later.

The INRS publishes very useful fact sheets on the specific risks facing young workers, who are statistically more exposed to accidents than their experienced colleagues — particularly in construction, catering and industry. If your job requires it, insist on your equipment: the employer must provide it free of charge, and you should never have to pay for your own certified safety shoes or protective gloves. If the company drags its feet, put it in writing and alert your apprenticeship supervisor.

Your paid holiday: five weeks, like everyone else

This is probably the most misunderstood aspect of work-study contracts. You don't get "school holidays". You get 2.5 working days of paid holiday per month of actual work, i.e. 30 working days (five weeks) for a full year, exactly like any other employee.

The practical rules:

• Holiday is taken during periods at the company, with the employer's agreement. You can't book holiday during a CFA week: that would mean being absent from compulsory training.
• CFA school holidays are not paid holiday. During those weeks, unless you've booked leave, you're expected at the company.
• The booking calendar is often negotiated at the start of the year. Plan ahead: in many small firms, everyone books August off, and the apprentice ends up on their own.
• Young people under 21 as of 30 April of the current year can request a total of 30 working days' leave, even without having accrued full entitlement — the extra days then being unpaid (Article L. 3141-8 of the Labour Code).

There's also a specific entitlement on top: exam revision leave. Article L. 6222-35 grants apprentices five working days of additional leave to prepare for the qualification exams, to be taken in the month preceding the exams. These five days are paid and are added to paid holiday. They aren't requested from the CFA but from the employer, with a simple letter or email citing the article. Many apprentices never take them simply because they don't know about them.

These five days are a right, not a favour. The employer cannot refuse them to an apprentice registered for the exams.

To make those five days genuinely useful, prepare for them: a printed revision planner, summary cards, and for many people, noise-cancelling headphones, which make revising in a shared flat or an open-plan office far more bearable. Comfort while working at home isn't a luxury when you're juggling a 35-hour week and a dissertation.

Other absences: what's allowed and what isn't

Not all absences are equal. Here are the main situations work-study employees encounter.

Situation	Supporting document	Paid?
Illness with a sick note	Sections 1-2-3	Daily benefits after the waiting period (+ possible top-up)
Workplace / commuting accident	Employer declaration + certificate	Yes, from day 1, at an enhanced rate
Exam leave (apprentice)	Exam summons	Yes, 5 working days
Death of a close relative	Death certificate	Yes, statutory or collectively agreed duration
Birth / marriage / civil partnership	Civil status document	Yes, family-event leave
JDC (defence and citizenship day) summons	Summons	Yes, 1 day
Pre-employment medical examination	SPST appointment letter	Yes, counted as working time
Transport strike	None	No, unless the employer is lenient
Unjustified CFA absence	—	No, plus a pay deduction

That last line deserves a moment's attention. An unjustified absence from training results in a legitimate pay deduction, since CFA time is paid working time. If repeated, it can also form the basis of disciplinary proceedings, or even termination of the contract for misconduct. CFAs now send regular attendance reports to companies — the days when you could skip class without the employer knowing are over.

The mistakes that cost you dearly

Only notifying the CFA. This is the most common mistake. The CFA may well excuse you; the employer, however, will record an unjustified absence and deduct the corresponding pay.

Forgetting the salary certificate. Without it, the fund can't calculate your daily benefits. It's the employer's job to send it (via the DSN payroll declaration), but you're the one waiting for the money. Chase it up after a week.

Thinking health insurance top-up cover is optional. The employer must offer you its group supplementary health insurance, and the employer contribution is at least 50%. An apprentice can request an exemption in certain cases (cover under their parents' policy, contract of less than twelve months), but the exemption must be in writing. On a small salary, the company scheme is often still the best deal on the market.

Not reporting a minor accident. A cut that gets infected three days later becomes impossible to have recognised if nothing was declared at the time. The minor accidents register exists precisely for this: ask to be entered in it.

Going back too soon without a return-to-work medical. After leave of at least 30 days for a workplace accident or illness, or 60 days for a non-occupational illness, a return-to-work medical with the occupational health and prevention service is compulsory. It protects the apprentice as much as the employer.

What if the sick leave falls during the exams?

That's the nightmare scenario, and it can be managed. Two rules to know.

First, a medical certificate covering the day of the exam allows you, under most exam regulations (BTS, BUT, RNCP-registered qualifications), to sit a resit session or get a second chance. Send the certificate to the rectorat or the certifying body immediately, scrupulously respecting the deadline stated in the regulations — often 48 to 72 hours. After that deadline, the absence becomes disqualifying.

Second, a long period of sick leave can justify an extension of the apprenticeship contract. Article L. 6222-11 provides that the contract's duration may be extended by one year, notably in the event of exam failure, but also where circumstances — including illness — have prevented the training from being followed. This is negotiated three ways: you, the employer and the CFA, with an amendment to the contract filed with the OPCO.

In both cases, the reflex is the same: write it down, quickly, and to everyone. A dated email is worth a thousand oral explanations three weeks later.

The memo to keep

• CFA time is working time: any absence must be justified to the employer AND the CFA, within 48 hours.
• Ordinary illness: 3-day waiting period, daily benefits at ≈ 50%, employer top-up often conditional on one year of service.
• Workplace or commuting accident: no waiting period, enhanced daily benefits, 100% coverage of care — including for an accident at the CFA or on the journey there.
• Five weeks of paid holiday, to be taken during periods at the company, never during class weeks.
• Five paid working days of exam revision leave for apprentices, in the month preceding the exams.
• Check subrogation and your collective agreement before you need them: they are what determine your actual cash flow.

The reference texts can be consulted on Légifrance (Articles L. 6222-11 to L. 6222-35 and L. 3141-1 et seq. of the Labour Code), the compensation arrangements on ameli.fr, and the prevention fact sheets on the INRS website. In the event of a dispute with the employer, the apprenticeship mediator at the relevant chamber (CCI, CMA, Chamber of Agriculture) intervenes free of charge, before any referral to the industrial tribunal.

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