Chapter 1: Holiday vouchers

Employees of companies and organisations subject to the provisions of articles L. 3141-1 and L. 3141-2 of the French Labour Code, 3° and 4° of article L. 5424-1 and article L. 5423-3 of the same code, employees of individual employers, heads of companies with fewer than fifty employees, their spouses, their cohabiting partners or their partners linked to them by a civil solidarity pact, as well as their dependents, as…

Holiday vouchers may be issued to public authorities and approved service providers in payment of expenses incurred on national territory by beneficiaries for their holidays, transport, accommodation, meals or leisure activities. Holiday vouchers may also be given in payment of expenses incurred on the territory of the Member States of the European Union to service providers who have signed agreements with the public establishment instituted by article L. 411-13, in…

Public authorities and approved service providers may, particularly in the transport sector, grant holiday voucher holders fare reductions and bonuses that vary according to the time of year. Agreements are signed with service providers based on the commitments they make regarding prices and the quality of their services.

The benefit resulting from the employer’s contribution to the acquisition of holiday vouchers by the beneficiaries mentioned in article L. 411-1 is exempt from income tax, up to the limit of the minimum growth wage assessed on a monthly basis.

The employer’s contribution referred to in Articles L. 411-1 and L. 411-5 is exempt from payroll tax under the conditions and within the limits set by Articles L. 411-9 and L. 411-10.

Subject to the provisions of 2° of article L. 411-10, the employer, after consulting the works council or, where there is no works council, the staff representatives or any other consultative body with competence in the field of social works, shall define the terms and conditions for the possible allocation of holiday vouchers to the beneficiaries mentioned in article L. 411-1.

In companies with fewer than fifty employees, which do not have a works council and which are not covered by a joint body mentioned in article L. 411-20, and as far as the individual employer is concerned, the benefit resulting from the employer’s contribution to the acquisition of holiday vouchers by the beneficiaries mentioned in article L. 411-1 is exempt from the contributions and levies provided for by employment and…

The exemption provided for in Article L. 411-9 is granted if : 1° The fraction of the value of the holiday vouchers paid for by the employer is higher for employees with the lowest salaries; 2° The amount of the employer’s contribution and the terms and conditions of its allocation, in particular the modulation defined in accordance with 1° above, are the subject either of a collective branch agreement at…

The employer’s contribution to the purchase of holiday vouchers by an employee may not exceed a percentage of the value in full discharge of liabilities set by decree. This decree defines different percentages depending on the employee’s remuneration and family situation. This total annual contribution may not exceed half the product of the total number of employees multiplied by the minimum monthly growth wage, including social security contributions, as assessed…

Holiday vouchers are valid until 31 December of the second calendar year following the year of issue. Vouchers not used during this period may be exchanged within three months of the end of the period of use for holiday vouchers of the same value. Holiday vouchers which have not been presented for reimbursement by service providers before the end of the third month following the expiry of their period of…