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A change is coming for all French employees starting February 1. It’s not about *how* the allowance is calculated, but the amounts themselves.
Understanding Your Daily Sick Pay
The daily allowance typically represents 50% of your basic daily salary. Health Insurance determines this salary by adding your last three gross monthly salaries adn dividing the total by 91.25 – the average number of days in a quarter. For instance, if you earn 3,000 euros gross per month, your basic daily salary is 98.63 euros gross (9,000/91.25).Halving that figure gives you the 50% paid by Health Insurance, which is 49.31 euros gross.
Even high earners aren’t exempt from a cap on thes daily allowances.Currently, this ceiling is 1.4 times the minimum wage. If your sick leave begins in January 2026, this is calculated based on the minimum wage in effect on December 1, 2025, resulting in 2,522.52 euros gross.Consequently, the maximum daily compensation for work stoppages prescribed in January 2026 amounts to 41.47 euros gross.
Here’s where things shift. From February 1,2026,the ceiling will be tied to the new minimum wage,which took effect on January 1,2026.As the minimum wage has increased, the ceiling for Health Insurance will also rise. It’s now at 2,552.24 euros gross, which directly increases the maximum daily allowance to 41.95 euros gross per day.
The Waiting Period and private Sector Rules
Remember, there’s a three-day waiting period. Daily allowances don’t kick in untill the fourth day of your work stoppage. However, your company’s collective agreement might provide salary continuation even during those first three days. These rules currently apply only to private sector employees.
The Health Insurance website, Ameli.fr, provides a complete list of maximum compensation amounts. For example, the maximum compensation for family reasons – maternity, paternity, childcare, adoption, or bereavement – is 104.02 euros gross per day. In the event of a work accident or occupational illness, the maximum is 240.49 euros gross per day,or 60% of the basic daily salary
