Employment law · Pay · annual bonus
The 13th month salary in France: is it mandatory, and pro rata if you leave mid-year?
No French statute requires a 13th month salary. It is owed only if your collective agreement, your employment contract or a company custom provides for it, and that text sets the conditions: amount, payment date, absences, joining or leaving during the year. A pro rata share on leaving is therefore not automatic. A 13th month that is owed but unpaid can be claimed within three years (Labour Code, article L3245-1).
- Official texts cited
- Sources checked on
- Drafted with AI assistance, our method
General legal information with official references and dated checks. It is not personalised advice: for a decision that commits you, have your situation checked by a qualified professional.
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Can a French employer stop paying a 13th month paid for years?
Yes, a French employer can stop paying a 13th month based on a company custom, but only by withdrawing it properly: informing the staff committee (CSE), sending each employee concerned an individual letter and giving sufficient notice (service-public.fr, page F311). Without that procedure, the bonus remains owed. A 13th month set by the employment contract cannot be removed without your consent.
Read the referencesYou are leaving a French employer mid-year or your 13th month was cut: I can help you find where it comes from, whether it is owed pro rata and how much to claim.
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Where does a French 13th month come from: agreement, contract or custom?
A French 13th month comes from one of four sources: your collective agreement (convention collective), your employment contract, a company custom (usage d’entreprise) or a unilateral commitment by the employer. No statute requires it: the official site service-public.fr states that a bonus is compulsory only when one of these sources provides for it.
To find yours, start with your payslip: it names the collective agreement that applies. Look in that agreement for the article on the annual bonus, the 13th month (treizième mois) or the year-end bonus (prime de fin d’année). Then reread your contract and its amendments. If nothing is written but the bonus is paid every year to a whole team under the same formula, it is probably a custom. Once owed, the bonus is part of your pay within the meaning of article L3221-3 of the French Labour Code (Code du travail).
- Collective agreement: the article on the annual bonus
- Employment contract and amendments: the pay clause
- Custom: payslips from several years, yours and colleagues’
Salaire, primes et avantages (page F2301, in French)Qu’est-ce qu’un usage d’entreprise ? (page F311, in French)Code du travail : article L3221-3
Do you get a pro-rated 13th month if you leave mid-year?
You get a pro-rated 13th month when you leave before its payment date only if your collective agreement, your contract or a company custom provides for it. France’s highest court, the Cour de cassation, ruled so in full court (assemblée plénière) on 5 March 1993 (no. 89-43.464): pro rata payment of a 13th month to an employee who left before the payment date can only come from an agreement or a custom, and the employee must prove it.
So read the clause word for word. Three wordings are common: a pro rata for employees who join or leave during the year, a presence condition (condition de présence) on the payment date, such as 31 December, or nothing at all. With a pro rata, the usual formula is annual amount × months present / 12. With a presence condition or a silent text, leaving before the date normally means losing that year’s bonus. If the bonus was owed and not paid, you have three years to claim it (Labour Code, article L3245-1).
Cour de cassation, assemblée plénière, 5 March 1993, no. 89-43.464 (pro-rated 13th month)Code du travail : article L3245-1
How much is your pro-rated 13th month?
This worksheet applies your text’s rule to the time you spent with the employer: annual amount × months counted / months in the period. It does not tell you whether a pro rata applies: your collective agreement, contract or the custom decides that.
Fictional example · Your pro-rated 13th month
Your text provides for a pro rata: the amount below is what it gives for the months counted. Ask for it in writing on your final payslip or final settlement; if it is not paid, article L3245-1 of the French Labour Code gives you three years.
- Months counted after deducted absences
- 6
- Indicative claim deadline (3 years after the due date)
- 2029-12-15
- Pro-rated 13th month (gross)
- 1,200.00 €
- Copy out the 13th-month clause: source, amount, payment date, presence condition, deducted absences.
- Check whether 1,200.00 € appears on your final payslip or final settlement (solde de tout compte).
- Gather your payslips from past years: they prove a custom or a constant amount.
- Send the employer a written, costed claim by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt.
- If it refuses, file a claim with the employment tribunal (conseil de prud’hommes) before 2029-12-15.
Gross estimate from your entries only: no collective-agreement rule is assumed. It does not say whether the 13th month is owed to you; the text that creates it decides that.
Which figures frame the 13th month in France?
The official figures that frame a 13th month in France.
- Time limit to claim an owed and unpaid 13th month, covering the last three years
- 3 years
- since 17 June 2013 · French Labour Code, article L3245-1
- Gross monthly minimum wage (Smic) for a 35-hour week
- 1,867.02 €
- since 1 June 2026 · Service-public.fr, page F2300
- Year-end bonus paid in one go, counted when checking the Smic
- No
- unless paid in monthly instalments · Service-public.fr, page F2300
Can a company custom make the 13th month compulsory?
Yes, a company custom makes the 13th month compulsory when it meets three conditions: the bonus is paid to all staff or to a category of staff (generality, généralité), regularly over several years (consistency, constance), under precise calculation rules (fixed terms, fixité). Service-public.fr (page F311) and the Cour de cassation (social chamber, 27 May 1987, no. 82-42.115) set out these criteria. The employee must prove the custom, by any means: payslips from several years, colleagues’ statements, internal memos.
A custom does not last forever. The employer may end it without giving a reason, but must inform the staff committee (CSE) if there is one, notify each employee concerned by individual letter and give sufficient notice. A notice board posting or an internal memo is not enough. Until that procedure is followed, the custom still applies and the bonus remains owed.
Qu’est-ce qu’un usage d’entreprise ? (page F311, in French)Cour de cassation, social chamber, 27 May 1987, no. 82-42.115 (company custom)
Does sick leave or part-time work reduce your 13th month?
Sick leave or part-time work reduces your 13th month only if the text that creates it says so, and within the limits of the law. For sick leave, check whether the clause deducts absences. If it does, it must treat sick leave like any other absence: a cut reserved for illness would be discrimination based on state of health, which article L1132-1 of the Labour Code prohibits in matters of pay. Some collective agreements, on the contrary, keep the bonus during sick leave.
For part-time work, article L3123-5 of the Labour Code sets two rules: part-time employees have the same rights under collective agreements as full-time employees, and their pay is proportional to their working time. In practice, if you work half time, a 13th month equal to one month’s salary is worth one month of your half-time salary.
Code du travail : article L1132-1Code du travail : article L3123-5
Is the 13th month counted when checking the French minimum wage?
No, a 13th month paid once a year is not counted when checking that you earn at least the French minimum wage (Smic). According to service-public.fr (page F2300, checked on 1 June 2026), year-end bonuses are left out of that comparison unless they are paid in monthly instalments.
The check uses the hourly pay for one hour of actual work, including benefits in kind and supplements that are in fact part of the salary (Labour Code, article D3231-6). According to service-public.fr, the gross Smic is 12.31 € an hour, or 1,867.02 € a month for a 35-hour week. If your monthly salary is below that, a 13th month paid in December does not make up the gap: the employer must pay a top-up every month. A 13th month spread over twelve payslips, on the other hand, can count in the comparison.
Smic : montant et règles (page F2300, in French)Code du travail : article D3231-6
Agreement, contract or custom: what does the source of your 13th month change?
| Source of the 13th month | Is it compulsory? | Leaving mid-year | Where to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collective agreement | Yes, for covered employees, on the agreement’s terms | Pro rata only if the agreement provides for it | Annual bonus article; the agreement is named on your payslip |
| Employment contract | Yes, it binds both parties | Pro rata only if the clause provides for it | Pay clause of the contract and its amendments |
| Company custom | Yes, if generality, consistency and fixed terms are met | Pro rata only if the custom has always applied one | Payslips from several years, yours and colleagues’ |
| Written unilateral commitment | Yes, until it is properly withdrawn | On the terms of the written commitment | The employer’s memo or letter |
| Bonus decided case by case | No, unless it becomes a custom | Nothing to claim | Nothing, unless paid regularly over several years |
When you leave before the payment date, a pro rata comes only from an agreement or a custom, which the employee must prove (Cour de cassation, full court, 5 March 1993).
Salaire, primes et avantages (page F2301, in French)Qu’est-ce qu’un usage d’entreprise ? (page F311, in French)Cour de cassation, assemblée plénière, 5 March 1993, no. 89-43.464 (pro-rated 13th month)
What does article D3231-6 of the French Labour Code say?
Le salaire horaire à prendre en considération pour l'application de l'article D. 3231-5 est celui qui correspond à une heure de travail effectif compte tenu des avantages en nature et des majorations diverses ayant le caractère de fait d'un complément de salaire.
Sont exclues les sommes versées à titre de remboursement de frais, les majorations pour heures supplémentaires prévues par la loi et la prime de transport.
In plain English: To check that you earn at least the Smic, the hourly pay for one hour of actual work is used, including benefits and supplements that are part of the salary. Reimbursed expenses, statutory overtime premiums and the transport bonus are excluded; a 13th month paid in one go does not count either.
The exclusion of a 13th month paid in one go comes from the Smic page of service-public.fr (F2300).
What do employees leaving before their 13th-month payment date ask?
Can a French employer stop paying a 13th month paid for years?
Yes, a French employer can stop paying a 13th month based on a company custom, but only by withdrawing it properly: informing the staff committee (CSE), sending each employee concerned an individual letter and giving sufficient notice (service-public.fr, page F311). Without that procedure, the bonus remains owed. A 13th month set by the employment contract cannot be removed without your consent.
Do fixed-term employees get the 13th month set by the agreement?
Yes, fixed-term employees (CDD) get the 13th month set by the collective agreement on the same terms as permanent employees (CDI): article L1242-14 of the French Labour Code extends to fixed-term contracts the statutory and agreement rules and the customs that apply to permanent staff, except those on termination. The text’s pro rata and presence condition therefore apply too.
Can the 13th month be spread over twelve monthly payslips?
A French 13th month can be spread over twelve monthly payslips if the text that creates it allows this or if you agree: a contract is binding on the parties (Civil Code, article 1103). It is then added to the salary paid once a month (Labour Code, article L3242-1). Paid in monthly instalments, it counts towards the Smic check, which a single payment does not (service-public.fr, page F2300).
Code civil : article 1103Code du travail : article L3242-1Smic : montant et règles (page F2300, in French)
How do you claim an unpaid 13th month after resigning in France?
To claim an unpaid 13th month after resigning in France, first send your former employer a written, costed claim, then file a claim with the employment tribunal (conseil de prud’hommes) if nothing is paid. You have three years from the date the bonus was due (Labour Code, article L3245-1). Only a court claim stops that clock, not a letter (Civil Code, article 2241).
Code du travail : article L3245-1Saisir le conseil de prud’hommes (page F2360, in French)Code civil : article 2241
You live in France but work in Switzerland: which 13th-month rules apply?
If you live in France but work for a Swiss employer, your 13th salary normally follows Swiss law, not the French rules on this page. The Swiss Code of Obligations separates an agreed 13th salary, which is part of the salary, from a bonus (gratification), owed pro rata only if agreed (article 322d CO).
Which French texts and rulings is this 13th-month guide based on?
- Salaire, primes et avantages (page F2301, in French)French Republic / DILA: Service-Public.fr
- Qu’est-ce qu’un usage d’entreprise ? (page F311, in French)French Republic / DILA: Service-Public.fr
- Code du travail : article L3221-3French Republic / DILA: Légifrance
- Cour de cassation, assemblée plénière, 5 March 1993, no. 89-43.464 (pro-rated 13th month)French Republic / DILA: Légifrance
- Code du travail : article L3245-1French Republic / DILA: Légifrance
- Cour de cassation, social chamber, 27 May 1987, no. 82-42.115 (company custom)French Republic / DILA: Légifrance
- Code du travail : article L1132-1French Republic / DILA: Légifrance
- Code du travail : article L3123-5French Republic / DILA: Légifrance
- Smic : montant et règles (page F2300, in French)French Republic / DILA: Service-Public.fr
- Code du travail : article D3231-6French Republic / DILA: Légifrance
- Code du travail : article L1242-14French Republic / DILA: Légifrance
- Code civil : article 1103French Republic / DILA: Légifrance
- Code du travail : article L3242-1French Republic / DILA: Légifrance
- Saisir le conseil de prud’hommes (page F2360, in French)French Republic / DILA: Service-Public.fr
- Code civil : article 2241French Republic / DILA: Légifrance
- Swiss Code of Obligations (CO), art. 322d (in French)Swiss Confederation: Fedlex
Texts cited last checked: 30 October 2026