The deadline registerEmployee on sick leave · employer top-up
Employer medical check during sick leave in France: when the doctor can come and what it can stop
In France, an employer that pays the sick-pay top-up can have the sick leave checked by a doctor it appoints, at home without notice, outside the permitted outing hours, or at the doctor’s surgery by appointment (Labour Code, articles L1226-1 and R1226-11). If the leave is found unjustified, the top-up can stop for the rest of it; the CPAM daily benefits are suspended only by decision of the fund.
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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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Describe the visit and what your employer passed on, without any medical diagnosis.
Example questions
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When can the employer’s doctor come to your home?
At any point during the leave, without notice, but outside the permitted outing hours (Labour Code, article R1226-11). If the sick note allows outings, you must be at home from 9 am to 11 am and from 2 pm to 4 pm, except for treatment or medical tests (Social Security Code, article R323-11-1): that is when the doctor can call.
With unrestricted outings, you give your employer, from the start of the leave, your place of rest and the hours at which the check can take place (article R1226-10). The doctor can also summon you to the surgery by a means that gives the date with certainty; if you cannot travel, tell the doctor and give the reason.
Sources: C. trav. R1226-11 · C. trav. R1226-10 · CSS R323-11-1
What happens if the doctor finds your leave unjustified?
The doctor informs the employer, who passes the conclusion on to you without delay (Labour Code, article R1226-12). The employer can then stop the top-up for the rest of the leave, never for the days before the visit (Cour de cassation, 15 October 1987, no. 85-40.555).
For the daily benefits, the doctor sends a report within 48 hours to the CPAM medical service, which asks for the benefits to be suspended or reviews your situation (Social Security Code, article L315-1). After a suspension, you have 10 clear days (jours francs) from its notification to ask for an examination; the service answers within 4 clear days (article D315-4).
Sources: CSS L315-1 · CSS D315-4 · Cass. soc. 85-40.555
Can you be dismissed for being absent at the check?
No, not for that reason alone. Being absent at a counter-visit can cost you the top-up, but it is not in itself a ground for dismissal (Cour de cassation, 10 November 1998, no. 96-42.969).
An absence justified by treatment linked to the leave, or an inability to travel reported to the doctor, cannot be held against you. Nor can a visit made outside the hours when you had to be present.
Sources: Cass. soc. 96-42.969 · C. trav. R1226-11
What follows from your counter-visit, and which date should you note?
Enter the outings shown on your sick note, the time and the result of the visit: the register says whether the top-up is still due and dates what follows at the CPAM. The example: a visit on 16 September 2026 during the hours of presence, leave found unjustified, suspension of benefits notified on 22 September.
Fictional example · counter-visit register
The employer can stop the top-up from the visit, never for the days before. The CPAM alone decides on the daily benefits.
Days left: to be calculated
Counter-visit by the doctor appointed by the employer
Employer top-up: due until the day before, it can stop for the rest of the leave
At the latest: the doctor’s report to the CPAM medical service (48 hours)
CPAM notice suspending the daily sickness benefits
Deadline to ask for an examination by the medical service (10 clear days)
Ask your fund for the examination before 5 October 2026; the medical service rules within 4 clear days of receiving your request.
An extension prescribed after the visit restores the top-up, unless there is a new counter-visit. To challenge the doctor’s opinion, you can ask the employment tribunal for an expert examination in summary proceedings.
What has changed for the employer’s medical check since 2024?
A decree set the procedure in 2024; an anti-fraud law completed it in 2026.
The Labour Code organises the counter-visit: place of rest and hours to give, visit without notice or by appointment, informing the employer then the employee (decree no. 2024-692 of 5 July 2024, articles R1226-10 to R1226-12).
Source: C. trav. R1226-10
No employer top-up in case of proven fraud on daily benefits that the employer was told about; a medical service that departs from the opinion of the employer’s doctor informs the employer by a reasoned opinion (law no. 2026-534 of 25 June 2026, Labour Code article L1226-1 and Social Security Code article L315-1).
Sources: C. trav. L1226-1 · CSS L315-1
In Alsace-Moselle, an employer that keeps paying the salary can now have a counter-visit carried out and stop that pay if the leave is found unjustified (Labour Code, article L1226-23).
Source: C. trav. L1226-23
What does article R1226-11 of the Labour Code say about the counter-visit?
The text setting when and where the check takes place, in force since 7 July 2024.
La contre-visite s’effectue à tout moment de l’arrêt de travail et, au choix du médecin :
-soit au domicile du salarié ou au lieu communiqué par lui en application de l’article R. 1226-10, en s’y présentant, sans qu’aucun délai de prévenance ne soit exigé, en dehors des heures de sortie autorisées en application de l’article R. 323-11-1 du code de la sécurité sociale ou, s’il y a lieu, aux heures communiquées en application de l’article R. 1226-10 du présent code ;
-soit au cabinet du médecin, sur convocation de celui-ci par tout moyen conférant date certaine à la convocation.
In English, briefly (our summary, not an official translation): The counter-visit can take place at any point during the sick leave and, as the doctor chooses, either at the employee’s home or at the place they gave under article R1226-10, by calling there with no notice required, outside the outing hours authorised under article R323-11-1 of the Social Security Code or, where relevant, at the hours given under article R1226-10; or at the doctor’s surgery, on an appointment sent by any means that gives the date with certainty. The same article provides that the doctor rules on whether the leave, including its length, is justified.
At which hours must you be reachable, depending on your sick note?
What the doctor writes on the sick note sets the hours when a home visit can take place.
| Wording on the sick note | Presence required | When the visit can take place |
|---|---|---|
| Outings not allowed | All day | At any time |
| Outings allowed | From 9 am to 11 am and from 2 pm to 4 pm, every day | During those hours |
| Unrestricted outings | At the hours you gave your employer | At those hours |
| Appointment at the surgery | On the day and at the time of the appointment | On an appointment with a certain date |
According to the Assurance maladie, the 9 am to 11 am and 2 pm to 4 pm slots also apply on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
Sources: CSS R323-11-1 · C. trav. R1226-11
What do employees checked during sick leave ask?
Does the employer’s doctor give your diagnosis to the employer?
No. The doctor carrying out the check gives only administrative conclusions, without the medical reasons behind them, and remains bound by medical secrecy (Public Health Code, article R4127-104).
Can the employer’s doctor stop your daily benefits?
No, only the fund can. The doctor sends a report to the medical service, which asks for the benefits to be suspended or carries out a new examination, automatically if the check could not take place (Social Security Code, article L315-1).
Does an extension after the check restore the top-up?
Yes. An extension prescribed by your doctor after the check restores the right to the top-up; an employer that disputes it must have a new counter-visit carried out (Cour de cassation, 5 March 1997, no. 94-44.902).
Must you go back to work on the date set by the employer’s doctor?
Not necessarily. An employee who follows their own doctor’s prescriptions rather than returning on the date set by the checking doctor commits no misconduct; the checking doctor’s conclusions only deprive them of the top-up (Cour de cassation, 10 October 1995, no. 91-45.242).
Which texts set these rules on the counter-visit?
- Labour Code, article R1226-11 (when, where and what the counter-visit covers)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, articles R1226-10 and R1226-12 (the employee’s information, the doctor’s conclusions)Légifrance, in French
- Social Security Code, article L315-1 (report within 48 hours, suspension or new examination)Légifrance, in French
- Social Security Code, article D315-4 (10 clear days, answer within 4 clear days)Légifrance, in French
- Social Security Code, article R323-11-1 (outing hours)Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L1226-1 (employer top-up and counter-visit)Légifrance, in French
- Cour de cassation, social chamber, 15 October 1987, no. 85-40.555Légifrance, in French
- Cour de cassation, social chamber, 10 November 1998, no. 96-42.969Légifrance, in French
- Labour Code, article L1226-23 (Alsace-Moselle: continued pay and counter-visit)Légifrance, in French
- Checking an employee on sick leave: what are the rules? (fiche F33908)Service-public.fr, in French · checked by the publisher on 17 August 2026
Texts cited last checked: 25 September 2026