Unpaid bonus or 13th-month pay in France: when your employer owes it, how to claim it in writing, and the time limit

03

When must a French employer pay a bonus?

A bonus claim requires finding its contractual or customary basis and conditions. If your claim concerns ordinary monthly wages, use the unpaid-wages guide.

The employer must pay a bonus or premium when the employment contract, a collective agreement, an established company practice (usage) or a written unilateral commitment provides it. A purely discretionary payment, decided each time with no rule or regularity, cannot be claimed (service-public F2301; French Civil Code, article 1103).

The name decides nothing: a "13th month" is not necessarily one month of salary, and a "bonus" can be compulsory. The source sets the amount, the reference period, the payment date and any condition, such as still being employed on that date.

Sources: Service-public F2301 · C. civ. 1103

04

How do you prove that a bonus has become a company practice?

A company practice needs three conditions together: the bonus goes to all staff or a whole category (general), at every due date (constant), with a fixed amount or method (fixed). The employee must prove them (service-public F311; Cour de cassation, social chamber, 27 May 1987, n° 82-42.115).

Payslips over several years, yours and colleagues’ in the same category, and internal memos are the usual evidence. To end a practice, the employer must inform the staff representatives and each employee in writing, with reasonable notice; otherwise the bonus remains owed (service-public F311).

Sources: Service-public F311 · Cass. soc., 27 May 1987

05

Do you get a pro-rata 13th month if you leave before it is paid?

Only if the contract, the collective agreement, a company agreement or a company practice provides it: otherwise an employee who leaves before the payment date has no right to a share of the 13th month (Cour de cassation, full court, 5 March 1993, n° 89-43.464).

The pro rata follows the unit the source sets, most often the time worked: for 9 months out of 12, €3,600 × 9 / 12 = €2,700 gross. Also read the clause on being employed on the payment date: if it makes that a condition, the answer changes.

Source: Cass. full court, 5 March 1993

06

What can you claim if your employer never set your targets?

When variable pay depends on targets the employer must set alone and it never set them, the variable pay is owed in full; the court cannot simply apply an earlier year’s targets (Cour de cassation, social chamber, 7 June 2023, n° 21-23.232).

Targets given too late, or that cannot be held against the employee, have the same effect: in a 2020 case the Court applied the maximum bonus of the plan (Cour de cassation, social chamber, 25 November 2020, n° 19-17.246). So work out the variable pay from the pay plan itself.

Sources: Cass. soc., 7 June 2023 · Cass. soc., 25 November 2020

07

Who has to prove that the bonus was paid, or not?

The employee proves the bonus is owed: the clause, agreement, commitment or practice, and that its conditions are met. The employer that says it has paid must prove the payment; handing over a payslip is not enough on its own (French Civil Code, article 1353; Cour de cassation, social chamber, 16 June 2021, n° 19-25.344).

If the bonus appears on a final settlement receipt (reçu pour solde de tout compte) you signed, the receipt clears the employer for the sums it lists 6 months after signature: challenge it in writing before then (French Labour Code, article L1234-20).

Sources: C. civ. 1353 · Cass. soc., 16 June 2021 · C. trav. L1234-20