Overview
- Patrick Martin, president of the Medef, publicly proposed that short-term medical absences should no longer be reimbursed as a way to discourage people he says abuse brief sick leave.
- He said any change must not simply shift the bill to employers or to private complementary health insurers, warning that firms already face squeezed margins from inflation.
- The proposal revives an idea earlier floated by the Cour des comptes and comes as the government prepares formal talks with social partners on sick-leave savings.
- The government has set a broad savings target for sick leave for the 2027 budget and has already moved to tighten some indemnity rules and punish repeated abuse through new sanctions.
- If implemented, non-reimbursement of short absences would alter who pays for the first days of leave—known in France as jours de carence—and could raise costs for workers, employers, or private insurers depending on how rules are written.