How Are Hotel and Restaurant Employees Paid on Official Holidays in France?

For a hotel or restaurant employee in France, working on an official holiday does not automatically mean their pay will double. In the Hôtels-Cafés-Restaurants (HCR) sector, the outcome varies depending on the employee's seniority, whether the day is designated as a 'guaranteed official holiday' by the establishment, and whether the employee is working, on leave, or on their weekly rest that day.

The Assomption holiday on August 15, 2026, became one of the current examples of this system. According to French Labor Law, working on official holidays other than May 1 is generally permitted. Details regarding pay increases or compensation rights can be determined by collective agreements, company agreements, or more favorable practices.

In the hotel, café, and restaurant sector, the HCR collective labor agreement adds sector-specific rights on top of the general legal framework.

HCR employees have 10 official holiday rights

According to the 6th annex of the HCR collective labor agreement published on Légifrance on December 15, 2009, employees with at least one year of seniority in the same establishment or company benefit from 10 official holidays in addition to May 1.

Six of these 10 days are classified as "jours fériés garantis," meaning guaranteed official holiday status. Different rules apply to the other four days.

This distinction is particularly important for hospitality and restaurant management. Many establishments in the sector continue to operate on official holidays due to high demand instead of closing.

Therefore, the legislation regulates how the employee's rights will be compensated later rather than simply asking whether the establishment is open or closed.

What does guaranteed official holiday mean?

The term "guaranteed" does not mean that the employee must necessarily rest at home that day.

The main assurance is that the employee does not lose their right to that holiday.

According to the HCR agreement, the six guaranteed days are protected through paid leave, time compensation, or monetary compensation, even if the employee works on that date, is on their weekly rest, or cannot actually benefit from their holiday right under certain conditions.

For example, if August 15 is one of the guaranteed days designated by the establishment that year and the employee works that day, they earn a compensation right in addition to their normal pay. The source sector guide explains this through an additional rest day or equivalent compensation.

Even if the holiday coincides with the employee's weekly rest day, if it is classified as a guaranteed day, the right does not completely disappear.

This is an important employee protection in sectors like HORECA, where weekend and official holiday work is common.

The system is different for the other four holidays

Only six of the ten official holidays are guaranteed.

For the other four days, the HCR agreement establishes a different arrangement. If the establishment is closed due to the holiday and the employee does not work, their pay should not be deducted.

If the establishment's activity requires the employee to work that day, the employee earns one day's compensation right. However, if the holiday coincides with the employee's normal rest day, there is no additional compensation or payment right for these four "non-guaranteed" days.

The distinction here is important: there is no general HCR rule stating "worked on an official holiday = automatic double pay."

The French public service portal Service-Public also states that there is no legal requirement for automatic double pay for official holidays other than May 1; more favorable conditions may arise from collective agreements or company regulations.

Why is May 1 different?

May 1 has a distinct legal status compared to other official holidays in France.

As a general rule, May 1 is a paid holiday where no work is performed. In establishments where work cannot be suspended due to the nature of the activity, staff may work; however, in this case, the employee has the right to receive an additional payment equal to their normal pay. In other words, working on May 1 legally entitles the employee to double pay.

Therefore, holidays like August 15, July 14, or November 11 should not be assumed to be subject to the same pay regime as May 1.

Seniority requirement is decisive for employees

One of the important points in the HCR system is seniority.

For continuous employees, a one-year seniority in the same establishment or company is required to benefit from the 10-day sectoral official holiday right.

However, if the establishment completely closes on an official holiday, general French labor law also comes into play. According to Service-Public, a minimum of three months of seniority is sufficient under the general rule to prevent pay loss for unworked official holidays.

Thus, there is no single answer to the question of "three months or one year?"

Three months is significant for protecting pay for unworked official holidays under general law; one year is the fundamental condition for benefiting from the broader 10-day sectoral right in the HCR collective agreement.

Seasonal workers are not completely outside the system

This distinction is even more important for seasonal HORECA businesses in France.

The current text of the HCR collective agreement provides for the proportional application of official holiday rights according to the duration of the contract after accumulating nine months of seniority in seasonal establishments and seasonal contracted employees of continuous establishments.

For example, previous contracts of a person working in different seasons within the same hotel group can gain importance in seniority calculations under certain conditions.

L’Hôtellerie-Restauration also reminds that the rights of seasonal workers are calculated proportionally according to the duration of the contract and that previous fixed-term contracts can be taken into account in seniority calculations.

This issue is particularly critical for human resources management in resort hotels, beach restaurants, and seasonal tourism destinations.

The main risk for businesses is the registration system before payroll

At first glance, the official holiday system may seem like a payroll issue, but it requires operational tracking for HCR businesses.

The employer must keep records of which days are considered guaranteed days, whether the employee worked on those days, and which rights were later utilized.

According to the contract on Légifrance, the establishment must check at the end of the period whether the employee has benefited from the guaranteed days they are entitled to. Unused rights can be granted as leave within a certain period or compensated; at the end of the period, remaining rights must be paid as wages.

Therefore, for a hotel with hundreds of staff, the issue is not just "what will be written on the August 15 payroll?"

Shift planning, weekly leave, annual leave, guaranteed holiday rights, and payroll records must be tracked within the same system.

What does this mean for businesses in Turkey?

French HCR rules do not apply to employees in Turkey. The payment of work on official holidays in Turkey is subject to separate rules under Turkish labor law.

However, these distinctions are directly important for Turkish companies operating hotels or restaurants in France, HR managers working in international hotel groups, or HORECA professionals going to work in France.

The broader lesson in management is similar regardless of the country: official holiday planning is not an issue to be left solely to the payroll department.

If the operations manager does not know which compensation right will arise when scheduling the employee for a shift, it can lead to wage disputes, unused leave accumulation, and employee dissatisfaction later on.

Stafflink’s view

Working on official holidays in the HORECA sector is not an exception; it is a natural part of operations for most businesses. Precisely for this reason, tracking employee rights at the level of "did they work that day or not?" is not sufficient.

The French example shows that the same official holiday can yield different results depending on the employee's seniority and the status of the day.

In our view, large hotel and restaurant businesses should not manage their shift systems and payroll processes independently. Processing the compensation rights that arise when preparing shifts into the system, allowing the manager to see this, and enabling the employee to track their remaining rights is healthier from both an operational and employee experience perspective.

Otherwise, even if the legal rights exist, the employee may only realize this months later during a payroll dispute.

The way to manage the cost of official holidays correctly is not to reduce employee rights but to plan in advance what time and pay burden each day brings to the business.