Sick Leave Notice Letter to Employer — French Template

Under Article R. 321-2 of the French Social Security Code (Code de la sécurité sociale), you have 48 hours from the date the sick-leave certificate is issued to send volet 3 to your employer and volets 1 and 2 to your health insurance fund (CPAM or MSA for agricultural workers). The same 48-hour rule applies to each extension (prolongation) as well as to the initial certificate.

A first late submission results in a formal warning from your health fund (caisse). A second late submission within the following 24 months may trigger a 50% reduction in your indemnités journalières (daily sick-pay allowances) for the period between the certificate's issue date and the date of dispatch to the fund. This reduction does not apply if the delay was genuinely unavoidable — for example, due to hospitalisation.

If your doctor uses télétransmission — secure electronic submission directly to the CPAM — you do not need to forward volets 1 and 2 yourself. However, you are still required to send volet 3 or the télétransmission receipt to your employer within the same 48-hour window, to formally notify them of your absence and its expected duration. Keep the receipt as your personal proof of compliance.

Télétransmission is the secure electronic submission of your sick-leave certificate (arrêt de travail) by your doctor directly to the CPAM via certified medical software. You then receive an administrative summary or receipt to forward to your employer within 48 hours. Strongly promoted by the Assurance Maladie (the French national health insurer), télétransmission is now the dominant method and eliminates the risk of paper documents being lost or falsified. Official CERFA forms remain the only valid alternative for paper-based certificates.

You may send volet 3 by post — registered mail (recommandé) is strongly recommended as it provides dated proof of dispatch — deliver it in person against a signed acknowledgement, or send it by email if your employer accepts this method. The key requirement is meeting the 48-hour deadline. Whichever method you choose, retain a dated proof of dispatch in case it is queried by your fund or employer.

Yes. A short covering letter (lettre de transmission) accompanying volet 3 should clearly state your name and job title, the start date and expected duration of your absence, and cite Article R. 321-2 of the Social Security Code as the legal basis for the notification. ActioFin provides a pre-filled template that you simply date and sign — practical when you are unwell and short on time.