Strengthening the framework for the prescription of sick leave

Law No. 2026-534 June 25, 2026

The law on the fight against social and tax fraud, published in the Official Journal of 26 June 2026, aims to tighten the control of sick leave by regulating the use of telemedicine. Thus, any prescription for sick leave will now be conditional on a prior oral exchange between the practitioner and the patient and the renewal of sick leave by telemedicine will be limited to a single one. In addition, an employee on sick leave is required to declare to his fund the address at which he may be subject to an inspection if it is different from the one indicated on the certificate.

The employer’s failure to comply with the training obligation no longer automatically entitles the employee to financial compensation

Cass. Soc., June 17, 2026, n°25-10.517

To obtain financial compensation for the employer’s failure to comply with the training obligation, the Court of Cassation now rules that the employee must justify the existence of prejudice, the assessment of which is a matter for the sole discretion of the judges. With this decision, the Court of Cassation reversed case law by adding the obligation of training to the list of breaches requiring the employee to prove the existence of a prejudice to be compensated. The High Court thus puts an end to the principle of “automatic prejudice” in terms of the training obligation, thus continuing to gradually abandon this principle since its 2016 judgments. In a decision dated June 24, 2026 (No. 24-22.792), the Court of Cassation adopted the same solution in the event of a violation by the employer of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The employee’s work on his own initiative during sick leave does not automatically entitle the employee to financial compensation

Cass. soc. 1st July 2026, n°25-15.732

In this case, an employee who had worked on her own initiative during sick leave had referred the matter to the Labor Court to obtain damages based on the employer’s failure to comply with its health and safety obligation. Her claim was rejected by both the Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation since the employee had worked on her own initiative, without a request from the employer, she did not establish the reality and the substance of her prejudice.

The waiver of the application of the non-competition clause must be made in compliance with the contractual period and, at the latest, upon the employee’s effective departure

Cass. soc. 1July 2026, n°25-10.960

In this decision, the Court of Cassation recalled that in the event of the employee’s resignation, if the employer wishes to waive the application of the non-competition clause, it must do so in compliance with the contractual period and, at the latest, on the date of the employee’s effective departure from the company. Indeed, it is from the effective departure of the employee from the company that the latter is bound by the non-competition clause and is therefore entitled to request payment of the financial consideration of the non-competition clause.