If you're feeling too unwell to work in France, you need an arrêt de travail , the official sick leave certificate that protects your job, triggers your sick pay, and keeps you compliant with French labor law. Getting one wrong, or missing the submission window, can delay your payments or create friction with your employer. This guide walks you through the entire process: how to get your certificate, how to submit each part to CPAM and your employer, what the 48-hour rule really means, and how much money you'll actually receive.
Whether you're a French employee, an expat working under a French contract, or an HR contact supporting an internationally mobile team, this is the practical walkthrough that ties the whole process together , from the doctor's office to your bank account.
What Is an Arrêt de Travail?
An arrêt de travail is a medical certificate issued by a doctor confirming you're unfit to work for a specific period. It's the legal document that justifies your absence to your employer and unlocks daily sickness benefits, called indemnités journalières , from the sécurité sociale through CPAM (Caisse Primaire d'Assurance Maladie). The certificate exists in three parts, whether paper or digital:
- Part 1 , sent to CPAM, contains your diagnosis (confidential, medical section)
- Part 2 , also sent to CPAM, non-medical, used for administrative processing
- Part 3 , sent to your employer, contains no medical details, just dates and whether outings are authorized
You keep no original copy if your doctor submits it electronically, which is now the norm for most GPs (médecin traitant) using CPAM's connected software. If you receive a paper form, you keep a stub for your own records.
How to Get Your Arrêt de Travail
You have several legitimate routes to obtain a valid certificate, and not all require an in-person visit.
Who Can Issue an Arrêt de Travail
- Your médecin traitant (registered primary care doctor) , the most common route
- Any doctor you consult, including at a walk-in clinic or emergency room
- A doctor via teleconsultation , which is fully recognized by CPAM since 2020
- A midwife, in specific pregnancy-related cases
- The médecin du travail (occupational doctor), typically for work-related issues or return-to-work visits rather than initial sick notes
If you're an expat without a registered médecin traitant, don't panic , you can still be seen by any general practitioner, though your reimbursement rate may be slightly lower if you haven't declared a primary doctor with CPAM.
What Happens During the Consultation
The doctor evaluates your condition, decides how many days you need off, and completes the three-part form directly through their software, which transmits Parts 1 and 2 to CPAM automatically in most cases. They hand you (or email you) Part 3 for your employer. If you can't get a same-day in-person appointment , common for expats without a médecin traitant, remote workers outside major cities, or anyone dealing with a minor but genuinely limiting illness , a licensed teleconsultation is a fully valid alternative. This is where a service like Get Medical Certificate becomes useful: it connects you with a licensed doctor remotely and issues a compliant certificate quickly, without the wait times of walk-in clinics.
How to Submit Your Arrêt de Travail to CPAM and Your Employer
This is the step competitors tend to explain only half of. Getting the certificate is only the first move , submitting it correctly, to the right places, within the right timeframe, is what actually gets you paid.
The 48-Hour Rule
You must submit your arrêt de travail within 48 hours of it being issued. This applies to both CPAM and your employer, though the mechanics differ slightly:
| Recipient | How it's sent | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| CPAM | Automatically by doctor (digital) or Parts 1 & 2 by mail (paper) | 48 hours |
| Employer | Part 3 by hand, email, or post | 48 hours |
| You (employee) | Keep your stub or digital confirmation | No deadline , for your records |
If your doctor transmits electronically, CPAM's part is handled for you the moment you leave the appointment. Your job is simply to send Part 3 to your employer , by uploading it to your HR portal, emailing HR directly, or dropping it off , within that same 48-hour window.
What If You Miss the Deadline?
Missing the 48-hour window doesn't automatically void your certificate, but it can cause real problems:
- CPAM may send a warning letter for a first late submission
- Repeated late submissions can reduce your daily benefit amount
- Your employer may delay or dispute salary continuation if they weren't notified in time
- In cases of clear bad faith or repeated lateness, benefits can be suspended entirely
If you're hospitalized or genuinely unable to submit on time, document the reason , CPAM does allow leniency for legitimate circumstances, but you need to be able to explain the delay.
Using Your ameli.fr Account
Every employee covered by French sécurité sociale should have an ameli.fr account. Once your doctor submits your arrêt de travail electronically, it appears in your account within a day or two, and you can track:
- Whether CPAM has received and validated your certificate
- Your estimated indemnités journalières payment schedule
- Any extension requests tied to your case
- Messages from CPAM requesting more information
Keep your carte vitale details linked to your ameli.fr account and up to date , this is what allows CPAM to calculate and pay your benefits without you having to submit extra paperwork.
What Changed and When: The 2024/2025 Secure Paper Form Update
If your doctor still uses a paper arrêt de travail , which happens with some specialists, emergency rooms, or doctors without connected software , you need to know about a recent change that most guides skip over, or explain only from the employer's side. Since late 2024, CPAM rolled out a new secure paper form with anti-fraud features: a watermark, a unique QR code, and tighter formatting rules. This was introduced after a rise in falsified sick notes circulating online. it means practically, for you as the employee:
- Older paper forms are being phased out. If your doctor hands you a form that looks outdated, ask whether it's the current secure version , CPAM has been rejecting old-format submissions received after the transition period.
- Photocopies and scans of paper forms are increasingly refused. CPAM systems flag duplicated QR codes, so submitting a photocopy instead of the original can delay processing or trigger a manual review.
- Digital transmission remains the safest route. If your doctor's software submits electronically, you avoid this issue entirely , there's no paper form to lose, photocopy, or misplace in the mail.
- If you receive a paper form, send Parts 1 and 2 by post to your CPAM center quickly , ideally the same day, since postal delivery already eats into your 48-hour window.
For remote workers and expats especially, this update is one more reason to prefer doctors , including teleconsultation providers , who submit your arrêt de travail electronically from the outset.
Sick Pay in France: How Indemnités Journalières and Employer Top-Up Work
This is where employees often get confused, because most explanations are written for employers, not for the person actually waiting on a paycheck.
The Waiting Period (Délai de Carence)
CPAM applies a délai de carence of 3 days before indemnités journalières start. These three days are unpaid by CPAM unless your collective bargaining agreement or employer policy covers them , many do, especially in larger companies, so check your contract or ask HR directly.
How Indemnités Journalières Are Calculated
CPAM bases your daily payment on your average gross salary over the three months before your sick leave began, generally paying around 50% of your reference daily wage , subject to a monthly cap. In practice:
- Your reference salary is divided by 91.25 (average days per quarter) to get a daily rate
- CPAM pays roughly half of that daily rate, up to a legal ceiling
- Payments are issued every 14 days once your file is validated
Employer Top-Up and Subrogation
Many employees don't realize their employer is often required , by law after one year of service, or sooner under many collective agreements , to top up CPAM's payment so you receive close to your normal net salary. There are two ways this happens:
- Subrogation: Your employer continues paying your normal salary and receives your CPAM indemnités journalières directly, reconciling the difference internally. You see one clean paycheck, no gap.
- Direct payment: CPAM pays you directly, and your employer separately pays you a top-up amount. This creates two payment streams and sometimes a timing gap.
Ask your HR contact which system applies to you , it changes what you should expect to see in your bank account, and when.
Frequently Asked Questions
How fast do I need to submit my arrêt de travail?
Within 48 hours of the certificate being issued , both to CPAM and to your employer.
Can I get an arrêt de travail without seeing a doctor in person?
Yes. Licensed teleconsultation is fully valid in France and produces the same three-part certificate as an in-person visit.
Does my employer see my diagnosis?
No. Only CPAM receives the medical portion (Part 1). Your employer only receives Part 3, which contains dates and administrative details, not your medical information.
What if I'm an expat without a médecin traitant?
You can still see any doctor for a valid arrêt de travail, though reimbursement rates may differ slightly if you haven't registered a primary doctor with CPAM.
Can my employer refuse or dismiss me while I'm on sick leave?
Generally no , French labor law protects employees on legitimate sick leave from dismissal related to their absence, though other unrelated grounds for termination can still exist.
What happens if my illness lasts longer than expected?
Your doctor can issue an extension (prolongation), which follows the same 48-hour submission rule. Long-term illness cases may trigger additional CPAM reviews and a médecin du travail return-to-work visit before you resume your job.
Key Points
Handling a France sick leave (arrêt de travail) situation comes down to three habits: get a valid certificate quickly, submit every part within 48 hours, and understand how your délai de carence and employer top-up affect your actual pay. Follow that order and CPAM, your employer, and your bank account all stay in sync. If you're dealing with a sudden illness and can't easily book an in-person doctor , especially as an expat, remote worker, or someone outside a major city , a fast, licensed, GDPR-compliant medical certificate online through Get Medical Certificate gives you a legitimate arrêt de travail without the wait, so you can rest, notify your employer, and get your CPAM submission moving the same day.