Sick leave: major changes to mandatory certificates in France

Major changes are being introduced for sick leave certificates.

This marks a significant development for sick leave in France. In an effort to tackle fraud, French Health Insurance has introduced a measure that every policyholder needs to know about. Although a grace period had previously applied, it ended on 1 September 2025. Here is what is changing.

A new compulsory document for sick leave

Actu.fr spotted a notice on the government website stating that a new form, described as “harder to forge and more secure”, has been required since July for all paper sick leave certificate submissions.

The document had been available since September 2024, but healthcare professionals were initially only advised to use it. Its use is now mandatory. Sick leave certificates that “can be completed and then printed from prescribing software” will now be automatically rejected. The same applies to “a scan or photocopy of a sick leave certificate”, according to our colleagues.

Security features designed to prevent forgery

The new form has been developed specifically to combat falsification. As Actu.fr explains, it includes seven authentication features: “special paper, a holographic label, magnetic ink and identifying marks relating to the prescriber”.

This move by the French authorities is no coincidence. Specialist websites that are easy to access allow people to obtain fake sick leave certificates, while such practices are also widespread on social media. An MP recently highlighted how easy it is to obtain fraudulent sick leave certificates for €19 without seeing a doctor.

These activities ultimately come at a substantial cost to the public purse and could disadvantage genuinely ill policyholders who truly need sick leave. Moreover, in response to abuse, French parliamentarians and the government have already introduced measures making sick leave harder to take or less well paid, once again affecting workers who actually need it.

Fraudulent sick leave can be very costly

As prevention is better than cure, French Health Insurance also stresses that fake sick leave certificates can lead to severe financial penalties. Initially, those who cheat will have to “repay in full the daily benefits wrongly received”.

In the event of repeat offending or serious fraud, legal proceedings may also follow and prove extremely expensive for those concerned: the offence carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of €375,000.