Monetization of the fifth week of vacation: a "proposal" that could be "dismissed," defuses the Minister of Labor

The trial balloon appears destined to explode in mid-flight. Labor Minister Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet insisted on Friday, July 18, that her proposal to monetize the fifth week of paid leave was nothing more than an idea put on the table for negotiations with the unions, as part of the "labor component" of François Bayrou's 2026 budget proposal. "It's a proposal that has been made to the social partners. […] If they want to rule it out, they rule it out; if they want to negotiate, they negotiate," she said on RTL.

"This is a text that is at the discretion of the social partners since they must begin negotiations from August 1st," insisted the minister, while the proposal, which initially went unnoticed, has provoked numerous reactions.

This mechanism is "inspired by an existing system, which is the monetization of RTTs," but it is "absolutely not a suppression of the fifth week of paid leave," added the early Macronist. According to her, it would be a "new right, without calling into question current rights and protections" but which "would remain in the hands of each employee."

Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet also stated that she had met with "employer organizations" on Thursday and that she was expecting "the CFDT and other trade union organizations on Monday." However, the general secretary of the powerful reformist union, Marylise Léon, had criticized a measure worthy of a "museum of horrors" on France Inter on Thursday morning.

The possibility of monetizing the fifth week of paid leave was raised on Tuesday by Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet during the press conference where Prime Minister François Bayrou unveiled his savings plan and his desire to propose to social partners that they open negotiations on unemployment insurance and labor law.

The "proposal" has sparked strong reactions within left-wing political parties. "Paid holidays are now in the hot seat! Their only ambition for France: to return to the Giscard years. We're worth much more than that," reacted Fabien Roussel on X. The rebellious Eric Coquerel denounced on TF1 a "totally antisocial" measure.