Source date: 2025-06-02

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Solidarity day: how does it work? Published on June 03, 2025 - Updated on May 11, 2026 - Service Public / Direction de l'information légale et administrative (Premier ministre)

The solidarity day was introduced in 2004 to fund initiatives supporting the autonomy of older people or people with disabilities. How does it apply to private-sector employees and public-sector workers? Service Public has the answers.

Image 1 Credits: Jacob Lund - stock.adobe.com

Private sector

The arrangements for completing the solidarity day are set by a company-level agreement or collective agreement (or establishment-level agreement), or by a sector-level agreement. If there is no collective agreement, they are defined by the employer after consulting the staff representative body.

As a general rule, the solidarity day in the private sector takes the form of one additional working day during the year, and this day is not paid. This may involve working:

• either on a public holiday that was previously non-working, other than May 1 (such as Whit Monday);

• or on an RTT day;

• or under any other arrangement allowing 7 hours that were previously not worked to be worked (such as working on a Saturday, for example).

The hours worked during the solidarity day are not considered overtime (or additional hours).

Public sector

In the civil service, the solidarity day takes the form of an additional unpaid working day. It may be completed in one of the following ways:

• working on Whit Monday or another previously non-working public holiday (other than May 1);

• removing one RTT day;

• any other arrangement allowing 7 hours that were previously not worked to be worked, excluding the removal of one day of annual leave (for example, working one additional day outside school time for teachers).

The conditions for completing the solidarity day vary depending on whether you work in [Alsace-Moselle](https://coperia.scenari.eu/~~chain/web/u/itemDynGen/jpbSFlGTRHK3hdImiTGnLp/commentActu/'(refUri''id(6m1PumenEzd3awFogc7cdE''isCtrlActus'!T'!')/co/!)id(4zrSFlGTRHK3hdImiTGnLp*3B_Aroot!)id(4zrSFlGTRHK3hdImiTGnLp*3B_Aroot!_N12#tooltipN39a) or in the rest of France

• If the solidarity day is set on a public holiday, it will not apply to underage workers, since, except in rare cases, employees under 18 are prohibited from working on public holidays. If a collective agreement sets a non-public holiday as the solidarity day, the social partners must decide the conditions under which these young employees will complete this day.

• For part-time employees, the 7-hour limit is reduced in proportion to the working hours set out in their employment contract (for example, for a half-time employee, the limit will be set at 3.5 hours). Hours worked beyond this will normally be paid.

Provisions are in place so that employees who change employers during the year do not have to complete this day several times in the same year.

Legal texts and references

• Article L3133-7 of the Labor Code

See also

• Working time in the private sector Service Public

• Working time in the civil service Service Public

• How is the solidarity day completed in the civil service? Service Public

• Public holidays and bridge days in the private sector Service Public

• The solidarity day Ministère chargé du travail

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Source: Service-Public particuliers