There are eleven official public holidays in France,French labor law, L3133-3 of which three are movable days which always fall on a weekday. The Alsace region and the Moselle department observe two additional days.French labor law, IDCC 1686 These holidays do not shift when they fall during a weekend, which means that the average number of observed public holidays falling on weekdays (outside Alsace and Moselle) is 8.7 and ranges from seven to ten. Most Asian countries and all North American countries observe between two and ten more public holidays per year on weekdays.Employee holiday entitlement around the world, Mercer
Public holidays in France
Date English name Local name Remarks 1 January New Year's Day moveable Good Friday Friday before Easter Sunday. Alsace and Moselle only. moveable Easter Monday Monday after Easter Sunday (one day after Easter Sunday) 1 May Labour Day 8 May Victory Day End of hostilities in Europe in World War II moveable Ascension Day Thursday, 39 days after Easter Sunday moveable Whit Monday Monday after Pentecost (50 days after Easter), observed only in some businesses, see notes 14 July Bastille Day French National Day, commemorates the 1789 Storming of the Bastille and the 1790 Feast of the Federation. 15 August Assumption Day Marks the Catholic feast of the Assumption of Mary, the taking up of Mary, mother of Jesus into heaven, body and soul. 1 November All Saints' Day 11 November Armistice Day End of the First World War 25 December Christmas Newspapers are not published. Pubs, restaurants, shops, etc. closed all day by law. 26 December Saint Stephen's Day Alsace and Moselle only.
Overseas territories
Guadeloupe
(mid-Lent); occurs on a Thursday, 22 days after Ash Wednesday; therefore, between 26 February and 1 April. Good Friday () Abolition of slavery: 27 May.
French Guiana
Abolition of slavery: 10 June.
Martinique
Abolition of slavery: 22 May.
New Caledonia
Citizenship Day (): 24 September.
French Polynesia
Missionary Day (): 5 March. Matari'i (): 31 November.
Réunion
Réunion Freedom Day (; ) 20 December.
Saint Barthélemy
Abolition of slavery: 9 October.
Saint Martin
Abolition of slavery: 28 May.
Wallis and Futuna
Feast of Saint Peter Chanel: 28 April. Festival of the Territory: 29 July.
Notes
Note: French law dictates that work should stop, but be paid only for the (May Day, 1 May),Code du Travail, L3133-4 except in industries where it is infeasible to stop working.Code du Travail, L3133-6 The rest of the public holidays are listed in statute law,Code du Travail, L3133-1 but law does not dictate that work should stop; however a leave from work may be granted by the employer or by , an agreement between employers' and employees' trade unions.
In 2005, French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin removed Pentecost (Whit) Monday's status as a public holiday. This decision was eventually overruled by French courts in 2008. Employers are free to decide whether to make Whit Monday a day off or not.LOI n° 2008 – 351
References