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I am a researcher in South America and this year I will do postdoc in Paris for a period of one year. After this period, I will return to my country. However, I have an elderly aunt for whom I am responsible. She can not go with me and I would like to take a vacation to visit her. My question is: since I will only be in Paris for one year, can I have vacations? Could anyone explain how this happens in France?

Thank you,

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    Only your advisor can answer this. – David Ketcheson Jul 23 '17 at 17:55
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    You are not a slave. In Europe you have a legal right to get vacation. – Roland Jul 23 '17 at 18:07
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Anywhere in Europe, you are entitled to paid vacation. How much vacation you get depends on the country and job, but if online resources are to be trusted employers in France should be fairly generous with about 5 weeks of paid vacation per year (note that this is not outrageously high - most countries in central Europe give you between 4 and 5, sometimes up to 6 weeks of paid vacation).

That you are there "only one year" does not matter. Even if you were employed only for three months you would be entitled to paid vacation time pro rata (e.g., about 1.25 weeks of paid time off for a 3-month internship), although for such short employments it is common to not take all vacation and instead get monetary compensation.

One thing to consider is that there is no general right to take all of this vacation in one piece, or at any time that is convenient to you. That is, you should still plan that your mentor may request you to take your vacation primarily during the summer or winter holidays.

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    Note that while you may be entitled to paid vacation, the "paid" part might need to be earned first. I am not familiar with France, but in for example Denmark one earns pay for vacation to be taken in the following year, which can make it tricky with short term employment. – Tobias Kildetoft Jul 23 '17 at 20:56
  • @TobiasKildetoft I am not aware of such a system. So how would this work? In Y1 you still have vacation, but it's unpaid? – xLeitix Jul 23 '17 at 21:30
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    It is unpaid at the time you take it. If you leave Denmark (to work elsewhere) with paid vacation saved up, you get the pay then as far as I understand it. – Tobias Kildetoft Jul 23 '17 at 21:49
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    From what I understand, in Belgium you also only get your vacation days from the 1st of January after you started working, so you may spend up to an year without any vacation days. – André Paramés Jul 23 '17 at 22:03
  • Hi guys, thank you all. The coments of @xLeitx make me much calmer. In South América is the same as in Belgium, according with the description of André: you have Vacation only after work in all weeks during one year. So if the contract is Just for one year, I would not have Vacation at all. – F. Martucheli Jul 24 '17 at 21:56

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