What are the legitimate reasons for resignation?
03 September 2026 · 4 min reading time
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The French unemployment insurance system recognises 17 legitimate reasons for resignation. They cover certain family and professional circumstances, such as relocating with a partner, domestic violence, unpaid wages or taking up another job.
When one of these reasons is recognised, the employee may claim the French return-to-work allowance known as the ARE, provided they meet the other eligibility requirements.
When is a resignation considered legitimate?
A resignation is normally considered a voluntary departure. As such, it does not usually provide immediate entitlement to unemployment benefits. However, the regulations provide exceptions when the circumstances leading the employee to leave their job correspond to one of the 17 reasons considered legitimate.
The list is exhaustive. Moving home, experiencing difficulties at work or pursuing a personal project are not sufficient on their own to make a resignation legitimate. Each situation is subject to specific conditions and must be supported by evidence submitted to France Travail.
The 17 legitimate reasons for resignation in 2026
Recognised reasons may relate to family life, a change of employment or certain circumstances encountered at work. France Travail currently lists 17.
| Legitimate reason | In what circumstances? |
|---|---|
| 1. Marriage or civil partnership | The union results in a change of residence, and fewer than two months separate the resignation or end of the contract from the marriage or French civil partnership known as a Pacs. |
| 2. Relocating with a partner | The employee’s partner changes residence to take up a new professional activity, whether employed or self-employed. |
| 3. Couples clause or indivisible contract | The contract provides for its termination when the partner’s contract ends in certain circumstances. |
| 4. Employee under 18 | An employee under the age of 18 leaves their job to follow their parents or the person exercising parental authority. |
| 5. Protected adult | A person under judicial protection, curatorship or guardianship relocates to follow the parent appointed as their representative, curator or guardian. |
| 6. Child with a disability | The child is admitted to a care facility whose distance requires a change of residence. |
| 7. Domestic violence | The violence forces the employee to relocate and therefore prevents them from keeping their job. |
| 8. New job left after an involuntary loss of employment | Following a dismissal, mutual termination or the end of a fixed-term contract, the employee immediately takes another job and then leaves it within the applicable period. |
| 9. New permanent contract terminated by the employer | After three continuous years of unemployment insurance contributions, the employee resigns to take a permanent contract that is then quickly terminated by the new employer. |
| 10. Unsuccessful business creation or takeover | The business created or taken over following the resignation ceases trading for reasons beyond the employee’s control. |
| 11. Unpaid wages | The employer fails to pay the wages owed despite a court decision. |
| 12. Criminal act suffered at work | The employee is the victim of conduct that may constitute a criminal offence in connection with their employment contract. |
| 13. Termination of a work-integration contract | The employee leaves the contract to take another job or undertake training. |
| 14. Termination of a single integration contract | The departure enables the employee to take a permanent contract, a fixed-term contract lasting at least six months or qualifying training. |
| 15. Civic service or certain voluntary service programmes | The employee leaves their job to undertake civic service or another qualifying voluntary service programme. |
| 16. Resignation by a journalist | Certain circumstances relating to the press company or changes in its editorial direction are recognised. |
| 17. Resignation by a childminder | The employer refuses to arrange the compulsory vaccinations of their child. |
This list is based on the general unemployment insurance regulations currently in force.
Relocation, partners and marriage: circumstances related to personal life
Several legitimate reasons involve a change of residence, but moving home alone is not enough to make a resignation legitimate.
One recognised situation is when an employee leaves their job to follow a partner who is relocating for professional reasons. The new activity may be employed or self-employed and may result, for example, from a transfer or change of employer.
France Travail requires evidence of the change of residence and the partner’s new professional circumstances. For unmarried couples living together, the documents proving cohabitation must predate the resignation.
Different rules apply to marriage and a Pacs. The union must result in a change of residence, and fewer than two months must pass between the resignation or end of the employment contract and the date of the marriage or Pacs.
The regulations also take account of more specific family circumstances. These include an employee under 18 following their parents, a protected adult relocating with the person responsible for their protection, or a parent who must move after their child with a disability is admitted to a distant care facility.
Domestic violence is also a recognised reason when it requires the employee to relocate. France Travail will request evidence of both the violence and the move, including a police complaint.
New employment, unpaid wages and harassment: work-related reasons
Resigning for professional reasons does not always automatically prevent an employee from receiving unemployment benefits.
The regulations provide protection in certain cases for people who quickly return to work after involuntarily losing their previous job. France Travail currently identifies two situations involving a threshold of 65 days worked: quickly leaving a job taken after an involuntary loss of employment and leaving a previous job for a permanent contract that the new employer then terminates after the employee had completed three continuous years of contributions.
However, the conditions are not the same.
In the first situation, the employee must have started the new job immediately after a dismissal, mutual termination or the end of a fixed-term contract, without registering as a jobseeker between the two contracts.
In the second, the employee must have left their previous job to take up a permanent contract and must have completed three continuous years of unemployment insurance contributions. The new employer must then terminate the contract within the applicable period.
Non-payment of wages is another recognised reason, but an employer paying wages late is not sufficient on its own. The amount owed must be established by a court decision.
A resignation may also be considered legitimate when it follows conduct that may constitute a criminal offence during the performance of the employment contract. This may include certain acts of violence or harassment. The employee must be able to provide evidence that a police complaint was filed.
However, burnout is not itself included among the 17 legitimate reasons. Occupational exhaustion may form part of a wider situation, for example when conduct potentially constituting a criminal offence is involved. In that case, it is the conduct rather than the burnout itself that may be examined when determining whether the resignation is legitimate.
Starting or taking over a business is also covered by a specific category. When an employee resigns to launch a business and that activity subsequently ends for reasons beyond their control, the original resignation may be recognised as legitimate.
What documents must be provided to France Travail?
Stating a reason is not sufficient: supporting documents play an essential role in having a resignation recognised as legitimate.
The documents required vary according to the circumstances. To follow a partner, the employee must provide evidence of their relationship, the change of residence and the partner’s new professional situation. A marriage or Pacs requires documents establishing the union and the former and new addresses.
In cases involving domestic violence or conduct at work that may constitute a criminal offence, France Travail will require a police complaint or receipt confirming that one was filed. For unpaid wages, the employee must provide a court decision ordering the employer to pay the amounts owed.
France Travail details the documents required for each of the 17 recognised reasons. Checking these requirements before resigning helps ensure that the circumstances can be properly demonstrated.
What if the resignation does not fall within one of the 17 categories?
A resignation that does not appear on the list of legitimate reasons does not necessarily mean that the employee will be unable to receive the ARE later.
Resignation for professional retraining is a separate scheme. It is not one of the 17 legitimate reasons, but it may provide entitlement to unemployment benefits if the employee’s career history and proposed project meet the applicable conditions.
The scheme is intended in particular for private-sector employees on permanent contracts who have worked for at least 1,300 days during the 60 months preceding their resignation, equivalent to five years of salaried employment. The project must involve retraining that requires education or training, or the creation or takeover of a business. Its genuine and serious nature must be approved before the employee leaves their job.
Timing is essential. In particular, the employee must request career development advice before resigning. Starting the process after the employment contract has ended does not provide access to the scheme under the same conditions.
When neither a legitimate reason nor a qualifying retraining project applies, two main possibilities remain.
The first is to work for at least 65 days or 455 hours after resigning and then lose the new job involuntarily. Entitlement to the ARE may then be assessed based on this new situation.
The second is to ask France Travail to review the case after 121 days of unemployment, or approximately four months. The regional joint committee will examine the steps taken since the resignation to find work, undertake occasional employment or complete training. A favourable decision may allow the ARE to be paid from the 122nd day.
These options do not convert the original resignation into a legitimate resignation. Instead, they allow entitlement to unemployment benefits to be established or reviewed through a different mechanism.
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