Should you take your paid leave or your RTT first?

When it comes to RTT (or JNT for day-rate packages), the new year often rhymes with new counters—and therefore new days off to take, which in fact aren’t really distinguished from paid leave...

Except that, legally, you can’t do the same thing with paid leave and RTT (or JNT)!

1️⃣ As for paid leave, the company must ensure that at least four weeks are actually taken each year (the right to rest is important!). The fifth week, if not taken, can possibly be placed in a Time Savings Account (CET) if the company has set one up. However, these days cannot be cashed out when they are placed in the CET.

2️⃣ RTT can be used in different ways. And they won’t bring you the same benefit depending on the option you choose.

➡️ if you decide to take them as days off, they will bring you the same as a normal working day.

➡️ you can also place them in a CET to take them later or cash them out: they will still bring you the same amount because they will be treated as “ordinary” salary.

➡️ if you cash them out via a PERCO, you increase their value because you save on basic pension contributions and income tax.

➡️ if your company accepts cashing out “directly,” you then benefit from many advantages: an RTT uplift as if it were overtime, removal of pension contributions (basic and supplementary), tax exemption (up to €7,500/year, pending publication of the 2026 Finance Bill).

To better understand what this means in practice, I simulated the value of an RTT depending on these different uses for a person earning €3,200 gross (single with no other income) in the infographic attached to the post.

You’ll have understood: it’s better to take your paid leave first because, if you “don’t have the time” to take your RTT, you will probably be able to cash it out or save it more easily.

In fact, it’s an HR practice I encourage: offering flexibility in how these days off are used—taking them as time or as money, right away or later. This can better adapt to everyone’s needs. It can even be an attractiveness factor.

What matters, in any case, is to clearly understand the impact this will have on your income. And if you want to master HR schemes and their impact on company cost and employee gains, subscribe for free to my newsletter Un Coût d'Avance (link under my profile).

Have a great day, everyone 👋