javoAvailability
With five weeks off, a one-person business is closed 79% of the year
France’s standard five weeks of paid leave, applied to a business with nobody else to answer, pushes its closed hours from 77% to 79% of the year. The calculation and how to handle the gap.
The self-employed have no legal entitlement to paid leave, but most take holidays, and the French benchmark is five weeks. For a business where nobody else can answer, those weeks are weeks without a reply.
The calculation
An employee earns 2.5 working days (jours ouvrables) of leave per month, 30 a year: five weeks. Counted in weekdays, five weeks is 25 days.
| 2026, open 9 am to 5 pm | Working days | Share of hours closed |
|---|---|---|
| No holidays | 252 | 77.0% |
| Five weeks off | 227 | 79.3% |
The difference looks small over a year, but it is concentrated: two or three weeks in August and one at Christmas, when enquiries do not stop.
Before you go on holiday
- Say it on your site: show the dates you are away and when you will reply.
- Update your voicemail and email auto-reply with the same dates.
- Keep answering the easy questions: a chat agent can reply about your services and prices, and collect contact details for when you are back.
- Plan your return: block the first morning back for the leads that came in while you were away.
Sources
Javo answers your visitors, even out of hours.
Installed on your site with one line of code, from €600 per product.