France here as well, here's what applies for employees: if you're sick you go to the doctor, and he's the one who decides if you must get an "arrêt de travail"

France here as well, here's what applies for employees: if you're sick you go to the doctor, and he's the one who decides if you must get an "arrêt de travail" for X days which is an official paper stating you shouldn't work, based on your medical condition. Then there's the question of will you get paid or not - under a certain amount of days you won't be paid (I think it's 3). After that other mechanisms kick in. Family emergency is usually in the holidays pile. Some companies allow 1 day off per year if someone dies. You can also (based on company agreement) take a day off and just decide not to get paid.