Labor Day, May 8 commemorations and Ascension Thursday... every year, in May, there are many holidays, making many French people happy. But don't forget Pentecost either. Celebrated by Christians 50 days after Easter, this religious holiday commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit among the apostles. This year, Pentecost Monday falls on May 29, 2023.
As with Easter, Pentecost is celebrated on a Sunday and continues on the following day, and has been since the 4th century. Pentecost Monday is officially declared a holiday by the law of March 8 , 1886.
But since then, things have changed. Thus, following the 2003 heat wave which caused more than 15,000 deaths in France, the government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin decided to remove the holiday character of this day. The minister therefore transformed Whit Monday into a day of solidarity"in favor of the autonomy of the elderly or disabled". Consequence? Whit Monday remains"a holiday but not a day off". In concrete terms, on this day, employees work but are not paid.
Then, in 2008, another change. Pentecost Monday became a public holiday again. The government gave employers the choice of removing a day off or offering this day to their employees. In France, about one third of the employees work on Whit Monday. What about you?
