Employees who have been exposed to asbestos during their career or who suffer from an occupational disease due to this carcinogenic material can benefit from an early retirement called asbestos pre-retirement. They can thus cease their professional activity and receive a specific allowance, the early retirement allowance (Acaata), until their full retirement age.
Asbestos refers to a set of silicates, that is to say minerals, fibrous appreciated for their fire resistance, their qualities in terms of insulation, but also their low cost. This is why asbestos has long been used as thermal insulation, particularly in construction, to manufacture, mixed with cement, materials such as corrugated sheets, facade elements, ventilation ducts, pipes, or even , married to certain plastic materials, to produce seals, coatings, household utensils, etc.
As a result, many employees have long been exposed to asbestos. Some are still in this situation, especially employees who work in the field of asbestos removal in the building sector, shipbuilding, maintenance, public works, among others.
However, asbestos is known to be a carcinogenic material that can cause serious health problems for those who have handled it or still use it. For these reasons, asbestos is now banned from use.
Asbestos pre-retirement allows employees who have been exposed to or who are affected by illnesses due to this dangerous material to cease their professional activity earlier than other employees, i.e. before age 62, the legal retirement age. /P>
Asbestos pre-retirement, i.e. more specifically the possibility of ceasing one's professional activity while waiting for the age of full retirement, concerns employees who have been exposed to asbestos at their workplace or who suffer from an occupational disease linked to this carcinogenic material, the list of which is established by a ministerial decree by the Health Insurance.
In general, employees who can claim early asbestos retirement without suffering from an asbestos-related disease are those who work or have worked in an establishment manufacturing materials containing asbestos, flocking and insulation with asbestos appearing on a list fixed by ministerial order, whose trade is part of a list also fixed by ministerial order in the shipbuilding and repair sector, or dockworkers who ensure handling in a port also appearing on a list fixed by ministerial order.
Current and former sailors benefit from a specific asbestos early retirement scheme managed by their own pension scheme.
Workers who meet the conditions to qualify for asbestos early retirement have the possibility of benefiting from early retirement from an age equal to 60 years, at which time one-third of the duration of their work in an establishment concerned by this scheme is withdrawn. . In any case, the cessation of their professional activity in this context can only take place at the age of 50 at the earliest.
In concrete terms, being able to benefit from early asbestos retirement means ceasing all professional activity, i.e. resigning from one's job for those who are still working. The employees concerned then receive an allowance paid monthly, called the Early Termination Allowance (Acaata), until they meet the conditions to receive a full-rate retirement pension.
Their resignation entitles them to a notice period similar to that in force on the occasion of a dismissal, and the employees in this case also receive a termination indemnity whose amount is equivalent to that of the severance indemnity at the pension paid to an employee who requests retirement, an indemnity exempt from social security contributions and income tax.
The amount of the Acaata is calculated on the basis of a reference salary which is equal to the monthly average of the gross salaries of the last 12 months of activity of the employee admitted to asbestos early retirement. This allowance cannot be less than approximately 1,200 euros gross and greater than 85% of the reference salary taken into account for its calculation. This allowance is subject to social contributions, namely those for health insurance, the general social contribution (CSG), the contribution to the reimbursement of social debt (CRDS) and the solidarity contribution for autonomy (Casa).
The Acaata cannot be combined with income from a salaried or unpaid professional activity, unemployment allowances or allowances, an old-age benefit paid by a compulsory scheme, except in the case of a special scheme, a early retirement allowance, invalidity pension or survivor's pension.
The steps to apply for early retirement for asbestos exposure depend on the professional sector and the employee's situation.
Employees or former employees of an establishment that manufactures or processes asbestos, shipbuilding and repair and port dockworkers must contact the Regional Health Insurance Fund (Cram) of their place of residence. the cerfa form n° 11687*02 to request their asbestos early retirement and to be able to receive the early retirement allowance.
Employees suffering from a recognized occupational disease caused by exposure to asbestos must send a different form (cerfa n°11690*02), but always to the Cram of their place of residence.
The health insurance fund then has a period of 2 months to announce its decision whether or not to grant early asbestos retirement to the employee concerned. Without a response beyond this deadline, the request is considered rejected.
It is only after having received the agreement of the Cram to be able to benefit from asbestos early retirement that the employee at the origin of this request must cease all professional activity.
