Gradual retirement offers the possibility of adjusting the transition from working life to retirement. Work less to collect almost as much. This is the main advantage of this end-of-career development scheme.
Progressive retirement allows the employee to carry out his activity part-time while receiving part of his retirement pension. He thus continues to contribute, to accumulate rights and quarters taken into account during the final liquidation of the pension. Focus on gradual retirement, a device still little known but associated with many advantages
The following can apply for gradual retirement:employees of the general scheme, agricultural employees (MSA), farmers, craftsmen and traders (RSI). For workers who have contributed to the basic scheme for the liberal professions (CNAVPL) or the basic scheme for lawyers (CNBF), the corresponding rights will also be taken into account. However, it is not possible to benefit from a progressive retirement by exercising only a liberal profession at the time of the request. The part of the retirement pension received in the case of a progressive retirement is calculated according to the rights acquired in all these schemes.
The phased retirement period allows the worker to over-contribute with the aim of continuing to contribute on a full-time basis. It should be noted that civil servants no longer have the possibility of taking advantage of this device since January 1, 2011.
The conditions for access to gradual retirement were modified by the reform of January 20, 2014. The minimum age to benefit from this system was set at 60 years. In addition, you must be able to justify 150 quarters of old-age insurance, all plans combined. The duration of part-time work must be between 40 and 80% of the legal or contractual duration of work. If you already carry out an activity within this range and meet all the other conditions, you can apply for phased retirement. To do this, all you need to do is obtain a certificate of part-time activity signed by the employer. On the other hand, if you work full time, you will first have to obtain the agreement of the employer for a reduction in working time. The latter may, however, refuse if the position you hold is not compatible with reduced activity.
If all the criteria are met, you will need to submit a request for gradual retirement to your pension fund, attaching several documents:your employment contract, a sworn statement attesting that you do not carry out any other professional activities , proof of non-activity if you have already carried out self-employed activities, a certificate issued by the employer indicating the duration of the working time applicable in your company.
If your request is accepted, during your part-time work, you will receive a fraction of your basic and supplementary pensions in addition to your professional income. This device is associated with many advantages for the worker who benefits from it.
Every year, the success of phased retirement grows. Nearly 11,561 employees benefited from this scheme as of December 31, 2016, according to the latest figures published by the CNAV, compared to less than 3,000 before the implementation of the 2014 reform. Gradual retirement allows you to slow down your activity after age 60 without stop working permanently. The worker can derive several advantages:
Progressive retirement is currently the only solution for combining earned income and retirement pensions while continuing to contribute.
Thanks to progressive retirement, the employee can receive part of his basic and supplementary retirement pensions in addition to his salary, from the age of 60, by carrying out a part-time activity with the same employer or even for another company. It is up to him to determine, in agreement with his employer, the share of working days that he wishes to keep, knowing that part-time must be between 40 and 80% of full-time. The portion of the pension paid will be proportional to the work quota:20% if part-time represents 80% of full-time, 30% for part-time equivalent to 70% of full-time, etc.
Receiving a progressive retirement pension does not affect your future pension rights. Indeed, this fraction of your retirement pensions will not be deducted from the pensions that will be paid to you once your employment contract is terminated. During all your years of part-time practice you continue to contribute for quarters and additional points. If these rights are in principle fixed on the basis of a part-time salary, it is possible to ask the employer to continue to contribute on a full-time basis or even negotiate with him so that he takes its responsibility for the salary portion resulting from the additional contribution.
Payment of the partial pension is interrupted when resuming full-time work or another additional part-time job. You then no longer have the possibility of making a new request for progressive retirement unless you are a farmer. If your working time is modified, your pension will be adapted accordingly, from 1 January of the following year for employees, from 1 July for craftsmen or traders, from the following month for farmers. When the worker requests permanent retirement, the pension is recalculated to take into account the quarters and rights acquired throughout the period of progressive retirement.
