The agreement between French deputies and senators on a joint version of the bill on pension reform in the framework of a joint commission on Wednesday should be put to a vote on Thursday in the Senate and the National Assembly, reports AFP, which presents the main points of the reform to be voted on – raising the retirement age, duration of payment of contributions, provisions for mothers, employment of the elderly, longevity, hard work and special regimes.

Emmanuel Macron’s government could take responsibility for the reform without passing it through parliament.

The agreement was reached after eight hours of negotiations, by ten votes to four.

PENSION AGE

The retirement age is planned to be gradually raised from 62 to 64 years – by three months per year – from September 1, 2023 to 2030.

Workers with disabilities will be able to retire from the age of 55, and the disabled from the age of 60.

CONTRIBUTION DURATION

In order to receive a “full” pension, the insurance period will increase from the current 42 years (168 quarters) to 43 years (172 quarters) by 2027 – one quarter per year.

This increase was foreseen in the 2014 Touraine reform, but with a less compressed schedule.

The cancellation of the preferential pension should take place at the age of 67 for those who have not collected all the necessary referrals.

SPECIAL REGIMES

Most of the current special regimes, including those at RATP, the electricity and gas industry and the Bank of France, are to be terminated under the “grandfather clause” applied to SNCF. This measure applies only to new employees.

SMALL PENSIONS

The pensions of future retirees who prove a “full career” (43 years of insurance contributions) will amount to at least 85% of the increase of the minimum interprofessional salary (SMIC), i.e. approximately 1,200 euros gross per month, at the time of the reform’s entry into force.

Current retirees who meet these criteria benefit from such recalculation.

EMPLOYMENT OF ELDERLY PEOPLE

They should create an “index of elderly people” to determine the place of employees after the end of their careers at enterprises. Starting this year, the index will be mandatory for companies with more than 1,000 employees, a limit that will decrease to 300 employees from 2024.

Failure to issue this index is punishable by sanctions.

A new permanent contract of employment (CDI) is to be created on an experimental basis to facilitate the employment of long-term jobseekers over 60 who are exempt from family contributions.

Changes are being made to the rules for the accumulation of wages and pensions, so that retirees who resume professional activity can increase their pensions.

Progressive retirement, which allows part-time work for two years before retirement, is to be “relaxed”.

LONG CAREER

This is the most difficult point. Those who started working early can retire early.

Currently, starting a career at age 20 entitles you to two years of early retirement, while starting work at age 16 can entitle you to four years of early retirement.

This device should be “adapted” to two new pension thresholds. Those who started working at the age of 20 and 21 will be able to retire a year earlier, at age 63, and those who started working before age 20 will be able to retire earlier, at age 62.

Those who started working at the age of 18 will be able to retire four years earlier than the legal age of 60, and those who started working at the age of 16 will be able to retire six years earlier, that is, at the age 58.

The minimum period of payment of contributions after reaching the age of early retirement should be 43 years of payment of contributions in the case of a long career.

MOTHERS, ORPHANS

An allowance of up to 5% is given to women who, after confirming several trimesters of motherhood and educating their children, will exceed the 43 years of contributions required for “full” retirement, one year before the statutory retirement age.

When dividing between parents, the number of trimesters of study attributed to the mother increases.

The increase in the child pension applies to self-employed professionals and lawyers.

Orphaned children will be able to benefit from the transfer of their parents’ pension.

HARD WORK

The occupational prevention account, which takes into account night work and other criteria for heavy work, can be used to fund retraining leave.

Other criteria, such as heavy loads, painful positions and mechanical vibrations, must be taken into account with the “investment fund for the prevention of occupational wear”.

In the case of civil servants, the “active categories” include police officers, firefighters and paramedics, who will retain the right to early retirement.