Pension reform: what comes into force from September 1

Tick-tock, tick-tock... It's almost the end of a (very) long soap opera. On Friday, September 1, the controversial pension reform will come into force, more than five months after its adoption in Parliament via an appeal to 49.3, and almost three months after the end of one of the most important social protests in recent decades. Postponement of the legal retirement age, revaluation of small pensions… Le Figaro presents what will change for pensions on September 1.

A flagship measure of the reform, the legal retirement age will be gradually raised from 62 today to 64 in 2030, at the rate of three months a year. From September 1, he will therefore increase to 62 years and 3 months for the 1961 generation (born between September and December), then to 62 years and 6 months for the 1962 generation, then to 62 years and 9 months for the 1963 generation, etc. Up to age 64 for the 1968 generation.

At the same time, there will be an acceleration in the increase in the contribution period, necessary to benefit from a full pension, voted in the Touraine reform of 2014. It will be increased to 43 years, or 172 quarters (168 today). today), for generations born from 1965, at the rate of one additional quarter per year, starting with generations born between September and December 1961 and in 1962.

This is the only measure that will have an almost immediate impact on some retirees (or about to be). The minimum pension will be increased from September 1, to be increased to 848 euros gross for a full career, indicates the Pension Insurance site.

For insured persons who will retire from September 1, 2023, the minimum pension will be increased by a maximum of 100 euros gross per month, but this will require that they have behind them a complete full-time career at the Smic and that they are employees, craftsmen-traders or farmers. About 200,000 new retirees will benefit each year from this revaluation, according to the executive, or about one in four departures.

As for current retirees, their minimum pension will also increase, for those with at least 120 quarters of contributions and a retirement at the maximum rate. It will increase up to 100 euros gross per month for a full career. Nearly 1.7 million people will benefit from it, according to the government, but not all will see it on their September pension, which is due for payment in early October. “At least half a million people will be affected from September 1,” says Le Figaro Renaud Villard, director general of the National Old Age Insurance Fund (Cnav). For the others, it will be from the spring of 2024, with retroactive effect from September 1, 2023, specifies the government.

The “long career” system, allowing early retirement for those who started working early, is turned upside down by the reform. It will now be open to policyholders who started working before the age of 21 (compared to 20 until then), and will now include four age limits for entry into the system (compared to two today).

In detail, subject to being able to prove a certain number of quarters acquired before the relevant age threshold and a certain period of contribution insurance, it will be possible to leave at age 58 if you started working before 16 years old ; at age 60 if you started working before age 18; at age 62 if you started working before age 20; at age 63 if you started working before age 21.

To limit the negative effects of the reform for mothers, a premium will be created for some of them. Those who exceed 43 annuities one year before the legal retirement age, and who benefit from at least one quarter of maternity or childcare increase, will be able to benefit from an additional 1.25% for each additional quarter paid. A premium limited to a maximum of 5%.

From September 1, the special regimes of the RATP, the electricity and gas industries (EDF, Engie, ERDF, etc.), clerks and employees of notaries and the Banque de France will join that of the SNCF at the cemetery. However, as provided for in the famous grandfather clause", current employees in these branches will continue to benefit from their advantages, but will also be affected by the gradual two-year shift in the legal retirement age (to from 1 January 2025) and the acceleration of the Touraine reform of 2014.

People recruited from September 1, 2023 will be directly affiliated to the general scheme for their basic pension, and to the supplementary scheme corresponding to their activity. On the other hand, the sailors, the Paris Opera or the Comédie-Française keep their special regimes, the same for liberal professions and lawyers with their autonomous regimes.

The progressive retirement system, created in 1988 and which allows you to reduce your working time two years before the legal retirement age by going part-time, is changing from 1 September. Reserved until now for employees, craftsmen and traders, it will be extended to civil servants, liberal professionals and lawyers, and its appeal will be facilitated.

As for the cumulation of employment and retirement, allowing a retired person to exercise a professional activity and to receive both his professional income and his retirement pension, it will create new pension rights from 1 September. “From now on, at the end of a period of combined employment and retirement, it will be possible under certain conditions to request a “second pension” calculated on the basis of the same rules as the first pension”, explains the government. Until now, income earned in the context of combining employment and retirement did not give rise to any additional pension.

In terms of arduous work, the professional prevention account (C2P) will be subject to “improvement”, in the words of the executive. In concrete terms, the number of points acquired on this account will now increase in proportion to the number of risk factors to which an employee is exposed. As a reminder, six risk factors are taken into account: activities carried out in a hyperbaric environment (high pressures), extreme temperatures, noise, night work, work in alternating successive shifts and repetitive work. Each point now allows an employee to fund their personal training account with 500 euros (compared to 375 euros before September 1, 2023).

An investment fund for the prevention of occupational wear and tear (FIPU), intended to improve prevention of “ergonomic” occupational risk factors (painful postures, mechanical vibrations, etc.), will also be created. Endowed with one billion euros over five years, it will be used in particular for employees exposed to these risks who wish to initiate a professional retraining procedure.