Selecting a language will automatically trigger the translation of the page content.

Employee pension: job-basic pension cumulation

Verified 01 January 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

If you are receiving a pension from the Social Security Pension Insurance, job-pension cumulation allows you to resume or continue a professional activity and to accumulate the income from this activity with your retirement pensions. The cumulation can be total or partial depending on your situation. The resumption or continuation of an activity no longer allows new pension rights to be acquired.

Retirement Info Path - Job-to-Retirement Cumulation

Any pensioner of the Pension Insurance of the General Social Security Scheme may resume or continue a professional activity and accumulate, under certain conditions, his pension of basic pension with the income from this activity.

In order to obtain your basic pension from the Social Security Pension Insurance, you must cease all employment and/or self-employment under a compulsory French basic pension scheme.

However, you are not required to cease the following activities:

  • Activities giving rise to affiliation with a foreigner pension scheme
  • Voluntary activities (unpaid and not subject to a compulsory basic scheme)
  • Activities covered by a pension scheme which provides that they may be continued

In addition, the following activities may also be continued, provided that some of them comply with a revenue cap:

Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement

Low-level activity

An activity is considered to be of low importance if the gross income from that activity in the year preceding your retirement does not exceed a certain limit.

This ceiling shall be fixed at one third of the Smic: titleContent in force on 1er January of the year of retirement (either €569.76 for retirement in 2023).

If you have not been active for the whole year before your retirement, the minimum wage is reduced in proportion to the number of months worked to calculate the maximum amount of resources to be respected.

If you are engaged in several small activities at the same time and your total income exceeds the limit, you must cease all of these activities in order to get your retirement.

Literary or scientific activity

You can pursue literary or scientific activities if the gross income of the year before retirement from those activities does not exceed a certain limit.

This ceiling shall be fixed at one third of the Smic: titleContent in force on 1er January of the year of retirement (either €569.76 for retirement in 2023).

The ancillary activities concerned include the following:

  • Scientific research
  • Publication of books
  • Publication of articles in the press or in literary or scientific journals
  • Lectures given in the literary or scientific field

Activity providing accommodation by the employer

If you work with an employer who provides you with housing, you do not have to stop working if your average gross monthly earnings do not exceed a certain limit.

This ceiling is equal to Smic: titleContent monthly in effect at the time of your retirement (either €1,709.28).

The salaries used to calculate your average gross monthly earnings are the salaries of the 12 months prior to retirement.

Occasional consultations

You can continue to give occasional consultations (medical, legal, ...).

Occasional character is defined by the following 2 criteria:

  • Consultations must be discontinuous
  • Their duration shall not exceed a weekly average of 15 hours during the 12 months preceding retirement

Participation in the functioning of the justice system

You may continue your occasional participation in a jurisdictional and similar activity.

These activities include:

  • Member or assessor of certain courts (jury of the courts of assize, assessor of the joint courts of rural leases, labor counselor, assessor of the courts for children, temporary magistrate)
  • Expert, advisory or findings missions entrusted by judges
  • Arbitration activities and activities in statutory commissions to obtain conciliation of the parties

Participation in public competition panels and advisory or deliberative bodies

You can continue to participate in public competition panels and advisory or deliberative bodies.

Participation in consultative or deliberative bodies shall concern, in particular, local elected representatives.

This also applies to members of boards of directors and various commissions or boards set up in public establishments, public sector companies or bodies responsible for the performance of the public service.

Maternal assistant

You can continue to work as a nanny, babysitter and maternal assistant.

Third person with a person with a disability

You can continue a reception activity at home, for a fee, of an elderly, disabled or disabled person for whom you are performing the functions of a third person.

Disabled worker

If you are disabled and work in an institution or labor support service (Ésat), you do not have to stop working when you retire.

Artistic activity

If you are engaged in an artistic activity, you are not obliged to cease that activity when you retire.

The activities concerned are as follows:

  • Author of literary and dramatic works, music and choreography, audiovisual and cinematographic works, graphics and plastics, and photography
  • Mannequin
  • Performing artist
  • Professional performer

Rural accommodation

Rural accommodation activities carried out with heritage properties are not subject to cessation of activity.

You can fully accumulate your retirement pensions - basic and supplementary - with professional income if you the 2 conditions following:

  • You have obtained all your basic and supplementary pensions from pension schemes, foreigners, France and international organizations
  • You got your basic pension from Social Security Pension Insurance full rate

Conditions for cumulation

However, if you do not qualify for full employment-retirement, you can resume an activity.

If you take over an employed person from your last employer, job-retirement will not be possible until 6 months after you leave the company and enter retirement.

Otherwise, your basic retirement pension will be suspended between 1er the day of the month in which business is resumed and the last day of the month in which business is discontinued or the last day of 6e months after you retire.

Example :

If you are admitted to retirement on 1er in march, you cannot resume an activity with your last employer until 1er September (6 months later). If you return to work at his home on May 10, your retirement pension will no longer be paid to you as of May 1er May (1er day of the month in which the business is resumed) and until 30 August at the latest (last day of 6e months after your retirement).

After the 6-month period, or immediately after obtaining your retirement if you are not working for your last employer, you can accumulate your retirement pensions (basic and supplementary) with a maximum amount of income.

The sum of your gross monthly salary of activity subject to CSG: titleContent and gross amounts of your basic and supplementary retirement pensions must not exceed one of the following 2 amounts:

  • Either 160% of the Smic: titleContent (€2,734.85 gross per month)
  • This is the average salary you received during your last 3 months of employment before your retirement

It is the most advantageous ceiling that is used.

If the sum of your gross monthly salary of activity subject to CSG: titleContent and gross amounts of your pensions do not meet one of these ceilings, the amount of your basic retirement pension is reduced by the amount of the overrun.

FYI  

In the 3 months before your retirement, if you worked only one or two months, it will be the income of that month or those 2 months that will be taken into account.

Example :

You receive a basic retirement pension from the general pension plan €1,500 gross pension and a supplementary retirement pension of €900 raw. Your working salary is €700 crude, or  €3,100 gross in total.

The permissible ceiling is:

  • This is the monthly average of your last 3 salaries: for example €2,400 crude
  • Either 160% of the Smic: titleContent either €2,734.85 raw.

The reduction is therefore as follows: working income + basic retirement pension + supplementary pension - ceiling allowed = €700 + €1,500 + €900 - €2,734.85 = €365.15

Thus the amount of your basic pension will be reduced by €365.15, or €1,134.85 gross per month.

Approach

If you do not qualify for full employment-pension, you must inform your pension fund of your resumption of activity within one month of the date of resumption.

Declare a resumption of paid activity to his pension fund

You must submit the following information and supporting documents:

  • Name and address of the employer from which you have taken up an activity as an employed or self-employed person giving rise to membership of the general scheme
  • Activity Start Date
  • The amount and nature of your occupational income and the social security scheme to which you are affiliated as a result of this activity
  • Salary slips, or if you have taken up a self-employed activity, any documents proving your income corresponding to the month of resumption of activity
  • Name and address of other employee pension bodies, basic and supplementary, which pay you a pension

Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement

Basic pension obtained from 2015

The pension contributions paid as part of your return to work do not allow you to benefit from new pension rights.

However, if you have phased retirement, pension contributions paid in connection with your activity allow you to benefit from pension rights.

Basic pension obtained before 2015

Pension contributions made as part of your return to work will acquire new pension rights if they are paid into a pension fund other than the one that is already paying you a pension.

Who can help me?

Find who can answer your questions in your region

  • For any request for further information

    Pension insurance - 39 60

    To inform you about your situation, ask a question about your file, access personal information (follow-up of the file, latest payments, etc.).

    By telephone

    39,60 (or 09 71 10 39 60 from a mobile, a box or the foreigner)

    Free service + call price

    Monday to Friday from 8 am to 5 pm

FAQ