Retirement of disabled employee

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

If you have a disability, there are several arrangements that allow you to retire under special conditions that take into account your disability.

If you've worked having a permanent incapacity at least equal to 50%, you can, under certain conditions, go to disability pension from the age of 55.

If you have permanent incapacity at least equal to 10%, you can, under certain conditions, go to retirement for permanent disability from the age of 60.

If you are deemed unfit for work, you can, under certain conditions, go to retirement due to incapacity for work as soon as you reach the age of 62.

We present these different devices and the conditions to be fulfilled to benefit from them.

Disability

You can retire before the minimum starting age normal (set between 62 and 64 years of age depending on your year of birth) and from 55 years if you meet the following conditions

  • Have a minimum number of quarters of pension insurance contributors (all pension schemes)
  • Either have pursued your professional activity during that period, by being suffering from a permanent incapacity at least equal to 50% (or, for periods prior to 31 December 2015, to have pursued your professional activity as a disabled worker), either have pursued your professional activity during that period, while being in disability comparable to the rate of permanent disability of 50%

The following are the insurance term requirements:

Tableau - Conditions of insurance period to be fulfilled for early retirement for disability

You were born:

You can retire from:

Minimum number of insurance quarters required

Before September 1, 1961

59 yrs

88 of which 68 contributors

Between 1 September 1961 and 31 December 1962

59 yrs

68 quarters contributed

1963

59 yrs

68 quarters contributed

In 1964

58 yrs

79 quarters assessed

59 yrs

69 quarters assessed

In 1965

57 yrs

89 quarters assessed

58 yrs

79 quarters assessed

59 yrs

69 quarters assessed

In 1966

56 yrs

99 quarters assessed

57 yrs

89 quarters assessed

58 yrs

79 quarters assessed

59 yrs

69 quarters assessed

1967-69

55 years

110 quarters contributed

56 yrs

100 quarters contributed

57 yrs

90 quarters contributed

58 yrs

80 quarters contributed

59 yrs

70 quarters contributed

1970-72

55 years

111 quarters contributed

56 yrs

101 quarters contributed

57 yrs

91 quarters assessed

58 yrs

81 quarters assessed

59 yrs

71 quarters assessed

From 1973

55 years

112 quarters contributed

56 yrs

102 quarters contributed

57 yrs

92 quarters assessed

58 yrs

82 quarters assessed

59 yrs

72 quarters assessed

Log in to your personal space on the Pension Insurance website and visit the service Consult my career.

Pension Insurance - Personal Space

If your career record is incomplete or inaccurate, you can request a correction from age 55.

If your career record is up to date, you should contact your Carsat: titleContent an application for certification of early retirement of insured persons with disabilities.

Application for certification of early retirement of insured persons with disabilities

This form allows you to obtain a certificate proving that you meet the conditions to benefit from early retirement for disability from the Social Security Pension Insurance.

You must attach the following documents to this form:

Proof that you qualify for early retirement for disability from the Social Security Pension Insurance is issued at the earliest 6 months before the possible retirement date.

Once you have obtained this certification, you can apply for a single pension from all your pension plans from your personal area.

Don't stop working until you have confirmed your situation with your other basic and supplementary pension plans.

Your pension is calculated on full rate no matter how many quarters of pension insurance you have, at the maximum rate of 50% your average annual salary over your best 25 years.

If you do not have the number of quarters of pension insurance required to qualify for a full rate pension, your retirement pension paid by Pension Insurance is increased.

The amount of the increase depends on the period you contributed for which you were disabled and your total insurance period validated with the Social Security Pension Insurance.

It is calculated according to the following formula:

(Duration of pension insurance contributed to the Social Security Pension Insurance by being disabled / Total duration of pension insurance validated with the Social Security Pension Insurance - by being or not disabled) x

The increase in pension cannot allow you to receive a higher pension than the amount you would have received if you had the insurance period needed to receive a full-rate pension.

If the amount of your increased pension is less than minimum amount retiring, called minimum contributionYes, that's the minimum amount that's paid to you.

Permanent disability

You can retire before the minimum starting age normal (set between 62 and 64 years of age depending on your year of birth) and from 60 years in the following cases:

  • You have permanent incapacity at least equal to 20% following a occupational disease
  • Or you have permanent incapacity at least equal to 20% as a result of industrial accident which resulted in injuries identical to those for which compensation was paid as a result of an occupational disease. Accident at work The list of injuries following an occupational disease and identical to those compensated following an occupational disease shall be laid down by ministerial order.Accident at work List of injuries following an occupational disease

FYI  

The rate of permanent disability of 20% may also result from the addition of several recognized rates of permanent incapacity following one or more occupational diseases, and/or one or more accidents at work which have resulted in injuries identical to those compensated following an occupational disease. But in this case, one of the disability rates must be at least equal to 10% and following the same illness or accident.

You can also retire before the minimum age of departure normal and from 60 years of age if you are in one of the following 2 situations:

  • Either you have permanent incapacity at least equal to 10% following a occupational disease
  • Either you have permanent incapacity at least equal to 10% of a industrial accident which resulted in injuries identical to those for which compensation was paid as a result of an occupational disease. And you were exposed for 17 years (68 quarters) to one or more occupational risk factors. And it is established that your permanent disability is directly related to exposure to these occupational risk factors.

Occupational risk factors are linked to marked physical constraints or an aggressive physical environment or to certain work patterns which can leave identifiable and irreversible lasting traces on health:

  1. Marked physical constraints :
    • Manual handling of loads, the lifting, laying, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving of which requires the physical effort of one or more workers
    • Stressful postures defined as forced joint positions
    • Mechanical vibration: vibration transmitted to the hands and arms which causes in particular vascular disorders, osteoarticular lesions or neurological or muscular disorders or vibration transmitted to the whole body which causes in particular back pain and microtraumas of the vertebral column
  2. Aggressive physical environment:
    • Dangerous chemical agents, including dust and fumes
    • Activities in hyperbaric environments (relative pressure greater than 100 hectopascals with or without immersion)
    • Extreme Temperatures
    • Noise: daily exposure to noise of at least 81 decibels for a reference period of 8 hours or 600 hours per year or exposure to impulsive noise (brief and repeated) of at least 135 decibels
  3. Certain work patterns:
    • Night work
    • Work in alternating shifts (example shift work in 3x8)
    • Repetitive work characterized by the performance of work involving the execution of repeated movements, urging all or part of the upper limb, at a high frequency and under a constrained cadence

Warning  

Permanent incapacity due to a commuting accident does not qualify for permanent incapacity retirement.

You can apply for a permanent disability pension with your Carsat: titleContent using the following form:

Single application for a basic pension for permanent incapacity of occupational origin

You must submit your request 4 to 6 months before the desired departure date.

Accident at work You must attach to your pension application form the documents listed on page 4 of the form and in particular your notification of occupational sickness or financial assistance and your notification of medical consolidation.

You have to ask for your retirement from others basic and supplementary pension funds which you have noted during your career.

However, the application form for a permanent disability pension is common to the Pension Insurance and the MSA: titleContent so if you've paid into the MSA, you don't have any application to that pension fund.

And Pension Insurance informs theAgirc-Arco: titleContent of your retirement for permanent incapacity.

Your pension is calculated at the full rate regardless of the number of quarters of your pension insurance, i.e. at the maximum rate of 50% your average annual salary over your best 25 years.

Inability to work

You can leave by full-rate pension (without discount), regardless of the number of quarters of pension insurance, from 62 years of age if you are deemed unfit for work.

You are deemed unfit for work if your health no longer allows you to continue your professional activity without seriously harming your health and if you have a permanent medical incapacity for work of at least 50%.

You should contact your Carsat: titleContent a personal pension application form.

Single application for personal basic pensions - General schemes (employees and self-employed), agricultural schemes (MSA), religious schemes (Cavimac)

You must attach to this form, under confidential cover, a medical certificate drawn up by your attending doctor, and, if you are still active, a medical certificate drawn up by the occupational doctor.

The medical certificates to be completed by the doctor(s) are to be requested from your Carsat.

Your inability to work is recognized by your pension fund's medical officer.

Your incapacity is assessed according to the job you hold on the date of your application.

If you are no longer employed at the time of your application, your incapacity is assessed on the basis of the last activity you performed in the previous 5 years.

If you have not been employed in the last 5 years, your incapacity is assessed on the basis of your physical and mental ability to work.

In some situations, you are automatically considered unfit for work from the minimum retirement age and are not subject to medical screening.

This is particularly the case in the following situations:

  • You are recognized as disabled before the minimum retirement age
  • You receive the Disabled Adult Allowance (DAA)
  • You have the disability card with a permanent disability of at least 80%

The starting point for your retirement due to unfitness for work is set at 1er day of the month following the date on which your incapacity is recognized.

Your pension is calculated at the full rate regardless of the number of quarters of your pension insurance, i.e. at the maximum rate of 50% your average annual salary over your best 25 years.

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