Pension insurance term of private sector employee
Verified 01 January 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
The duration of insurance includes periods of professional activity, certain periods of interruption of activity, insurance premium quarters granted according to certain situations and redeemed quarters. The duration of insurance is used to determine the rate of the pension and to determine whether or not the amount of the pension is subject to a reduction (called discount).
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The duration of pension insurance under the general social security scheme consists of all the quarters that you have validated as an employee.
It consists of the following periods:
- Periods of professional activity during which you contributed to Pension Insurance
- Periods of interruption of employment treated as contributory periods
- Redeemed Quarters
- Quarters of insurance premium granted according to certain situations (having had or raised a child, having taken parental leave, having had or raised a disabled child)
The duration of insurance determines whether you are entitled to a full-rate pension without waiting for the age at which the automatic full rate is payable.
It is also used to calculate the amount of the pension.
To determine your entitlement to a full-rate pension, the duration of insurance is taken into account for all schemes.
This takes into account your period of insurance under the general social security scheme and any other insurance scheme basic pension mandatory to which you have contributed, both privately and publicly.
However, when calculating the amount of your retirement pension under the general social security scheme, only the duration of insurance under the general scheme is taken into account.
You contribute to the general social security scheme if you work as an employee in the private sector.
However, to validate 1 quarter of pension insurance, you have to contribute on the basis of a minimum wage.
The amount of this minimum remuneration varies according to the years in which you have been employed, under the following conditions:
Years of employment | Minimum income eligible for validation of an insurance quarter |
|---|---|
Before 1972 | Income at least equal to the quarterly amount of the allowance for older salaried workers (AVTS) determined at 1er January of each year in which you worked |
From 1972 to 2013 | Income at least equal to the amount of Hourly minimum in force during each period worked, multiplied by 200 hours |
Since 2014 | Income, at least equal to the amount of the hourly minimum wage in effect on January 1 of the year, during each period worked, multiplied by 150 hours (for 2023, €1,690.50) |
Quarters are posted until the date your account is stopped at Pension Insurance.
This date is set to the last day of the calendar quarter preceding your retirement.
You get an increase in the number of retirement quarters if you work beyond the age at which a full retirement pension is automatically payable.
FYI
The number of insurance quarters (contributors and similar) is limited to 4 by calendar year, unless you are eligible for an extended period of insurance.
In the year you retire, the number of quarters used is the combination of the number of quarters validated by salary limited to the number of quarters at the date of departure.
For example: for an employee whose salary is valid for 4 quarters but retires on 1er July, only 2 quarters are selected.
Some periods not worked are treated as periods paid in, provided they are insured. These periods are used to validate quarters for retirement within limits that vary depending on:
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Periods of unemployment
If you have been unemployed during your career, you benefit from quarters validated under conditions that vary according to each period of unemployment has been compensated or not.
Disease
If you have received Sick Pay during your career, you will receive a validated quarter for each 60-day period of Sick Pay.
Maternity or adoption
If you have received maternity and/or adoption per diems during your career, you validate a term under the following conditions:
Date of birth of the child | Quarter posting condition |
|---|---|
Before 2014 | The quarter which includes the date of delivery shall be treated as an insurance quarter |
2014 and beyond | 1 quarter posted for each 90-day period compensated |
You also benefit from an increase in the number of retirement quarters in the following situations:
- Maternity, adoption and education of each child
- You took a educational parental leave,
- You've taken on the responsibility of a handicapped child
Disability
Each quarter in which you received your disability pension is treated as an insurance quarter.
Accident at work
Accident at work In the case of a temporary incapacity caused by a previous episode, one quarter shall be validated for each 60-day period of compensation.
If the accident at work results in permanent incapacity of at least 66%, one quarter shall be validated for each quarter during which three monthly annuity payments have been made.
Accident at work Periods of vocational rehabilitation in a vocational rehabilitation establishment or at an employer's home, following a
They are taken into account from date to date.
Reclassification Leave
If you received an allowance as part of a reclassification leave, one quarter is validated for each 50-day compensation period during the calendar year.
Partial unemployment
Periods of short-time work from 1er march 2020 are taken into account at the rate of 200 hours compensated to validate 1 quarter of pension insurance.
Taking these periods into account may not have the effect of validating more than four quarters per year.
National Service
If you have completed national service, one quarter is validated for each 90-day period of service if you were a contributor before or after that period.
Pre-trial detention
If you have been in remand, one quarter is validated for each 50-day period of detention during the calendar year (if this period is not based on the length of the sentence).
High-level athlete
If you have been registered on the list of high-level athletes, one term is validated per 90-day registration period after your 20the birthday. This is provided that your annual after-tax income is less than annual social security ceiling.
The number of quarters which may be used for this purpose is limited to 16.
Vocational training courses
Continuing vocational training courses paid by the State or region or not paid are treated as periods of insurance for retirement.
This applies if you are taking these courses when you are in one of the following situations:
- Job seeker not or more compensated by Pôle emploi
- Inmate
- A person with a disability whose opportunities to obtain or maintain employment are reduced due to impairment of one or more physical, sensory, mental or psychological functions.
Each period, continuous or discontinuous, of 50 days of vocational training is treated as 1 quarter of old-age insurance up to a maximum of 4 quarters per year.
The remaining days shall not be carried over from one year to the next.
Periods of vocational training are taken into account by the last basic pension scheme to which you were affiliated.
If you were not covered by any scheme before your traineeship, periods of vocational training are taken into account by the general social security pension scheme.
Mobility leave
If you received an allowance as part of a mobility leave, one quarter is validated for each 50-day period of compensation in the first 9 months of leave.
Civic service and international volunteering
Periods of civil service voluntary service contracts concluded before 14 May 2010 shall be treated as periods of insurance.
Periods of civil and international volunteering of at least 6 months shall be subject to the validation of quarters. One quarter is posted for each 90-day period.
- Social Security Code: Article L351-3Assimilated periods (general principles)
- Social Security Code: Article R351-9Validating an Insurance Quarter
- Social Security Code: Article R351-12Assimilated Periods (Validation Conditions)
- Decree No. 2020-1491 of 1 December 2020 on the recognition of periods of partial activity for pension rights
- My Retirement Account
Online service
- Retirement InfoPublic interest grouping "Union retirement"
- Social Security Pension InsuranceNational old-age insurance fund
- Hourly minimum: historical amountsNational old-age insurance fund
- AVTS: amount historyNational old-age insurance fund
- Old-age insurance - Maximum wage subject to contributionsNational old-age insurance fund