What are the pension contributions of an employee on secondment?
Verified 11 August 2020 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
Pension reform project
Published on 27 January 2020
One universal pension bill shall be examined by Parliament. The pension rules will be amended. Pending the publication of the law, the information contained in this page remains current.
Detachment in the Public Service
The employee continues to contribute to the pension fund of his or her original employment:
- Civil and military pension scheme if he is a State official
- CNRACL: titleContent is a territorial or hospital official.
The pension contribution is calculated on the gross salary of the employment on which the employee is seconded to his host administration.
Abroad or in an international organization
Attachment pension plan
An employee seconded to a foreign government or agency located in the territory of a foreign state shall contribute to the foreign pension plan to which his employment relates. This is the case when a person is posted abroad to an international organization, a foreign status association, a foreign educational institution, etc.
The official shall also contribute to the foreign pension scheme in the event of secondment to an international body located in the national territory. This is the case in a secondment to Unesco in France for example.
Possibility of continuing to contribute to the French pension scheme
An employee may apply to continue to contribute to the pension fund of his or her original employment by:
- Civil and military pension scheme if he is a State official
- CNRACL: titleContent is a territorial or hospital official.
The employee must make a written request to his home administration within 4 months of the date of notification of the posting decision.
In the absence of an application within that period, the official shall be deemed to waive that possibility.
If the secondment is renewed, the election made for the previous period of secondment shall be tacitly renewed.
However, the official may submit a contrary application within 4 months of the date of notification of the decision to renew the secondment.
The assessment shall be calculated on the gross salary of the employee's original employment prior to posting, taking into account any advances made during posting.
If the employee only contributes to the foreign pension plan
Where the employee has not chosen to continue to contribute to the French pension plan, his membership in that plan shall be suspended for the duration of the secondment.
The period of secondment shall not be taken into account in the calculation of his retirement by the SRE: titleContent or CNRACL.
However, if the staff member is seconded to European Economic Area (EEA) or in Switzerland, the period of secondment is counted in the term of insurance for all schemes.
This term of insurance for all plans determines the haircut or override..
The period of secondment shall also be counted as the duration of insurance under all schemes if the activity pursued by the official outside the EEA or Switzerland is recognized as equivalent under the general social security scheme pursuant tointernational agreements or bilateral ..
If the employee continued to contribute to the French pension plan
When the employee chooses to continue to contribute to the French pension plan, the period of secondment is taken into account for the calculation of his retirement by the SRE or the CNRACL.
However, when he retires, the accumulated amount of French and foreign retirement pensions must not exceed the amount of retirement he would have received had he not been posted abroad.
If the cumulative amount is greater, the amount of the SRE or CNRACL pension is reduced by the amount of the foreign pension.
However, the civil servant may request a refund of his contributions to the civil and military pension scheme or to the CNRACL.
In this case, once the contributions have been reimbursed, the period of secondment is no longer taken into account for the calculation of his French pension.
And the cumulative amount of French and foreign pensions is no longer limited.
The employee must submit his or her application for a refund of contributions to his or her home administration.
He must make this request when his foreign host administration or agency has confirmed to him that he is receiving a foreign retirement pension and at the latest at the same time as his French retirement application.
Reminder
an official posted to a national institution located abroad (for example, at an embassy, a french high school, etc.) continues to contribute to his french pension plan like any official posted in the public service.
Other cases of secondment
The employee continues to contribute to the pension fund of his or her original employment:
- Civil and military pension scheme if he is a State official
- CNRACL: titleContent is a territorial or hospital official.
The pension contribution shall be calculated on the gross salary of the employee's original employment prior to posting, taking into account any advances made during posting.
- Act No. 84-16 of 11 January 1984 laying down statutory provisions relating to the EPFArticles 45a to 46b
- Act No. 84-53 of 26 January 1984 laying down statutory provisions relating to the FPTArticles 65 to 65-2
- Act No. 86-33 of 9 January 1986 laying down statutory provisions relating to the FPHArticles 53 to 53-2
- Code of Civil and Military Superannuation: Articles L87 to L88Article L87
- Civil and Military Superannuation Code: Articles R74 to R76bArticles R74-1, R74-1-1, R74-2, R74-3
- Code of Civil and Military Superannuation: Articles R95-1 to R95-3
- Decree No. 2003-1306 on the pension scheme for civil servants affiliated to the CNRACLArticles 5, 54 - II
- Bilateral social security conventionsCenter for European and International Social Security Liaison (Cleiss)
- International social security agreements (PDF - 1.1 MB)Center for European and International Social Security Liaison (Cleiss)