Changes in September! These two new features will make retirement easier

Two new measures will come into effect in September, making it easier for employees and civil servants to begin their retirement.

This is very good news for future retirees. Starting - probably - in September, two new provisions will come into effect, allowing workers (private sector employees and civil servants) to leave the world of work more smoothly, without the break happening overnight.

The aim is to relax the rules on phased retirement, as few French people use this system when they reach the end of their careers. According to the latest official figures, only 30,000 people take advantage of it out of the 700,000 to 750,000 annual retirements, or barely 4%. Within a few weeks, this number could increase thanks to the adopted changes.

Currently, an employee who wishes to benefit from phased retirement must submit a request to their employer. The employer can refuse the request quite easily, by justifying the incompatibility of the requested working hours with the company's economic activity.

Now, in addition to this, employers will have to justify recruitment difficulties for the position in question in order to refuse phased retirement. This addition is not a minor detail and should allow for better rotation in the workplace between newcomers and more experienced employees who wish to leave. It remains to be seen whether the part-time contracts offered by employers to compensate for the employee's phased retirement will find takers.

Furthermore, for those who will benefit from the phased retirement system starting in September, there's more good news. Since the transition to phased retirement results in a reduction in income, it will now be possible to compensate for this loss.

The retirement bonus, usually paid at the end of a career, can be spread out over the course of the phased retirement period, thus supplementing the salary. This will require a company or industry agreement. Furthermore, if, once the phased retirement period is over, there is still a portion of the retirement bonus remaining, this remainder will obviously be paid to the newly retired person.

These new measures must be approved by Parliament from June, but there is no doubt that they will come into force, as they stem from a national inter-professional agreement, approved by trade union and employer organisations.