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Retirement in the public service:what particularities?

Retirement in the public service:what particularities?

Whether they are state, territorial or hospital civil servants, civil servants (or contract workers) depend on different basic and supplementary pension schemes, and with their own rules, from those of private sector employees. The minimum retirement age for civil servants also depends in particular on the type of job they occupy. The main particularities of retirement in the public service.

Specific pension plans

Civil servants have specific mandatory basic and supplementary pension schemes, with their own rules and operating conditions, to which they contribute at the same time.

State civil servants benefit from a basic pension paid by the State Pensions Service (SRE) and a supplementary pension paid by the Additional Civil Service Pension (RAFP).

The permanent agents of the territorial and hospital public service depend on the National pension fund of the agents of the local communities (CNRACL) for their basic pension and also of the RAFP for their complementary pension.

Contract agents (non-tenured civil servants) receive a basic pension from the retirement insurance of the general social security scheme and a supplementary pension from the Institution for the supplementary pension of non-tenured State and public authorities (Ircantec).

The retirement age varies in particular according to the nature of the employment of civil servants

The minimum retirement age for civil servants differs according to their status (civil servant or holder) and the nature of their job.

For civil servants, i.e. permanent civil servants, the minimum retirement age depends on the nature of their job, which can be "sedentary" or "active category".

A job is said to be “sedentary” when it does not present any particular risks or cause exceptional fatigue. A civil servant who holds this type of job and who has at least 2 years of service has the right to retire at 62 years of age. Nevertheless, some civil servants who belong to this category of employment in the health sector in particular have the possibility of retiring at age 60.

Civil servants who occupy an “active category” job (which presents a particular risk or exceptional fatigue) and who have between 12 and 32 years of seniority in this type of position can retire from the age of 57. This minimum retirement age is lowered to 52 for certain jobs (active National Police personnel, prison administration surveillance personnel, air traffic controllers, underground sewer network agents, or agents of the corps of identifiers of the medico-legal institute of the Paris police headquarters).

Non-permanent civil servants (contract workers), with the exception of certain situations (long career, disability or hardship) have the possibility of retiring from the age of 62.

In the civil service, there is also a maximum age at which agents are automatically retired, although exceptions are provided for in certain cases. For civil servants who have a sedentary job and contract workers, this maximum retirement age varies from 66 to 67 depending on their year of birth. From 61 to 62 years old for civil servants in the "active category".

The specifics of the calculation of public service pensions

If the retirement pensions of civil servants are calculated on the basis of their duration of basic and supplementary retirement insurance and according to the number of quarters they have acquired, they have the particularity of also taking into account their gross index salary. The latter depends on their grade and their step, elements which determine the level of remuneration of civil servants, and it is defined according to an index fixed by regulation.

Thus, the gross index salary taken into account for the pensions of civil servants is that in force for each civil servant for at least 6 months on the date of termination of their functions. To this index salary is applied a “liquidation percentage” which depends on the number of “liquidable” quarters of each civil servant, i.e. the quarters actually taken into account for the calculation of their pension. The number of the latter varies from 165 (or 166 for active category agents) to 172 depending on the year of birth of the official in order to be able to benefit from a full pension.

Note:the pensions of contract civil servants are calculated under the same conditions as private sector employees.