Social Security

Pension Rights

The Social Insurance Code provides for both a full and a partial pension. A worker is entitled to a full pension at the age of 60 years (55 years for women) with at least 15 years of coverage, including 28 quarters of contributions in the last 10 years. Fora partial pension, a worker must have at least 100 quarters (men) or 80 quarters (women) of coverage. If a worker does not meet the requirements for a full or partial pension, there is also an option for a solidarity allowance; however, it is available only to workers who were employed during 1964-1968. Decree n° 2013-337 a replaced the article 268. The new provision sets the normal age for entitlement to benefits at 60 years for both men and women; it is reduced by 5 years for workers covered by the Maritime Code, and it may be reduced by up to 5 years where there is medically certified incapacity for work. The new Article 287 provides that a worker who does not meet the 28-quarter contribution requirement for an old-age pension, but can prove at least 100 quarters of contributions, is entitled to a proportional old-age pension.

The pension is 30% of the legal minimum wage, plus 20% of reference earnings, plus 1% of average earnings for each year of contributions over 10 years. If eligible for both old-age and disability pensions due to a work injury, the total benefit is 100% of the higher pension plus 25% of the lower pension. The minimum benefit is 60% of the legal minimum wage monthly, including supplements. The maximum benefit is 40% of maximum earnings used for contributions if no supplements are paid, or 75% of average earnings over the last 10 years if they are. Reference earnings are based on the 10 years preceding the standard retirement age and must be at least the legal minimum wage and no more than eight times that amount. Benefits are adjusted primarily in response to minimum wage increases and are paid quarterly.

Source: 266- 291 of the Social Insurance Code; Decree n°2013-337

Dependents' / Survivors' Benefit

If a worker dies, survivors receive annuities as follows: the surviving spouse who is not divorced receives a lifetime annuity of 30%, provided the marriage occurred before the accident; a divorced spouse who was receiving alimony receives an annuity limited to the alimony amount, capped at 20% of the victim’s annual salary, and where there is a new spouse, that spouse must receive at least half of the 30% spouse annuity. A spouse convicted of family desertion, or deprived of parental authority (unless later restored), loses entitlement, and the forfeited rights pass to the eligible children/descendants; exceptionally, a customary (unregistered) union may be recognised if an administrative certificate proves cohabitation and dependence. Additionally, eligible children (legally recognised children, adopted children if adopted before the accident, and dependent descendants/children taken in before the accident) receive 15% each for the first two and 10% each for each additional child, increased to 20% for a child who becomes an orphan of father or mother; these child annuities are collective and reduce as each child reaches the Code’s age limit, with children from multiple marriages treated under the same rules. Ascendants receive 10% each only if they were dependent and there is no surviving spouse or eligible children, with a total cap of 30% for ascendants and exclusion for ascendants guilty of family abandonment or deprived of parental authority. In all cases, the combined total of all survivors’ annuities may never exceed 85%, and if it does, each category is reduced proportionally.

Source: § 215-216 & 295-297 of the Social Insurance Code

Invalidity Benefit

Under Articles 292–294, a worker is entitled to an invalidity pension where a non-occupational physical or mental disability is medically certified and makes the worker unfit for their job, provided the disability is at least 60% according to the Fund’s work-injury assessment scale. The amount of the invalidity pension is 85% of the old-age pension the worker would have received at the normal retirement age, based on their affiliation and contribution record. This invalidity benefit cannot be combined with a work-injury pension, but it may replace it if it is more favourable and the medical adviser certifies that the occupational disability prevents the worker from performing salaried work.

Source: 292-294 of the Social Insurance Code