The Senior Permanent Contract Approved by the National Assembly: What Are We Talking About?

The objective of the senior permanent contract is to facilitate the return to work of job seekers aged at least 60, or from 57 if a sectoral agreement provides for it. Implemented on an experimental basis for five years, this contract aims to address a worrying observation: the low employment rate of seniors in France, which stands at only 38% for those over 60, compared to 61% in Germany and 70% in Sweden.

This new contract gives employers greater flexibility: it allows them to retire an employee as soon as they reach their full pension rate, well before the current legal age of 70. In return, employers will benefit from exemptions on retirement compensation, a provision that has drawn criticism, particularly from the left, who see it as a new favor granted to employers.

LFI opposed to the text

The measure was adopted in the National Assembly by a vote of 57 to 9. While La France Insoumise opposed it, denouncing it as a "forced labor" for seniors, the rest of the left voted overwhelmingly in favor, despite a few abstentions. The National Rally also supported the bill.

Labor Minister Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet hailed the bill's adoption as "a success for social democracy," stressing the urgency of addressing a situation deemed both unfair and economically damaging.

This text, already validated by the Senate, also contains other provisions related to the employment of seniors, such as the obligation to organize a specific negotiation on their employment every four years in large companies, or even facilities for professional retraining via the personal training account (CPF).