It is a striking surplus in the current context. Agirc-Arrco, the supplementary pension plan for private sector employees, released an encouraging 2022 report on March 29. The Covid parenthesis is well closed and the hole of 2020 -4,000 million euros- covered to a large extent. The surplus generated last year reached 5.1 billion euros, a level twice that of 2021.
The regime is doing better than it was seven years ago, according to the CFDT’s own admission, “in danger”. To avoid bankruptcy, the social partners who manage this scheme that provides additional income to 13 million retirees, agreed at the end of 2015 on several measures aimed at returning to green. In particular, a temporary bonus/malus system had been approved.
The coefficient of solidarity to the rescue of the regime
How does this “solidarity coefficient” applied since 2019 work?
A sanction intended to encourage employees to work longer, especially since it becomes a bonus in case of extension of the activity. If the private sector worker works two more years “compared to the date on which he met the conditions for the full-rate basic pension”, he not only avoids the temporary reduction of his pension, but is even entitled to a bonus for one year .
This bonus/malus system had been fiercely negotiated. The FO union strongly opposed it, while Medef initially demanded a 40% discount, recalls Jean-Louis Malys, former president of Agirc-Arrco. In the end, the agreement found did not play an incentive role as the businessmen wanted. In 2020, only a very small proportion of private sector employees had decided to delay their retirement for at least two years to avoid this penalty, notes an article in Les Echos.
The bonus/malus will be “put back on the table”
Therefore, the bonus / malus is not, by far, the main reason for the good health of Agirc-Arrco’s accounts in recent years, stresses Brigitte Pisa, administrator of the scheme, with BFM Business. Its financial recovery, this fund is due to the drop in unemployment and the creation of jobs. The increase in the number of employees and salary increases have increased the resources of the regime by 6.3%.
So what about the future of bonuses/maluses? The issue “will be put back on the table” during the upcoming negotiations on the management objectives of the plan from 2023 to 2026, explains Brigitte Pisa. As well as all questions related to the future of Agirc-Arrco. Negotiations should start this semester. With the change in the retirement age provided for in the pension reform, this bonus/penalty would lose its appeal. It has yet to go into effect.
Source: BFM TV
