Retirement

Contractual researchers at INRAE pay into the basic retirement fund for private-sector employees. Retirement is the culmination of one’s active working life, a period during which people receive a set monthly sum of money known as a pension. In this section, you can find out more about France’s retirement system, including how it is structured, the amount of pension to expect, and the retirement process.

Retirement system

France’s retirement system adheres to the principles of wealth redistribution and solidarity across generations. During a person’s active working life, they are required to contribute to one or more retirement funds. Their contributions are proportional to their wages. These contributions cover the retirement of those who have already retired. In turn, when a contributor retires, their pension is financed by those who are still actively employed.

In return for the contributions made throughout their working life, the retiree receives a pension from the various retirement funds they paid into while employed. This pension is a set monthly amount that the retiree will receive for the rest of their life, guarantying a baseline level of financial support in exchange for their years of work.

The pension amount depends on a person’s income, retirement age, and number of years spent working (calculated in quarters). 

Retirement schemes

INRAE’s contractual employees are affiliated with two pension funds: 

• CNAV (Caisse nationale d’assurance vieillesse de la sécurité sociale) is the basic retirement scheme for private-sector employees. CNAV has regional offices, which are called the CARSAT (Caisses d’Assurance Retraite et de la Santé au Travail). The CARSAT offices are a regional point of contact for individuals in the general social security system (i.e., for retirement and survivor’s pensions).
• IRCANTEC (Institution de retraite complémentaire des agents non titulaires de l’État et des collectivités publiques) is responsible for managing the complementary retirement scheme.

Each month, your retirement contributions are deducted from your wages. They are listed on your pay slip.

Retirement support

If you have any questions about the retirement process, you can reach out to support staff: 

• HR personnel at your INRAE research centre can put you in touch with the institute’s retirement services
• An INRAE retirement counsellor can personally guide you through the retirement process
• You can take part in informational sessions and/or training courses dealing with retirement, which are regularly held by INRAE  
• Explore the website for CLEISS (Centre des liaisons européennes et internationales de sécurité sociale), a national public institution that provides information on retirement for people who have had international careers