The ‘senior citizens’ law of 24 October 2025 introduced a new scheme allowing employees nearing the end of their careers to request a switch to part-time work, which will be partly financed by their retirement allowance.
This new measure appears to be a real asset in retaining senior employees while facilitating the end of their careers.
We therefore offer you a summary of the main rules applicable in this area so that you can familiarise yourself with this new scheme :
1. Principle and operating procedures
Part-time work at the end of an employee’s career allows them to gradually adjust to the end of their professional life by reducing their working hours, while limiting the impact of this reduction on their remuneration.
The reduction in remuneration resulting from the transition to part-time work is offset, in whole or in part, by the early and staggered payment of retirement benefits.
Thus, the retirement benefits that would normally have been paid at the time of retirement will be paid gradually during the transition to part-time work.
This mechanism allows employees to maintain a level of remuneration as close as possible to that which they received before switching to part-time work.
Upon effective retirement, any remaining retirement compensation not yet received by the employee is paid to them as part of their final settlement.
This scheme applies to all employees, including those hired on a fixed daily rate. For the latter, the reduction in working hours will result in the introduction of a reduced fixed daily rate.
For employers, end-of-career part-time work can be advantageous as it allows the cost of retirement benefits to be spread over time and mitigates the impact on the company’s cash flow. This advantage can be significant, particularly in the case of employees with long service.
2. Implementation terms and conditions
The implementation of the scheme requires the conclusion of a collective agreement on the subject. This agreement may be negotiated at several levels :
- Company agreement;
- Establishment agreement;
- Industry-wide agreement or convention.
Subject to the existence of such an agreement, requests to switch to part-time work at the end of one’s career will be subject to the employer’s prior approval.
We are available to discuss this matter with you and assist you in implementing this system.
This article was written in January 2026 by the Social Department
