Since the 1960s, civil servants could contribute to an optional funded pension plan: the Préfon, which has since been converted into PER. But in 2005, a mandatory pension fund was discreetly introduced under the modest name of “provisioned distribution”. It is in fact a mandatory funded scheme with a board of directors on which eight unions sit. In a French system dominated by pay-as-you-go, the still unknown existence of this “additional public service pension” (RAFP) is surprising.
To understand, you have to know that the pensions of civil servants are calculated very differently from those of the private sector. There is no dichotomy of basic pension and supplementary pension. Until 2005, civil servants did not contribute on all their remuneration: bonuses and allowances did not count towards retirement.
” Breakthrough “
Result: when the Fillon reform of 2003 established this “RAFP”, based solely on bonuses and allowances, “it’s seen as a step forward”, notes Jean-Louis Malys, former national secretary of the CFDT. But also “as a quid pro quo” – the Fillon reform, which aligns the contribution periods with those of the private sector, goes badly among civil servants. And even if the plan is funded (contributions are invested, mainly in bonds, they are not paid to current retirees), it was “better than continuing to disregard bonuses”judge Yvan Ricordeau, current “Monsieur Retraite” of the CFDT.
About four and a half million civil servants contribute to this system by points, up to 5% of their ancillary remuneration (within the limit of 20% of their index salary). The employer puts as much. This represents a total of nearly 2 billion euros for 2022. “In 2022, we paid nearly 430,000 pension benefits, for an average annual amount of 380 euros”, says Laurent Galzy, director of Erafp, the establishment that manages the scheme. The rise in power is gradual: in a funded system, it is necessary to wait until the scheme has been in existence for around four decades for the impact on pensions to be maximum.