Early statutory retirement - Extension of the transitional measures

The RD of 11 April 2013 ("Repair RD") completes the transitional measures for early retirement, and refines some of them. In this Newsflash, you will find a summary of those repairs and additions.

As of 1 January 2013, the age and career conditions for early retirement are becoming stricter. The RD of 26 April 2012 provided specific transitional measures (cf. our Newsletter of 6 July 2012). Those are now completed as follows:

• Employees who resigned before 1 January 2010 or whose employment agreement was terminated by mutual consent with their employer before this date in view of taking up their occupational pension before 1 January 2010 and before their 60th birthday, can still benefit from early retirement under the previous conditions (60 years and a career of 35 years). For this it is required that, at the moment of the termination of the agreement, they were at least 55 years old or had a career of 35 years.
• Employees who concluded an agreement with their employer before 28 November 2011 for early retirement on their 60th birthday at the earliest, can also benefit from early retirement under the previous conditions. However, the agreement must fall within the scope of a collective document (CBA, work rules or pension plan) dated before that date. The Repair RD stipulates now that the CBA's had to be filed before 2 March 2012 (in stead of 28 November 2011) at the register of the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue. The ultimate date on which the employee had to meet the conditions of the collective document is adjourned to 31 December 2012.

These rules apply to pensions which enter into force on 1 January 2013 at the earliest.

> Action point

Contact former employees which could still benefit from early retirement based on the Repair RD.