Employment–retirement combination: what changes in 2027 ?
30 December 2025 · 5 min reading time
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See job offersThe employment–retirement combination refers to returning to work while continuing to receive your pension. This can be used to supplement income, take on a one-off assignment, or continue an activity after retiring.
How it works depends on rules that vary with your situation. Until December 31, 2026, the framework remains the familiar one: either an unlimited combination (no means limit) or a capped combination (with a ceiling). From January 1, 2027, a change has been announced, with the combination more tightly linked to age and a mechanism that can reduce the pension in certain situations.
In this article, we first clarify the rules that apply up to 2026, then explain what is announced for 2027, with practical reference points to avoid the most common mistakes.
Employment–retirement combination: current rules and conditions
Unlimited combination: the clearest situation
When you are in the “unlimited” arrangement, the idea is simple: you can work again while receiving your retirement pension, without having to comply with an overall “pension + salary” income ceiling. In other words, you are not in a system where you are told: “you exceeded an amount, so we reduce your pension to offset it.”
That is what makes this framework more comfortable on a day-to-day basis. You can accept a one-off assignment, work more over a given period, or receive a bonus, without constantly calculating whether you are staying “under the limit.” This is especially helpful when income is irregular, for example with short-term assignments, cover work, or an activity that fluctuates with demand.
This framework also gives you more freedom to organise your return to work. You can choose a pace that genuinely suits you: a few hours per week, a more active period, or consulting. You manage your schedule based on what you want and what you can handle, not based on a ceiling you must not exceed.
One last important nuance: “unlimited” does not mean “no rules.” There may be steps to take to notify the resumption of work, and specific rules depending on your scheme or the type of activity. But on the main point—whether there is an overall ceiling—this is the clearest framework.
Conditions to meet to qualify for the unlimited arrangement (including the age aspect)
In most situations, the “unlimited” arrangement first requires that your pension has been claimed at the full rate. In practical terms, that means you reach the full rate either because you are at the age of automatic full rate (67), or because you have reached the legal retirement age and have the required number of quarters for your generation.
Next, you must have claimed all your pensions from your mandatory schemes: basic retirement and supplementary pensions, and if you have worked abroad, the corresponding pensions as well.
Finally, retirement involves stopping your work at the time you claim your pension, even though returning to work is possible afterwards.
Capped combination: a ceiling applies
Here, you can work again while receiving your pension, but the combination is not completely unrestricted. The principle is simple: your pensions and your earned income can be added together, as long as the total remains below a certain threshold.
That threshold is generally set using two reference points. The first is linked to the minimum wage (160% of the gross minimum wage). The second is based on your earnings just before you retired (often an average over a short period). Then, the reference that applies to your situation is used.
If the threshold is exceeded, the pension fund can adjust the pension payments to bring the situation back into line for the period concerned. In practice, this may result in a reduced pension, or a pension that is temporarily not paid, until the combination is compliant again.
That is why this framework requires a bit of vigilance, especially if your income varies from month to month: a longer assignment, a bonus, or a busier month can be enough to push you over the threshold without you anticipating it.
Conditions that place you in the “capped” arrangement
You generally fall under the “capped” arrangement when you do not meet the conditions for the “unlimited” arrangement. In practice, this notably includes situations where you did not retire at the full rate when you claimed your pension.
Second pension: can you acquire new rights while combining work and retirement?
Many people wonder whether working again in retirement means “paying contributions for nothing.” In some cases, it does not: there are situations where the resumed activity can allow you to build additional rights, which then translate into an additional pension to claim later.
The key point is this: the first pension you have already claimed does not change. However, subject to conditions, you can build new entitlements that will result in a second pension (basic and/or supplementary depending on the schemes), which you can claim when the time comes.
If your goal is not only to supplement your income but also to improve your longer-term position, this is something worth checking before signing a contract: depending on the framework, contributions do not always produce the same effects.
Employment–retirement combination: what changes on January 1, 2027
From 2027, the employment–retirement combination could become less advantageous in two specific cases: when retirement is taken before the legal retirement age, and when you return to work before age 67 while exceeding an annual earned-income threshold. The announced objective is to make the combination depend more on age and on the level of income from work, with a pension reduction in certain situations.
If retirement is taken before the legal retirement age, the planned logic is very dissuasive: earned income would reduce the pension on a like-for-like basis. In other words, work would no longer be “on top of” the pension; it would lead to a reduction of the pension over the same period.
The announced tightening would not apply only to early retirements. It could also affect retirees at the full rate as long as they have not reached age 67. In that case, the mechanism presented relies on an annual threshold: below it, the pension would not be specifically reduced; above it, it would be reduced according to the planned rule. The exact amount of the threshold must be set by implementing texts. An order of magnitude of around €7,000 per year is mentioned, but it should be treated as indicative until it is formally set.
The objectives of the 2027 employment–retirement combination reform
The stated goal of this reform is to refocus the employment–retirement combination on its original purpose: allowing a retiree to resume an activity to supplement income, without the mechanism becoming a way to retire earlier while rebuilding a high income level through work. In other words, the combination is presented as a supplement, not as a mechanism that makes early retirement financially attractive.
Behind this, there is also an issue of controlling spending within the schemes. When a retirement pension is added to a significant earned income, policymakers aim to limit windfall effects and better target the mechanism. That is why the announced change focuses on two zones: before the legal retirement age, where the combination would be strongly neutralised, and before age 67, where it would remain possible but more tightly framed above an annual threshold.
Finally, this reform fits into a broader message: encouraging, where possible, continuing to work before retirement rather than retiring and immediately returning to work. The idea is to make the whole system more consistent between age, acquired rights, and the rules of the combination.
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