Our fact sheet on Covid-19-related partial employment for air crew members has been updated to reflect the new legal instruments that have been adopted, in particular France’s Government Order of April 22, 2020, which sets forth an exception to the principle of no contribution liability for partial employment benefits.

Principle

Partial-employment benefits are not liable to contributions

Exception

When the total of a claimant’s statutory partial employment benefits plus the additional benefit paid by their employer under either a collective agreement or a unilateral decision adds up to more than 3.15 times France’s statutory hourly minimum wage (“SMIC”), the portion of the additional benefit that exceeds this amount shall be liable to social security contributions on earned income. This measure applies to benefits for periods of employment from May 1st, 2020.

As a result, if a member is liable to contributions during a period of partial employment as from May 1st, 2020, their days must not be reduced and will be credited to their air crew career as accrued through contributions, based on the information declared by their employers.

Conversely, if no contributions were paid on a period of partial employment, the days must not be declared and will be credited to the member’s account free of charge: they will be counted toward the length of career that is used to determine the rules applicable to the member’s claim when they apply for their air crew retirement pension.

Please refer to our informational guide here.