Details of reforms to the French pension system which has established criteria to measure physical hardship at work as part of employers’ obligations account for risks to employees’ health within the work environment.

1. Newsletter January 2017
PHYSICAL HARDSHIP AT WORK
Ongoing reforms to the French pen-
sion system have established criteria
to measure physical hardship at work
(pénibilité au travail) as part of em-
ployers’ obligations to take account of
risks to employees’ health within the
work environment.
A legal definition was set out in a law
dated 9 November 2010. Physical
hardship at work was defined cumula-
tively as :
- Exposure to one or more profes-
sional risk factors related to marked
physical constraints, an aggressive
physical environment or certain
working rhythms.
- Conditions that may be susceptible
to leave lasting, identifiable and irre-
versible traces on an individual’s
health.
Employees working in such condi-
tions can accrue rights to an earlier
retirement.
A decree dated 9 October 2014 (N°
2014-1157) introduced four physical
hardship factors which in practice had
an impact on only a limited number of
enterprises however since July 2016
six further physical hardship factors
have been introduced.
From 1 January 2017, additional em-
ployer contributions may be due de-
pending on the level of physical hard-
ship present in the work environment.
The ten physical hardship factors now
in place which determine whether any
additional social contributions by an
employer are:
1) Night time employment
Where at least 120 nights per year are
worked (at least 1 hour between mid-
night and 5.00 a.m.).
2) Alternating night shifts
Where at least 50 nights per year are
worked at least 1 hour between mid-
night and 5.00 a.m.).
3) Work under hyperbaric conditions
Consisting of at least 60 interventions
per year (incurring intensities of at
least 1 200 hectopascals).
4) Repetitive working actions
Consisting of at least 900 working
hours based on 2 defined levels of
frequency of upper body movements:
- Cycles < 30 seconds: 15 or more
technical actions.
- Cycles > 30 seconds or variable du-
rations: 30 or more technical actions
per minute.
5) Difficult working postures
at least 900 hours maintaining pos-
tures such as arms maintained in the
air above elbow level; on knees;
working with upper body at more than
30 degrees or with upper body flexed
at 45 degrees.
6) Handling heavy loads
At least 600 hours per annum carrying
loads exceeding 15 kg; pushing or
pulling 250 kg or lifting above shoul-
der height unit loads of more than 10
kg; at least 120 days per annum based
on a cumulative total of 7.5 tons / day
7) Dangerous chemicals
Based on exposure above given
thresholds to a defined listing of
chemicals (- this includes dust &
fumes) set out under articles R4412-3
and R. 4412-6 of the Labour Code.
8) Mechanical vibrations
At least 450 hours per annum on a
reference period 8 hours to either
hands and arms based (2.5 m/ s2) or
entire body (0.5 m/s2)
9) Extreme temperatures
At least 900 hours working in tem-
peratures : < 5° Celsius or > 30° Cel-
sius.
10) Noise levels
At least 600 hours exposed to noise
based on an 8 hour reference period
exceeding 81 decibels or at least 120
times per annum exposed to a noise
level exceeding decibels per annum.
Employers are required to:
- Identify the physical hardship risks
that are present in the business.
- Where risks are identified, the risks
faced by each employees must be
evaluated and recorded in an individ-
ual account - a Compte Personal
d’Activité (CPA) or Compte Personnel
de Prévention de la Pénibilité (C3P).
The risks may be calculated by refer-
ence to any branch agreement estab-
lished under the collective bargaining
agreement where available.
Two social Contributions are now due
by the employer from 1 January 2017
if thresholds are exceeded :
(i) A general contribution is now due
based on 0.01% of remuneration paid
to all employees.
(ii) An additional contribution pay-
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2. able based on remuneration to em-
ployees exposed to physical hard-
ships set at 0.2% for single exposure
and 0.4% for multiple exposures
(Labour Code Art. D.4162 – 55).
Declaration of the social contribu-
tions due will be made via the pay-
roll declaration (Déclaration an-
nuelle des données sociales (DADS)
or Déclaration Sociale Nominative).
For the employee, the points that
are attributed to a personal account
may be applied in 3 ways:
- To contribute toward a re-training
for a less arduous employment by
transforming points acquired to-
ward a personal training account.
- To reduce the number of working
hours whilst retaining the same sal-
ary - 10 points accumulated permit
to reduce the number of working
hours during one quarter.
- To take early retirement up to a
maximum of 24 months early
(Article D.161-2-1-10 Social Secu-
rity Code).
If you do have any questions
concerning the contents of our
newsletter, please contact:
Patrick Scanlon
FERRIERES & Co
46 Rue du Général Foy
75008 PARIS
France
info@ferrieres.net
+33 (0) 1 42 94 29 33
www.ferrieres.net