An employment contract tailored to older employees

Despite an increase in recent years, the employment rate for people aged 60 to 64 (42.4%) remains well below the European average (by 10.7 points, according to Dares). In addition, senior job seekers are more likely than others to face long-term unemployment.

Therefore, in order to encourage the hiring of these workers, the national inter-professional agreement “in favor of the employment of experienced employees” concluded on November 14, 2024, by employers’ organizations and employee unions introduced the “experience enhancement contract”.

Included in the recent law “transposing national inter-professional agreements in favor of the employment of experienced employees and relating to the development of social dialogue”, known as the “seniors” law, this measure came into force on October 26, 2025.

A permanent contract...

Concluded for an indefinite period, the experience enhancement contract allows employers to recruit job seekers who are:
- registered with France Travail,
- aged at least 60 or, if provided for in an agreement or extended branch agreement, at least 57,
- and who are not yet entitled to a full retirement pension (except for military personnel and sailors, among others).

Furthermore, the recruited employee must not have been employed by the company or another company in the group in the previous six months.

... which facilitates retirement

Employers may be reluctant to hire a senior employee on a permanent contract (CDI) due to the strict rules relating to retirement (the employee’s consent if they are under 70) and the financial cost of termination. This is why the experience enhancement contract allows for an exception to be made.

This means that an employee hired under such a contract can be retired without their consent once they have reached:
- the legal retirement age (currently between 62 years and 9 months and 64 years, depending on their year of birth) and has accumulated all the quarters required to be entitled to a full retirement pension (currently between 170 and 172 quarters, depending on their year of birth).
- the age at which employees are automatically entitled to a full retirement pension, i.e. 67.

As with a “standard” permanent contract, the employer must pay the retired employee compensation at least equal to the severance pay. However, the employer is exempt from paying the specific contribution normally due, at a rate of 30%, on the portion of the retirement compensation that is not subject to social security contributions.