You want to reduce your work schedule before you retire
Here are answers to questions often asked by people who want to reduce their work schedule before they retire.
Phased departure
Can I reduce my work hours before I retire?
Yes. If your working conditions so provide, you can ask your employer to sign a phased departure agreement with you. The agreement allows you to reduce your work schedule for a minimum of 12 months and a maximum of 60 months. However, you must retire at the end of that period.
Note that for the duration of the agreement, your new work schedule must not be less than 40% of the full-time schedule of an equivalent job.
To be eligible for phased departure, you must first work full-time or part-time and hold regular employment. Phased departure does not apply to casual or seasonal employees.
Furthermore, you must check with our organization to make sure that you will be eligible for a retirement pension at the end of the agreement.
What do I have to do to benefit from phased departure?
First, it is important to note that it is up to your employer to decide whether or not you may enter into a phased departure agreement and to fix the terms of the agreement with you.
Therefore, before signing a phased departure agreement, you must meet with the public-sector pension plan administrator at your current workplace, generally in the human resources department.
He or she will help you complete a form entitled Demande de confirmation d'admissibilité au départ progressif 
(RSP-267) (this form is available in French only) in order for us to confirm to your employer your eligibility for a public-sector retirement pension at the expiry of the agreement.
Will signing a phased departure agreement affect my public-sector retirement pension when I retire?
No. Your contributions to your public-sector pension plan during the agreement are calculated on the salary you would have received had you not entered into such an agreement.
You will be credited the same service and salary you would have been credited under your pension plan had you not benefited from an agreement.
Will the legislative amendments to the PPMP affect my phased departure agreement?
No phased departure agreement will allow you to benefit from the provisions of the Act respecting the Pension Plan of Management Personnel as they read before the bill was introduced at the National Assembly on 8 February 2017.
When you sign a phased departure agreement, the eligibility requirements that apply are those in effect on the date on which you stop participating in the pension plan, even if your agreement began before 8 February 2017. The same applies to the method used to calculate the average pensionable salary, and to the applicable percentage of reduction in the case of early retirement.
However, in order to limit the impact of the application of the new provisions, 2 transitional measures are in place for phased departure agreements that began before 8 February 2017, which will allow you to extend your participation in the plan. The measures will allow you to fulfill the new eligibility requirements for an unreduced immediate pension or to limit the reduction due to early retirement.
Option 1 :
Postpone the end date of your phased departure agreement
If your phased departure agreement took effect before 8 February 2017, you can postpone the end date of your agreement.
To take advantage of this measure, you must notify your employer in writing and specify the new end date of the agreement at least 12 months before the initial end date of the agreement. Your employer must respect your choice.
If you would like to take advantage of this measure but your agreement ends in less than 12 months, you must obtain your employer's written authorization for the new end date of the agreement before the initial end date.
A change to the end date of the agreement does not require prior authorization from Retraite Québec.
This transitional measure allows you to extend your phased departure agreement over more than 5 years.
Option 2 :
Continue to participate in the pension plan after your agreement ends
If your phased departure agreement took effect before 8 February 2017, you can continue to participate in the PPMP after your agreement ends.
To take advantage of this measure, you must notify your employer in writing at least 12 months before the end date of the agreement and confirm that you wish to continue working after your agreement ends in order to continue participating in the PPMP. Your employer must respect your choice.
If you would like to take advantage of this measure but your agreement ends in less than 12 months, you must obtain your employer's written authorization to continue participating in the PPMP after the agreement expires before the end date of the agreement.
For the purpose of this transitional measure, you do not have to respect the provision whereby you must retire at the end of the agreement to benefit from phased departure.
Furthermore, according to the rules governing phased departure, your phased departure agreement becomes null and void if you are entitled to an immediate pension and do not stop participating in the pension plan at the end of the agreement. This rule does not apply if you take advantage of this transitional measure.
Time management and work reduction
Phased departure is not an option for me because I am not ready to commit to retiring on a specific date. Are there any other programs that would allow me to reduce my work hours without affecting the public-sector retirement pension I will receive later?
Yes. If your working conditions so provide, you can reduce the number of hours you work by taking part in the Time Management and Reduction program offered by your employer. This will have no impact on your future retirement pension since you will be credited the same service and salary you would have been credited under your pension plan had you not taken part in the program, even if your work hours and salary are reduced.
Note that the Time Management and Reduction program may be known under different names depending on whether you work in the public-service sector, the health and social services sector or the education sector.
For further information in this regard, contact the public-sector pension plan administrator at your place of work, generally in the human resources department.
Do I have to apply to your organization to take part in this program?
No. It is up to your employer to decide whether or not you may participate in this program. Once you have signed a Time Management and Reduction program agreement with your employer, he or she will provide us with the information necessary to have the service and salary corresponding to your work schedule reduction recognized under your public-sector pension plan.
Gradual retirement at age 65
When I turn 65, can I reduce my work hours and start receiving my public-sector retirement pension?
Yes. If you are 65 or over and continue to hold a job covered by a public-sector pension plan we administer, you can take part in a Gradual Retirement program which, under certain conditions, will allow you to receive both your salary and your retirement pension.
As a rule, the total of the salary and pension you receive during gradual retirement cannot exceed the salary you would have received had you not reduced your work schedule.
Will benefiting from a gradual retirement agreement have an effect on the public-sector retirement pension I will receive later?
Yes. It is important to note that if you benefit from a gradual retirement agreement, you are deemed to have retired and are no longer a member of your public-sector pension plan.
Consequently, for the duration of your gradual retirement, you will not contribute to your pension plan and will not accumulate years of service. Therefore, your public-sector retirement pension will be calculated taking into account the date on which you begin your gradual retirement.
Note that gradual retirement must ends no later than 30 December of the year you turn 69 if you are a member of the RREGOP, or 71 if you are a member of the PPMP. Consequently, if you continue working, you will automatically receive your full pension in addition to your salary as of 31 December of the same year.
What do I have to do to benefit from gradual retirement?
It is up to your employer to decide whether or not you may enter into a gradual retirement agreement and to fix the terms of the agreement with you.
Once you have set the terms of the agreement with your employer, you must meet with the public-sector pension plan administrator at your place of work, generally in the human resources department. He or she will help you complete the Application for Gradual Retirement (RSP-121A-PAR) form, which you must then send to us.
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