Fabienne, a teacher, experiences an abrupt end to her career, marked by an “unsolicited” retirement after 43 years of service. During sick leave, the Liège resident discovered with amazement that she is “pensioned from October 1, 2024”, without having made a request. Explanations.
The end of the career of Fabienne, a teacher from Liège, was marked by a “sudden” decision. After 43 years of service, she found herself faced with “unsolicited retirement”.
A teacher since 1981, she devoted most of her career to a nursery school in the Liège region. After the start of the 2024 school year, she had to be absent for a few weeks. “I was on sick leave for a month because of Covid, followed by a dental infection,” she explains. It was then that an unexpected phone call from her director turned her daily life upside down. “I learned that I was retired from October 1, 2024. However, I had not made any request!”
Fabienne has officially reached the first pension date while having exhausted her sick leave entitlement (a maximum of 182 days). She could thus be automatically retired.
The teacher does not hide her “astonishment” at this news. “No one warned me that this could happen to me. I had planned to work for two more years”she emphasizes, visibly affected by this decision. “You are being put in the hot seat overnight, without a registered letter or any prior warning. This is unacceptable.”
The letter she received on October 3 from the French Community only confirmed what she feared. “It states that I was of pensionable age, and that I had used up my sick days. After 43 years of service, it is normal to have used your sick leave entitlement. It’s the way this has been approached that is disconcerting. Pension must be applied for 3 months in advance for paperwork to be prepared. But there, I didn’t ask for anything.” concludes Fabienne.
This transition can be confusing for teachers
The CSC Education emphasizes that this case of compulsory retirement, although not very frequent, reveals a complex reality. According to the regulations in force, when teachers reach their first pension date while having exhausted their right to sick leave (a maximum of 182 days during their career), they can be automatically retired.
“These are situations that we encounter less than ten times a year. At the start of their career, members of teaching staff, when they are appointed, have the sickness benefit which covers them. They continue to receive a 100% salary, and they are covered for a maximum of 182 days (which corresponds to one school year) As soon as people have used this sickness pot because they have been sick for a long time, they are on sick leave during their time. career (find out more by clicking on this link). Their salary is lowered, and they may be summoned at certain times by Medex, the health service of the French Community, which can decide on retirement for incapacity.explains the union.
And to add: “For people who find themselves in the situation of this lady who contacted you, she is already at the end of her career. She has already reached her earliest possible pension date. In the law, a rule is provided that says that someone who has reached his first pension date and placed on sick leave, who has exhausted all his leave, is automatically placed on pension.”
The CSC nevertheless calls for greater transparency within the system. “We have long asked the French Community to implement regular monitoring of the number of days remaining in teachers’ sick pay, ideally on their pay slips,” indicates a spokesperson.
“We are told that it is technically impossible. However, we think that this would be useful information for staff members to avoid situations like these, where people are sometimes warned several months after they have been placed on standby. They are sometimes asked to repay thousands of euros because they received too much salary for a certain time. There could be things to do at this level, but unfortunately in this case, there is nothing. there is no appeal possible against the decision. And at the same time, if we put ourselves in the place of the employer, the French community, it played its role of protecting the person who was sick. This means that the person still used a certain number of months during which they were covered. After a while, the French community believes that the person already having a certain age, a complete career, they said to themselves that if the person continues to be ill, that does not interest us because we pay the salary of the person, and that of the teacher who replaces them. To reduce the blow, they say that the person of a certain age is entitled to a pension and they are automatically placed on the pension. That’s how it was initially thought about.”
The CSC also recalls that retirement, although legal, can have significant financial consequences for teachers. “For many, this represents a significant loss of salary, which can reach 600 to 700 euros per month,” warns the union.
Fabienne still has the possibility of returning to a teaching career, but with another employer. “There are possibilities, but we understand the trauma for the person,” concludes the CSC spokesperson.
pension teaching sick leave
