Can money be transferred from one wage savings plan to another?

Verified 23 August 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Yes, it is possible to transfer money from a wage savings plan to another wage savings plan, but only in cases authorized by law. We present the applicable rules.

A wage savings plan is a support that allows you to receive and increase the amount of money you receive as part of a wage savings scheme (profit sharing and participation), or as part of a company value sharing.

There are 3 Wage Savings Plans:

The transfer transaction is the process of moving the savings you have accumulated from one wage savings plan to another wage savings plan.

The transfer should not be confused with arbitration, which involves changing the allocation of the sums to the different media available within the same salary savings plan.

The transfer of a wage savings plan to another wage savings plan is possible only in the cases provided for by law.

The transfer of savings from the EIP and the EIP to another salary savings plan is possible in the following cases:

  • When the legal situation of your company changes and this change makes it impossible to continue with the old savings plan
  • When you are in breach of an employment contract with your company, while your EEP still hosts money paid to you under the special participation reserve
  • When you want to transfer your savings to another EPE, whether or not there is a breach of the employment contract
  • When you want to transfer your savings to a Perco, whether or not there is a breach of the employment contract.

Transfer in the event of a change in the company's legal situation

If your company’s legal position changes (e.g. merge with another company) and this change makes it impossible to continue with the EAP, your savings will automatically be transferred to the EAP of the new entity.

The company must inform the employee representatives of this transfer.

In this case, the period of unavailability already elapsed for the transferred sums is deducted from the period of freezing provided for in the new plan.

Transfer in the event of termination of the employment contract

If the termination of your employment contract occurs while your EAP or IAP is still receiving monies paid to you under the Special Participation Reserve, you can request the transfer of these monies to your new employer's EAP or IAP.

In this case, the period of unavailability already elapsed for the transferred sums is deducted from the period of freezing provided for in the new plan.

The period of unavailability which has already elapsed shall not be deducted from the period of freezing provided for in the new plan where the sums transferred are used to participate in a capital increase reserved for members of an EIP or IEP.

Amounts transferred from one wage-saving scheme to another are not taken into account twice in calculating the ceiling for payments to the various wage-saving schemes.

The amounts transferred are not eligible for a top-up payment from the employer (called abundance).

But the abundance can be applied if the sums are transferred after their blocking period has expired.

Amounts that have received an abundance supplement may be transferred only if the transfer is authorized by the regulations of the plan in which the abundance supplement was paid.

Transfer at the request of the employee to another EPE

You can also request the transfer of your savings from the EIP or IEP from your company to another EIP or IEP in the absence of a breach of your employment contract.

In this case, the blocking time of the PEE or PEI hosting the transfer must be at least equivalent to the blocking time of your company's PEE.

The period of unavailability that has already elapsed for the transferred sums is deducted from the hold period provided for in the new plan.

This rule does not apply where the amounts transferred are used to participate in a capital increase reserved for members of an EIP or IEP.

Amounts transferred from one wage-saving scheme to another are not taken into account twice in calculating the ceiling for payments to the various wage-saving schemes.

The amounts transferred are not eligible for a top-up payment from the employer (called abundance).

But the abundance can be applied if the sums are transferred after their blocking period has expired.

Amounts that have received an abundance supplement may be transferred only if the transfer is authorized by the regulations of the plan in which the abundance supplement was paid.

Transfer at the request of the employee to a Perco

You can also request the transfer of your savings from the EIP or IEP of your company to a Perco in the absence of a breach of your employment contract.

Amounts transferred from one wage-saving scheme to another are not taken into account twice in calculating the ceiling for payments to the various wage-saving schemes.

The amounts transferred are not eligible for a top-up payment from the employer (called abundance).

The abundance may be applied if the sums are transferred after the expiry of their blocking period or if it is a transfer from a PEE or PEI to a Perco.

Amounts that have received an abundance supplement may be transferred only if the transfer is authorized by the regulations of the plan in which the abundance supplement was paid.

The transfer of the savings on Perco to another wage savings plan is possible in the following cases:

  • When the termination of your employment contract occurs while your Perco is still receiving sums paid to you under the special participation reserve
  • When you want to transfer your savings to another Perco, whether or not there is a breach of the employment contract
  • When you want to transfer your savings to a group company RIP, whether or not there is a breach of the employment contract
  • When your company decides to transfer the vesting rights of all Perco employees to a collective company PER
  • When your company decides to transform the Perco into a collective company PER.

Transfer in the event of termination of the employment contract

If the termination of your employment contract occurs while your Perco is still receiving monies paid to you under the special participation reserve, you can request the transfer of these monies to your new employer's Perco.

In this case, the period of unavailability already elapsed for the transferred sums is deducted from the period of freezing provided for in the new plan.

The period of unavailability which has already elapsed shall not be deducted from the period of freezing provided for in the new plan where the sums transferred are used to participate in a capital increase reserved for members of an EIP or IEP.

Amounts transferred from one wage-saving scheme to another are not taken into account twice in calculating the ceiling for payments to the various wage-saving schemes.

The amounts transferred are not eligible for a top-up payment from the employer (called abundance).

Amounts that have received an abundance supplement may be transferred only if the transfer is authorized by the regulations of the plan in which the abundance supplement was paid.

Transfer at the request of the employee to another Perco

You can also request the transfer of the savings in the Perco from your company to another Perco, in the absence of a breach of your employment contract.

Amounts transferred from one wage-saving scheme to another are not taken into account twice in calculating the ceiling for payments to the various wage-saving schemes.

The amounts transferred are not eligible for a top-up payment from the employer (called abundance).

Amounts that have received an abundance supplement may be transferred only if the transfer is authorized by the regulations of the plan in which the abundance supplement was paid.

Transfer at the request of the employee to a collective company RIP

You have the right to request the transfer of your Perco savings to a collective company RIP before the termination of your employment contract.

This type of transfer is possible once every 3 years.

Collective transfer at the initiative of the company

Your company may decide to transfer the rights of all employees from a Perco to a Collective company PER.

This decision must be approved by collective agreement with the staff representatives.

The company must inform you, as an employee, of the consequences of the new plan and its differences with the Perco: titleContent.

You cannot refuse the transfer, which must take place within 6 months of the decision.

Transformation of Perco into a collective company BizPa at the initiative of the employer

Your company may decide to transform the Perco they have set up into Collective company PER, if the following conditions are met:

  • Perco was set up in compliance with the legal and regulatory requirements
  • The company informed and consulted the Social and Economic Committee
  • The original signatories of the Perco agreement do not oppose the transformation.

The conversion of Perco into a collective company RIP becomes effective after the company has informed the beneficiaries of the plan of the new tax rules on voluntary payments and cases of early release.

You can transfer the savings on your collective company PER to another collective company PER, to an individual PER or to a mandatory company PER.

The transfer is free if you have held the collective company ERP for at least 5 years.

If your holding period is less than 5 years, you may be charged a transfer fee, up to 1% the value of the plan.

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