In which cases can we request the early release of employee savings?
Verified 18 June 2026 - Public Service / (Prime Minister)
Amounts invested in employee savings plans are unavailable for a certain period. However, some exceptional situations allow you to recover these amounts in advance. We present you the applicable rules.
An employee savings plan is a support that allows you to invest and grow the amounts you receive as part of an employee savings plan (incentive and participation), or as part of a company value sharing. You can also place any abundances your company and your voluntary payments.
There are 2 main categories of employee savings plans:
- The company savings plan (PEES), which may also take the form of an inter-company savings plan (PEI). It's a short- or medium-term investment.
- The group retirement savings plan (Perco) or the collective company (Pereco or Perecol) which is intended to replace Perco. It's a retirement investment.
Funds deposited on a PEES: titleContent, one PEI: titleContent or a PEGS: titleContent are unavailable for a period of 5 years from each installment.
But these funds can be released in certain situations, whether they come from participation, incentives or your voluntary payments.
Events for early unlocking
The cases in which the employee can request early release are as follows:
- Marriage, conclusion of a Civil partnership
- Birth or adoption of a 3e child
- Divorce, separation, dissolution of a Civil partnership, with custody of at least one child
- Victim of domestic violence
- Disability (employee, spouse, Civil partnership partner, or children)
- Death (of employee, spouse or Civil partnership partner)
- Termination of the employment contract, cessation of activity by the individual entrepreneur, termination of the corporate mandate, loss of the status of collaborating spouse or associate spouse
- Creation or takeover of a company by the holder, or his/her spouse or Civil partnership partner, other self-employed occupation, acquisition of shares in a cooperative production business (SCOP)
- Acquisition or expansion of the principal residence, with the creation of new living space and in the presence of a building permit or a prior declaration of works
- Rehabilitation of the main residence damaged as a result of a natural disaster recognized by ministerial order
- Energy renovation of the main residence
- Over-indebtedness
- Caregiver activity carried out by the holder, or his/her spouse or Civil partnership partner
- Purchase of a clean vehicle (car of category M1, van, 2- or 3-wheel motor vehicle, or motor quadricycle that uses electricity, hydrogen or a combination of both as an exclusive source of energy) or new pedal-assisted cycle.
Warning
The acquisition of the principal residence must be done directly and not via a real estate civil business.
Submission of the application
The request for early release must be made within 6 months of the event.
However, it may intervene at any time in the following cases:
- Termination of the employment contract
- Deaths
- Disability
- Domestic violence
- Over-indebtedness
- Caregiver activity.
If you die, there is no time limit imposed on your rights holders to apply for unblocking.
However, if the unblocking of the PEE results in the sale of the securities acquired by the holder of the plan, to benefit from the tax exemption on capital gains realized on the sale of securities, the request for unblocking must be made within 6 months of death.
The request for release must be made to the organization that manages the PEES: titleContent for the company.
You must attach the proof of the event allowing early unblocking.
Here, as an indication, the types of evidence that may be submitted in support of the application:
- Marriage : extract from the marriage certificate or family booklet
- Civil partnerships : receipt issued by the town hall that recorded the Civil partnership, birth certificate with the transcription of the Civil partnership, registration certificate issued by the notary
- Birth of a 3e child : family record book or birth certificate or certificate of Caf: titleContent justifying the existence of 3 dependent children
- Adoption of a 3e child : certificate from the department for the adoption of the child or extract from the birth certificate or family record book and certificate from Caf
- Divorce with custody of at least one child : divorce judgment providing for the fixing of the habitual residence of at least one child at the employee's domicile + certificate of no appeal or no appeal or birth certificate with mention of divorce
- Separation with custody of at least one child : court decision establishing the habitual residence of at least one child at the employee's home
- Dissolution of a Civil partnership with custody of at least one child : birth certificate with modification of the Civil partnerships and court decision providing for the habitual residence of at least one child at the employee's home
- Domestic violence :: protection order issued by the family court judge or other document proving that the case has been taken into account by the criminal justice system (opening of a judicial inquiry, indictment of the alleged perpetrator, offer of a criminal composition to the alleged perpetrator, referral to the criminal court or conviction)
- Disability (of the employee or of his or her Civil partnership partner spouse or children): certificate of invalidity of a social security or pension organization (or decision of a disability organization) and invalidity card
- Death (of the employee or his/her spouse): death certificate + family booklet or act of notoriety
- Death (of employee or Civil partnership partner): death certificate + full copy of birth certificate with mention of the Civil partnerships + family record book or act of notoriety
- Termination of employment contract (dismissal, resignation) : work certificate, certificate from the employer confirming the date of termination of the contract or admission to retirement
- Cessation of the activity of individual entrepreneur : certificate of cessation of activity by Urssaf
- End of corporate mandate : minutes of revocation or non-renewal of the mandate
- End of collaborating spouse status : copy of the declaration of cancelation sent by the Head of company to the National Register of companies (RNE) + notification by the RNE of receipt of the declaration of cancelation
- Termination of Associated Spouse Status : notification of the amendment of the statutes of the company and receipt of the RNE
- Over-indebtedness : request by the chairman of the over-indebtedness commission or order of the judge indicating the amount to be released
- Creation or takeover of company : receipt for registration in the National Register of companies (RNE) plus the statutes
- Installation for the exercise of a self-employed profession : professional attestation bearing the approval number or the receipt for registration in the RNE
- Acquisition of shares in a cooperative production business (SCOP) : statutes of the cooperative business
- Main residence (purchase in the old) : sales agreement or notarial deed of sale with declaration on the honor to return the amount released in case of non-purchase
- Main residence (built by the employee) : building permit and invoice for the purchase of structural materials or estimate accepted with a deposit
- Main residence (purchase in future state of completion) : contract of sale
- Main residence (expansion) : building permit or prior declaration of works to the town hall
- Main residence (works for rehabilitation after natural disasters) : reference of the prefectural decree and declaration of loss to the insurance company or insurance expertise with the accepted quote.
- Energy renovation of the main residence : check the eligibility of the works envisaged with a advisor FranceRénov.
- Purchase of a clean vehicle (vehicles hybrid thermal are excluded): purchase order or vehicle invoice. The type of energy must appear on the invoice or order form, and for used cars, on the vehicle registration certificate box P3 must indicate the EL (electricity) or H2 (hydrogen) code.
- Purchase of a new bicycle with assisted pedaling (used bikes are excluded): invoice for the purchase of the new bike.
These are participation bonuses that have not been placed in an employee savings plan, but have been placed in a blocked current account of the company.
Events for early unlocking
The cases in which the employee can request early release are as follows:
- Marriage, conclusion of a Civil partnership
- Birth or adoption of a 3e child
- Divorce, separation, dissolution of a Civil partnership, with custody of at least one child
- Victim of domestic violence
- Disability (employee, spouse, Civil partnership partner, or children)
- Death (of employee, spouse or Civil partnership partner)
- Termination of the employment contract, cessation of activity by the individual entrepreneur, termination of the corporate mandate, loss of the status of collaborating spouse or associate spouse
- Establishment or takeover of a company by the holder, or his or her spouse or Civil partnership partner, other self-employed occupation, acquisition of shares in a cooperative production business (SCOP)
- Acquisition or expansion of the principal residence, with the creation of new living space and in the presence of a building permit or a prior declaration of works
- Rehabilitation of the main residence damaged as a result of a natural disaster recognized by ministerial order
- Energy renovation of the main residence
- Over-indebtedness
- Caregiver activity carried out by the holder, or his/her spouse or Civil partnership partner
- Purchase of a clean vehicle (car of category M1, van, 2- or 3-wheel motor vehicle, or motor quadricycle that uses electricity, hydrogen or a combination of both as an exclusive source of energy) or new pedal-assisted cycle.
Warning
The acquisition of the principal residence must be done directly and not via a real estate civil business.
Submission of the application
The request for early release must be made within 6 months of the event.
However, it may intervene at any time in the following cases:
- Termination of the employment contract
- Deaths
- Disability
- Domestic violence
- Over-indebtedness
- Caregiver activity.
You must attach the proof of the event allowing early unblocking.
Here, as an indication, the types of evidence that may be submitted in support of the application:
- Marriage : extract from the marriage certificate or family booklet
- Civil partnerships : receipt issued by the town hall that recorded the Civil partnership, birth certificate with the transcription of the Civil partnership, registration certificate issued by the notary
- Birth of a 3e child : family record book or birth certificate or certificate of Caf: titleContent justifying the existence of 3 dependent children
- Adoption of a 3e child : certificate from the department for the adoption of the child or extract from the birth certificate or family record book and certificate from Caf
- Divorce with custody of at least one child : divorce judgment providing for the fixing of the habitual residence of at least one child at the employee's domicile + certificate of no appeal or no appeal or birth certificate with mention of divorce
- Separation with custody of at least one child : court decision establishing the habitual residence of at least one child at the employee's home
- Dissolution of a Civil partnership with custody of at least one child : birth certificate with modification of the Civil partnerships and court decision providing for the habitual residence of at least one child at the employee's home
- Domestic violence :: protection order issued by the family court judge or other document proving that the case has been taken into account by the criminal justice system (opening of a judicial inquiry, indictment of the alleged perpetrator, offer of a criminal composition to the alleged perpetrator, referral to the criminal court or conviction)
- Disability (of the employee or of his or her Civil partnership partner spouse or children): certificate of invalidity of a social security or pension organization (or decision of a disability organization) and invalidity card
- Death (of the employee or his/her spouse): death certificate + family booklet or act of notoriety
- Death (of employee or Civil partnership partner): death certificate + full copy of birth certificate with mention of the Civil partnerships + family record book or act of notoriety
- Termination of employment contract (dismissal, resignation) : work certificate, certificate from the employer confirming the date of termination of the contract or admission to retirement
- Cessation of the activity of individual entrepreneur : certificate of cessation of activity by Urssaf
- End of corporate mandate : minutes of revocation or non-renewal of the mandate
- End of collaborating spouse status : copy of the declaration of cancelation sent by the Head of company to the National Register of companies (RNE) + notification by the RNE of receipt of the declaration of cancelation
- Termination of Associated Spouse Status : notification of the amendment of the statutes of the company and receipt of the RNE
- Over-indebtedness : request by the chairman of the over-indebtedness commission or order of the judge indicating the amount to be released
- Creation or takeover of company : receipt for registration in the National Register of companies (RNE) plus the statutes
- Installation for the exercise of a self-employed profession : professional attestation bearing the approval number or the receipt for registration in the RNE
- Acquisition of shares in a cooperative production business (SCOP) : statutes of the cooperative business
- Main residence (purchase in the old) : sales agreement or notarial deed of sale with declaration on the honor to return the amount released in case of non-purchase
- Main residence (built by the employee) : building permit and invoice for the purchase of structural materials or estimate accepted with a deposit
- Main residence (purchase in future state of completion) : contract of sale
- Main residence (expansion) : building permit or prior declaration of works to the town hall
- Main residence (works for rehabilitation after natural disasters) : reference of the prefectural decree and declaration of loss to the insurance company or insurance expertise with the accepted quote.
- Energy renovation of the main residence : check the eligibility of the works envisaged with a advisor FranceRénov.
- Purchase of a clean vehicle (vehicles hybrid thermal are excluded): purchase order or vehicle invoice. The type of energy must appear on the invoice or order form, and for used cars, on the vehicle registration certificate box P3 must indicate the EL (electricity) or H2 (hydrogen) code.
- Purchase of a new bicycle with assisted pedaling (used bikes are excluded): invoice for the purchase of the new bike.
Amounts paid on the group retirement savings plan (Perco) are blocked until retirement.
But there are cases of early unblocking.
Events for early unlocking
You can request the early release of the Perco: titleContent in the following cases
- Disability (employee, spouse, Civil partnership partner, or children)
- Death (of employee, spouse or Civil partnership partner)
- Acquisition of a principal residence (or rehabilitation following a natural disaster)
- Employee over-indebtedness
- Expiry of the employee's entitlement to unemployment insurance.
Warning
The acquisition of the principal residence must be done directly and not via a real estate civil business.
Submission of the application
You can request unblocking at any time.
However, in case of acquisition or restoration of the main residence, the application must be made within 6 months.
If you die, there is no time limit imposed on your rights holders to apply for unblocking.
However, if the unblocking of the plan results in the sale of the securities acquired by the plan holder, to benefit from the tax exemption on capital gains realized on the sale of securities, the request for unblocking must be made within 6 months of death.
The request for release must be made to the organization that manages the Perco: titleContent for your company.
You must attach the proof of the event allowing the early release:
- Disability (of employee, spouse, Civil partnership partner, or children)): invalidity certificate of a social security or pension organization, or decision of a disability organization and invalidity card
- Death (of employee or spouse) : death certificate + family record book or notoriety certificate
- Death (of the employee or his Civil partnership partner) : death certificate + full copy of birth certificate with mention of the Civil partnerships + family record book or notoriety certificate
- Main residence (purchase in the old) : sales agreement or notarial deed of sale with declaration on the honor to return the amount released in case of non-purchase
- Main residence (built by yourself) : building permit and invoice for the purchase of structural materials or estimate accepted with a deposit
- Main residence (purchase in future state of completion) : contract of sale
- Main residence (works for rehabilitation after natural disasters) : reference of the prefectural decree and declaration of loss to the insurance company or insurance expertise with the accepted quote
- Over-indebtedness : request by the chairman of the over-indebtedness commission or order of the judge indicating the amount to be released
- Expiry of unemployment rights : situation notice and notification of entitlements at the beginning of unemployment.
Taxation
Amounts from early release are exempt from income tax.
The share of the gains realized in the plan is subject to social levies.
Savings on the collective company pension are unavailable until you have obtained your retirement pension or until you have reached the statutory retirement age.
But there are cases of early release provided for by law.
Events for early unlocking
You can request the early release of the : titleContent of collective company only in the following cases:
- Death of spouse or Civil partnership partner of holder of
- Disability (2nd or 3rd category) of the holder of the -, his children, his spouse, or his Civil partnership partner
- Serious illness, disability or occurrence of an accident of a particular severity in the dependent child of the holder of the
- Over-indebtedness of the holder of the ₩(in this case, it is the over-indebtedness commission that must write to the managing body of ₩)
- Expiry of the unemployment insurance rights of the holder of the - or termination of the office of corporate officer for at least 2 years without employment contract and without pension liquidation in a compulsory old-age insurance scheme
- Termination of self-employed activity of the holder of the
- Purchase of the principal residence (but in this case, the rights resulting from compulsory payments remain blocked).
Please note
The share of savings resulting from the compulsory contributions of the collective company cannot be released for the acquisition of the principal residence.
Submission of the application
You can apply for the release at any time, with the organization that manages the plan on behalf of your company.
However, in the event of the death of the holder of the plan, the beneficiaries must submit the request for release within 6 months of death in order to benefit from the exemption from tax on capital gains on the sale of securities.
To find out how to apply and what evidence to provide, ask your company or the organization that manages the plan on behalf of the company.
You must attach the proof of the event allowing the early release:
- Death (of employee or spouse) : death certificate + family record book or notoriety certificate
- Death (of the employee or his Civil partnership partner) : death certificate + full copy of birth certificate with mention of the Civil partnerships + family record book or notoriety certificate
- Disability (of the employee or his/her spouse, Civil partnership partner or children) : certificate of invalidity of a social security or pension organization, or decision of a disability organization and invalidity card
- Over-indebtedness : request by the chairman of the over-indebtedness commission or order of the judge indicating the amount to be released
- Expiry of unemployment rights : situation notice and notification of entitlements at the beginning of unemployment
- Termination of activity as corporate officer for at least 2 years without pension liquidation in a compulsory old-age insurance scheme : minutes of revocation or non-renewal of mandate plus career record of the old-age insurance scheme
- Cessation of self-employed activity following a judicial liquidation or a decision of the president of the commercial court : judgment of judicial liquidation or judgment of the president of the commercial court
- Main residence (purchase) : VEFA sales contract, sales agreement or notarial deed of sale with declaration on the honor to return the amount released in case of waiver.
Taxation
The taxation of the amounts released varies according to the nature of these sums.
Amounts corresponding to your voluntary payments and for which you have benefited from a tax advantage are subject to the progressive income tax scale. The gains generated by these voluntary payments are subject to the single flat-rate levy (PFU). The levy made by the bank corresponds to the income tax at the flat rate of 12.8% to which are added the social levies.
Amounts corresponding to payments made from employee savings (participation, profit-sharing, employer contributions etc....) are exempt from income tax. The gains generated by these payments from employee savings are subject to social levies.
The contract article 83 is an employee savings product.
It allows employees of a company to build up a pension supplement with the help of their employer.
This device has been replaced by the mandatory company on 1er October 2020. Companies can therefore no longer offer it to their employees since that date.
But if you already hold such a contract, you can still continue to feed it.
In principle, savings in a contract article 83 is blocked during your period of activity and you can perceive it as life annuity during your retirement.
Nevertheless, there are cases of early capital release.
Events for early unlocking
You can request the early release of your contract article 83 in the following cases
- Expiry of unemployment insurance rights following an involuntary loss of employment or termination of activity as a corporate officer for at least 2 years without pension liquidation in a compulsory old-age insurance scheme
- Termination of self-employment following a judicial liquidation of the company or any other difficult situation justified by the president of the commercial court
- Category 2 or 3 disability
- Serious illness, disability or the occurrence of a particularly serious accident involving a dependent child
- Death of your spouse or Civil partnership partner
- Over-indebtedness.
Please note
The contract article 83 cannot be released for the acquisition of the principal residence.
Submission of the application
You must apply to the organization that manages the contract on behalf of your company.
You must attach the proof of the event allowing the early release:
- Expiry of unemployment rights : situation notice and notification of entitlements at the beginning of unemployment
- Termination of activity as corporate officer for at least 2 years without pension liquidation in a compulsory old-age insurance scheme : minutes of revocation or non-renewal of mandate + career record of the old-age insurance scheme
- Cessation of self-employed activity following a judicial liquidation or a decision of the president of the commercial court : judgment of judicial liquidation or judgment of the president of the commercial court
- Disability (of the employee or his/her spouse, Civil partnership partner or children) : certificate of invalidity of a social security or pension organization, or decision of a disability organization and invalidity card
- Death (of employee or spouse) : death certificate + family record book or notoriety certificate
- Death (of the employee or his Civil partnership partner) : death certificate + full copy of birth certificate with mention of the Civil partnerships + family record book or notoriety certificate
- Over-indebtedness : request of the chairman of the over-indebtedness commission or order of the judge indicating the amount to be released.
Taxation
The capital resulting from the early release of the Article 83 contract is exempt from income tax and social levies.
Who can help me?
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Early PEE release
Early release of unpaid interest on PEES
Early unblocking of Perco
Early release of the retirement savings plan
Early release of the contract Article 83
Energy renovation works of the principal residence eligible for early PEE release
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Ministry of Labor