Question 14320 — people with disabilities

Summary

Mr. Alexandre Dufosset draws the attention of the Minister of Labor and Solidarity to the concrete conditions of access to the allowance for disabled adults (AAH) for people with disabilities exercising a professional activity and more particularly to the reductive and legally questionable interpretation of the criterion of “substantial and lasting restriction for access to employment” (RSDAE), particularly with regard to a threshold implicit weekly working time which would be likely to exclude these people from benefiting from this benefit. In his constituency, the MP was contacted by a resident with a disability, whose disability rate is recognized as between 50% and 79%. This person, wishing to preserve a form of autonomy through work, carries out a professional activity of approximately 20 hours per week in an administrative position. However, this activity is carried out in very precarious conditions: its maintenance is regularly compromised by significant fatigue, recurrent sick leave and cognitive disorders linked to its chronic pathology. Despite the obvious fragility of his professional integration, the departmental center for disabled people (MDPH) refused him recognition of the RSDAE, for the sole reason that his working hours weekly exceeded 5:30 p.m. This case highlights the gap between the intention of the legislator, to guarantee access to AAH for people whose state of health hinders sustainable integration into employment, and the implementation on the ground, which paradoxically results in sanctioning those who attempt to resume an activity, even partial. Under the terms of articles L. 821-1 and L. 821-2 of the social security code, the AAH is paid to two categories of people: those with a permanent incapacity of at least 80%, for whom the right is in principle; and those whose disability is between 50% and 79%, provided that they meet the RSDAE criterion, that is to say that due to their disability, they face a lasting and significant obstacle to integration or retention in employment. This criterion is defined functionally: it does not does not relate to a threshold of incapacity, but to the concrete consequences of the disability on the ability to access employment under common law conditions. The evaluation is entrusted to the commissions for the rights and autonomy of disabled people (CDAPH), under the conditions provided for in article L. 241-6 of the code of social action and families, which impose a global, multidisciplinary and motivated evaluation, based on elements medical, social, professional and the person's life plan. Article D. 821-1-2 of the Social Security Code, taken to apply these provisions, mentions that “the recognition of a RSDAE is compatible with the exercise of a professional activity (...) for a working period of less than half-time, since this limitation results exclusively from the effects of the disability”. However, this text is frequently interpreted erroneously as posing an hourly ceiling on eligibility. In fact, a large number of MDPHs consider that any professional activity exceeding 17.30 or 18 hours per week automatically results in ineligibility for the RSDAE, without consideration for the stability of this activity, interruptions in career, fatigue, sick leave or breach of contract. This reading produces particularly penalizing effects. Disabled people capable of carrying out a part-time activity are refused AAH if their contractual duration exceeds the half-time threshold, even if their state of health does not allow them to maintain this activity over the long term, or if it is regularly interrupted by chronic or psychological disorders or instability of their general state. This places them in a socio-economic trap, in which the Returning to work is synonymous with loss of essential social rights, despite the uncertainty of their long-term professional integration. The practical guide to the AAH, used as a reference by the MDPH, nevertheless clearly specifies, on page 11, that the exercise of a professional activity does not automatically exclude recognition of the RSDAE, provided that the person cannot maintain it in a lasting manner. It details a grid qualitative assessment, taking into account numerous indicators: functional limitations, compatibility of disorders with the work environment, frequency of sick leave, job instability, need for major adaptations, etc. Despite this, some MDPHs, like that of the North, continue to indicate on their information materials that the RSDAE is “compatible with a working time of less than half-time (5:30 p.m.)”, which which suggests, wrongly, that exceeding this hourly threshold is prohibitive. These practices contradict the very spirit of the system, which is to guarantee a minimum income to those who cannot access sustainable employment due to their disability, regardless of the exact number of hours worked. At the same time, the law in force expressly provides for the possibility of combining a professional activity with the benefit of the AAH, under specific conditions. Article D. 821-9 of the Social Security Code provides that, when resuming professional activity in an ordinary environment, income is not taken into account during the first six months. Then, the AAH becomes differential: professional income is taken into account with successive reductions (80% on the part below 546.91 euros, then 40% on the surplus), in accordance with in articles D. 821-5 to D. 821-9 of the same code. The official website service-public.fr, updated on January 1, 2026, specifies these mechanisms, confirming that the objective of accumulation is to encourage resumption of activity, even partial or discontinuous. This regime demonstrates that the exercise of an activity, including more than part-time, is not legally incompatible with the AAH, provided that professional stability is not acquired and that the state of health remains fragile. This approach is fully confirmed by the ministerial responses. In 2019, the response to written question no. 17540 from Mr. Stéphane Travert indicated that “exceeding a working time of 17.30 hours per week does not in itself constitute a criterion for exclusion from the RSDAE” and that the CDAPH must take into account “the real capacity to maintain employment over time”. More recently, in his response to December 23, 2025 to question no. 8085 from Ms. Annaïg Le Meur, the Government reaffirmed that "the exercise of a professional activity more than half-time does not exclude, in principle, recognition of the RSDAE", particularly when the person is exposed to instability of integration, frequent work stoppages or an inability to maintain ordinary employment over time. These elements reflect a clear government line, but still insufficiently translated into regulations and poorly applied on the ground. In the absence of an application circular or clarification by decree, the MDPHs continue to produce divergent decisions, with implicit criteria which do not reflect the spirit of the applicable law. This legal and social insecurity particularly affects people who, like the person mentioned in this question, are part of a sincere approach to returning to employment, but without guarantee of retention. These beneficiaries take a significant individual risk by engaging in a return to work, since this could cause them to lose all rights to AAH and therefore to their autonomy, without protection in the event of a new professional failure or medical relapse. Consequently, the MP wishes to know whether the Government intends to explicitly clarify, by regulatory, circular or instruction addressed to MDPHs, that the reference to a working time of less than half-time, mentioned in article D. 821-1-2 of the social security code, has only an indicative value and cannot constitute a criterion for automatic exclusion from the RSDAE. He asks in particular whether measures are envisaged to guarantee a uniform interpretation throughout the territory, respectful of the law applicable and the obligation, for CDAPH, to base their assessment on a global and individualized assessment of the person's situation, taking into account functional limits, career interruptions and the lasting impossibility of remaining in employment.

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