Illegal work has been in the sights of the government for several months. This Monday, May 22, the executive thus announced the launch of a new national plan to combat illegal work over the period 2023-2027, with 34 measures to “better control”, “better sanction” and “repair the damage “. The plan was presented by Olivier Dussopt on the occasion of the Interministerial Anti-Fraud Committee devoted to the fight against illegal work, the Ministry of Labor said in a press release.
A phenomenon of magnitude
Before fighting, it is still necessary to know against what. Initially, the ministry recalls that “illegal work in all its forms remains a widespread phenomenon”. Quoting the latest report from the High Council for the Financing of Social Protection (HCFPS), published in November 2022, the ministry indicates that the “rate of evaded contributions is between 2.2% and 2.7%”. This resulted in “a shortfall of 5.2 to 6.6 billion euros for social security and unemployment insurance in 2021”.
The rate of hidden employees, estimated from random checks by Urssaf, is “around 2%”, with peaks in certain sectors, such as construction (8%), road transport (9% ), or even hotels, cafes and restaurants (6.7%), continues the document sent by the Ministry of Labor yesterday.
Better supervise posted work
Among the 34 measures, the plan intends to “ensure the exemplary nature of major sporting events” such as the Rugby World Cup and the Olympic Games in 2024. The objective being to set up controls but also to publish guides, for example on the rules governing the use of volunteers.
The plan also aims to “better prevent fraud in posted work” by informing employers and employees “of their obligations and their rights”. In 2021, excluding road transport, “200,000 employees were seconded at least once to France by companies established abroad”, the country being one of the main EU Member States receiving such workers.
Another key measure: “fight against false statuses” (such as false self-employed via the use of the self-employed / micro-entrepreneurs scheme for salaried jobs) in particular by developing common strategies vis-à-vis certain digital platforms. Added to this are actions to combat human trafficking and the prevention of situations of unfit housing, or even the implementation of a new power of cyber-investigations for the search and observation of breaches of illegal work on the Internet. In addition, other measures should allow workers to be more “restored in their rights” or “advance the recovery of fines imposed and evaded contributions”.