7% of companies (excluding construction) defraud social security

More than 7% of companies resort to illegal work, which represents 2,4% of employees, according to an Acoss survey. Catering and the food trade are the most affected sectors. Employees under 18 and over 60 are the first to be affected.

Undeclared work detected by the Urssaf gave rise to 220 million euros in adjustments last year, 19% more than in 2010. This is a new record, thanks to better targeted checks, in particular on large companies. Beyond these results, Acoss, the collection branch of Social Security, also sought, for the first time, to assess the extent of undeclared work. Urssaf carried out random checks on a representative sample of more than 4.000 establishments employing some 13.000 employees. The survey, which has just been published in the Acoss annual report, shows that 7,3% of companies would defraud by not declaring an employee, or by not declaring all of their activity (overtime he performs, for example). The Urssaf collect contributions from 2,2 million companies, administrations and local authorities. Some 2,4% of employees would be affected. This estimate is most certainly undervalued, warns Acoss. In particular because the checks are never done "during the weekend or early in the morning", periods during which “it is likely that a large number of concealed workers are present in the establishment”.

The weight of the restoration

Hotels, cafes and restaurants come first. Almost 6% of employees in this sector would be undeclared, if the Urssaf survey is to be believed. They are followed very closely by the food retail trade (5,5% of employees). Next come hair and beauty salons (4,2%). Among the good students, we find banking and insurance, the information and communication sector, industry, education, administrative services and even health and social action. All show rates of illegal work below 1%. Acoss was unable to produce reliable statistics concerning building and public works, nor for training, as the sample was not large enough for these sectors.

Young people and seniors are the most affected. Some 8% of employees under 18 are paid for all or part of the black market, and more than a fifth (21,4%) of those over 60! The explanation most likely lies in the types of employment contracts preferred for these age groups. Internships, temporary assignments and fixed-term contracts are more often affected by undeclared work than permanent contracts.

Ile-de-France is the most affected region, with fraud affecting more than 4% of employees. Brittany and Normandy come second, followed, but much further, by the Great South (Corsica, Paca, Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées). The regions which have the least recourse to illegal work are the Centre, Limousin and Auvergne.