Urssaf is theUnion for the collection of social security contributions and family allowances. An acronym that frightens, especially unscrupulous employers who are not always in good standing when it comes to paying their contributions. And in the Nord Pas de Calais, they are a certain number if we refer to the last figures of the organization. But if the latter increases checks and adjustments, the abyss of fraud in the hidden work remains almost unfathomable.
In Nord-Pas-de-Calais, as elsewhere in France for that matter, Urssaf’s main battle horse remains the fight once morest undeclared work. Otherwise called “black work”, it is basically to make people work without declaring them and, thus, avoid paying social security contributions. This is all good for the fraudster, less for society: “This kind of practice jeopardizes the financing of Social Security, creates a breach of equality in competition and deprives the employees concerned of their social rights”, insists Laury Ducombs, director of Urssaf Nord-Pas-de-Calais.
A fraud valued at 7 billion euros at the national level
And here, we are talking regarding big money. Very big money even, which is why the organization is going all out to recover part of the unpaid contributions. In the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais, 34.5 million euros were adjusted in 2021, or 4.37% of the total national amount of 789.4 million. To ordinary people, that seems like a lot, except it’s nothing compared to the estimated amount of fraud. In France, just for the last year, the Urssaf assesses the loss linked to concealed work at 7 billion euros. If the figure for Nord-Pas-de-Calais has not been revealed, it can be estimated that it exceeds 300 million by applying the same calculation rule as for the recovery.
And yet, it is not for lack of devoting resources, in particular thanks to a brigade of 80 agents who carried out more than 1,700 checks last year giving rise to around 300 adjustments. But, failing to be able to count on the civility of the employers, it would take 600 additional agents to try to recover the 300 million phantom contributions. Especially since the fronts are multiplying for the Urssaf. “We are seeing the emergence of new trends in fraud, on part-time work or the secondment of employees”, assures Laury Ducombs. Not to mention the explosion in the number of auto-enterprises and the more traditional sectors of construction, transport and hotels and restaurants.
“As with any form of crime, fraud is evolving to take advantage of new devices, which requires us to constantly monitor”, recognizes the director of Urssaf Nord-Pas-de-Calais. In addition to the exploitation of employer data, the profiling of companies at risk, this now also involves monitoring collaborative platforms.
