The displays are beautiful, the customers follow one another, the employees have a smile… In the three bakeries of Maison Bigot in Versailles (Yvelines) this Monday morning, everything seems to be going as usual. Yet behind the scenes, the managers of this renowned company, established in the royal city for more than thirty years, have been busy since the day before.
Sunday at dawn, the national police services carried out an administrative anti-fraud control simultaneously in the three shops. And they did not leave empty-handed. Among the fifty employees that Maison Bigot employs in total in the city, twelve would be in an irregular situation.
“It is not a question of simple concealed work, specifies a source close to the file. They are all foreigners, asylum seekers a priori, without work permits. Some of them had contracts and pay slips. »
Possible financial, administrative and legal sanctions
These people would be employed for several months in the bakeries without having a visa, work permit or valid residence permit. Despite their pay slips, their employer was therefore unable to contribute to Urssaf on their behalf, as he normally should have done. Financial sanctions could be taken for the reimbursement of these sums with an increase.
The offense of concealed work is also punishable by law. If the Versailles prosecutor’s office decides to prosecute those responsible before the judge, they could face up to 5 years in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros per person employed illegally. The Yvelines prefecture could also decide to close bakeries for a period of three months as part of an administrative sanction.
But the management of Maison Bigot denies any concealment of work. “Everything is fine on our side, everything is in order and everyone is in a regular situation, wants to reassure the manager. The check took place on a Sunday, there was nobody in the office, but we are in the process of providing all the documents to the police. »
