How to Prepare for and Navigate Urssaf Inspections in France in 2022: A Comprehensive Guide

Urssaf control: preparation, progress and regularization

In 2022, nearly 80,000 companies in France will have been subject to an Urssaf inspection. SAS manager or micro-entrepreneur, with or without an employee: you can be controlled, as long as you are subject to the payment of social security contributions. Find out what to expect, so you can be well prepared.

What is an Urssaf control?

An Urssaf check is a procedure carried out to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Social Security Code. In practice, this means ensuring that you pay the right amount of social security contributions and contributions for your business. Urssaf inspectors check the basis, rate and calculation of contributions.

• Do you employ employees? You pay contributions, calculated on the basis of the amount of wages. An Urssaf check verifies that you are applying the right rate, on the right base, and that the result of the calculation of the social security contributions that you pay as an employer is correct.
• Micro-entrepreneur or self-employed worker, with or without an employee, you pay contributions on the income you receive in the exercise of your activity. Here again, Urssaf inspectors can verify the correct application of the methods for calculating contributions.

What are Urssaf inspectors looking for?

Errors

Are profit-sharing bonuses and benefits in kind subject to social security contributions or not? On which salaries can you apply the zero Urssaf contribution system? Until when do you benefit from the temporary exemption from social contributions under the ACRE system? Do you have to declare your daily allowances in the event of work stoppage? Unless you have an HR department within your company or an accountant, you will quickly notice: the methods for calculating and paying contributions are not that simple and errors occur quickly in this management.

• Urssaf checks are used to detect errors in calculating social security contributions, to restore the situation. On this occasion, Urssaf agents take the opportunity to provide advice to the business manager, whether he is an employer or not.

Note that in this context, Urssaf control can work in your favor. When making your declarations, you may indeed make errors which result in undue payment of contributions. If applicable, the amounts will be returned to you.

In 2022, the total sum of 124 million euros was returned to companies and self-employed workers controlled by an Urssaf agent.

In the event of an error in favor of Urssaf, without intention of fraud on your part, the principle of the right to error applies. Control, in this case, leads to a recovery of your business: you pay the amounts you owe. However, you are not punished for your mistake.

The fraud

Where applicable, Urssaf controls sanction company fraud. In this case, the company suffers a recovery and must pay penalties. Here is an overview of the fraud observed in companies during checks by Urssaf agents.

• Abuse of rights: the texts are applied, but with an indirect objective. The bad faith of the employer, in this case, must be obvious. The inspection by the Urssaf inspector leads to an adjustment and a penalty equal to 20% of the sums due for the adjustment.
• Work concealed by concealment of activity or by concealment of salaried employment: the business manager does not declare all of his turnover or does not declare all of his employees. The sums due for recovery are increased by 25% (40% in the event of concealed employment of a minor) following an inspection by Urssaf.

Note that hidden work is also punishable under criminal law, with prison sentences and fines.

The Urssaf control process

#1 Inspection notice

You are notified of the Urssaf inspection of your company at least 30 days before the date of the inspector’s first visit to your premises.

In small businesses with fewer than 11 employees, and even more so among self-employed workers, the Urssaf inspection by an inspector is less invasive. The inspectors do not come to your head office, they control you remotely: you send them the required documents about your company, which they study in the Urssaf premises.

Prepare yourselves :

The indicated date of the Urssaf check does not suit you? You can contact the inspector to arrange another date.

The Urssaf inspection notice that you receive before the inspection date tells you the period for which you are inspected, as well as the list of documents to present to the inspector. Gather the said documents for the period concerned.

Note that an Urssaf inspection can extend over the last 3 years (5 years in the case of concealed work) of your company’s activity.

You don’t have the time or the desire to manage the situation posed by an inspection by an Urssaf inspector? You can be accompanied, at all stages of the Urssaf audit, by your accountant or by a specialized lawyer. Contact your advisor without delay.

Missing documents, misunderstanding… whatever your concerns or questions, do not hesitate to contact your Urssaf inspector. Keep in mind that the control is not only for repressive purposes, but also for educational purposes and that you have the right to make mistakes in calculating the social security contributions you pay.

#2 Visit from Inspector Urssaf

On the day of the visit, Inspector Urssaf begins by speaking with you. He explains to you how he will proceed to check whether you comply with the Social Security Code, and asks you questions about your business and its management. The inspector then proceeds to study your company’s documents. At this point he can:

• Request additional documents to deepen your control.
• Question your employees.

Once the checks have been completed, the Urssaf inspector will offer you an interview to present the results of his analyzes and any possible consequences (adjustment, refunds of contributions paid, etc.).

#3 Letter of observations

The observation letter is the written report from Inspector Urssaf. It provides you with information on the outcome of the Urssaf inspection of your company.

• The observation letter notes the proper application of the law, in which case the Urssaf control ends there.
• Inspector Urssaf makes observations for the future, with or without regularization of contributions. In this case, a 30-day adversarial period opens. You can, on this occasion, provide any useful details to defend your situation. The intervention of your lawyer, if necessary, is particularly relevant at this stage.

#4 Regularization

If the Urssaf check reveals anomalies linked to the Social Security Code, your situation must be regularized within the specific deadline.

• Have you paid too much social security contributions? The amount is refunded to you.
• Do you owe money because you haven’t paid enough social security contributions? You pay the amounts due: we are talking about recovery of your business. In the event of fraud, the amounts are increased according to the amount you owe.

You have 2 months to appeal against the recovery decision of your company following an Urssaf inspection. To this end, you contact the amicable appeal committee. The procedure is free.

The figures reveal that in 2022, adjustments following an Urssaf inspection mainly concern companies which employ employees, and a smaller proportion of self-employed people. The construction sector generates 66% of the sums due for compensation for hidden work.

Labor inspection control: progress and consequences of the intervention

A labor inspection check aims to verify that you are complying with labor laws. The issue here is not financial. Rather, it is about ensuring that your employees benefit from good working conditions, in accordance with the law. The intervention of a labor inspection agent is less formal than the Urssaf inspection.

Only companies which employ employees are likely to be inspected by the labor inspectorate.

Since 2023, the priorities of the labor inspectorate in their controls cover the prevention of the risks of work accidents and occupational diseases, the fight against fraud, the reduction of inequalities, the protection of vulnerable workers and social dialogue in businesses.

Who initiates a labor inspection inspection?

• An employee can contact the labor inspectorate to request an inspection of the company in which he is employed. In practice, this situation occurs if the employee believes that his rights are being violated.
• A staff representative may request the intervention of the labor inspectorate. This scenario is likely when working conditions in the company are degraded: discrimination, non-compliance with contract termination terms, harassment, etc.
• The labor inspectorate can spontaneously inspect a company. The assumption is common when there is a specific risk. Restaurant owners, for example, are monitored in seaside resorts due to the risk of non-compliance with regulations regarding legal working hours in labor law. Another example: in the construction industry, the increased risk of workplace accidents is likely to prompt labor inspection checks.

Conditions of labor inspection control

The labor inspector visits your professional premises for inspections – offices, businesses, construction sites, etc.

• You have not been warned.
• Your presence is not required.

Documents to provide

Once there, the labor inspector notifies you of his presence (unless he considers that this could interfere with the inspection) and carries out the inspection. To make their work easier, and shorten their presence in your company, make sure to always keep available and up to date:

• Mandatory registers: single personnel register, single professional risk assessment document (DUERP), registers of minor accidents, register of CSE questions, etc.
• The list of construction sites and other temporary work sites: this document, particularly useful in construction, allows the labor inspectorate to visit the workplace, possibly to speak with your employees.
• Proof of employment declaration, employment contracts and pay slips for all of your employees.

The powers of the labor inspector

The powers of the labor inspectorate are extensive. To effectively control your business, the inspector can:

• Demand access to all documents about your business.
• Ask your employees about their working conditions.
• Take product samples to ensure they are not dangerous for your employees.
• Enlist the help of experts to check that the premises and equipment comply with the safety and hygiene standards of labor law.

What do you risk if you are inspected by the labor inspectorate?

The possible consequences of an inspection by your company’s labor inspectorate are, in order of seriousness:

• Simple observations: the inspector reminds you of your obligations. More than 60% of labor inspection checks result in this situation.
• A formal notice to comply: you must comply within a specified period. The labor inspector comes to check your company at the end of the deadline to ensure that the requested corrections have been implemented.
• A report, sent to the public prosecutor: he decides whether or not to initiate criminal proceedings on the non-compliance with labor law of your company.
• Suspension of activity: you put your activity on pause because the safety of your employees is at risk and is contrary to labor law.

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2024-04-08 22:05:36
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