What is the risk of a company in the event of illegal work?

Verified 01 June 2026 - Entreprendre Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

You must declare to the Urssaf everything work done by yourself or by your employees. If you do not do so or declare only part of it, this work is considered illegal. It is also called work in the "black" or else concealed work. The controls carried out by the Urssaf are common. You risk sanctions criminal and financial. You are also responsible for illegal work by your subcontractors.

Several situations may constitute illegal work.

Illegal work in your company
  • You conceal fully or partially a salaried job (examples: you do not don't declare an employee, you do not report the number of hours actually worked). This is about concealed work by concealment of salaried employment.
  • You do not declare an activity (example: you are not registered in RCS: titleContent or at RNE: titleContent). This is about concealed work by concealment of activity.
  • You put to disposition your employees by making benefits. It is a loan of labor (or bargaining) illegal.
  • You accumulate jobs without respecting the rollup rules (example: you exceed the maximum number of hours worked allowed).
  • You employ foreigner workers which have no work permit (visa, residence card, etc.).
  • You're making a false statement to obtain replacement income (partial activity, retirement, disability, etc.).

Please note

In very exceptional cases, the performance of the work, although carried out outside the legal framework, is not penalized, if it is work that must be carried out in an emergency (risk of imminent accident or need to rescue people).

Illegal work of your subcontractor
You are responsible

You are responsible for the illegal work committed by your subcontractor.

You have a duty of care in relation to your subcontractor. It's up to you to ask him for proof of his declarations of activity.

If the contract is greater than €5,000 HT: titleContent, you must ask him every 6 months a attestation of vigilance. It provides you with proof that it has declared its activities and its employees.

You risk the same sanctions only if the illegal work is carried out by your company.

What kind of acts are illegal?

Your subcontractor is in an illegal employment situation in the following cases:

  • It completely or partially conceals a salaried job (examples: it does not declare an employee, it does not declare the number of hours actually worked). This is about concealed work by concealment of employment employee.
  • It does not declare an activity (example: it is not registered in RCS: titleContent or at RNE: titleContent). This is about concealed work by concealment of activity.
  • He puts to disposition of its employees by making benefits, it is a loan of labor (or bargaining) illegal.
  • He cumulative jobs without respecting the rollup rules (example: it exceeds the maximum number of hours worked allowed).
  • It employs foreigner workers which have no work permit (visa, residence card, etc.).
  • He makes a false statement to obtain unduly replacement income (unemployment benefits or social benefits).

Administrative penalties

In the event of an inspection, you risk the following administrative penalties:

  • Abolition of State aid (e.g. exemptions from social security contributions or aid for hiring an apprenticeship contract) for up to 5 years
  • Repayment of public aid already collected over the last 12 months
  • Exclusion of public contracts for a maximum period of 6 months
  • Closure of 3 months maximum decided by the prefect with confiscation of professional equipment

Warning  

In case of recurrence during the Last 5 years, a financial penalty is imposed on the principal. Its amount shall be equal to all the reductions or exemptions from contributions or contributions which it has received for the remuneration paid to all its employees over the period in which the hidden work situation was established.

Administrative sanctions are different and independent of criminal sanctions that can be imposed by a court.

Adjustment of contributions

The adjustment consists in paying the social contributions that you should have paid, with a surcharge on amounts.

The adjustment shall be calculated on a flat-rate basis, fixed at 25% from PASS: titleContent.

The flat-rate basis shall be €12,015 in 2026.

The amount of contributions shall be increased by 35% in the event of a finding of the offense of concealed work by concealment of activity or employment.

The increase is greater if the illegal work involves one of the following cases:

  • Several people are employed
  • There is a minor (who should be in school)
  • A person is vulnerable or dependent
  • The offense is committed in an organized gang.

It is then fixed at 50%.

The adjustment covers all social contributions and contributions, except unemployment insurance.

You have a maximum period of 5 years to pay the adjustment.

You benefit from a 10-point reduction in the mark-up rate if you pay the adjustment within one month of the formal notice, or if you submit a payment schedule that is accepted, within the same period of 30 days.

If you recur within 5 years of a 1er adjustment, you must pay an increase in the following proportion:

  • 45% if the mark-up on 1er turnaround was 35%
  • 60% if the mark-up on 1er turnaround was 50%.

FYI  

These rates apply to proceedings commenced on or after 1er June 2026.

If the employer can provide actual data on the hidden remuneration paid to employees, then the adjustment applies to those actual data.

In the event of conviction, the criminal court pronunciation of criminal sanctions.

The person convicted shall be punished by a fine and/or imprisonment. In some cases, it may be subject to one or more additional penalties.

Fine and imprisonment

The perpetrator of the offense of illegal labor risks up to 3 years imprisonment and €45,000 fine (€225,000 if it is a business).

If the concealed work concerns a minor or a vulnerable or dependent person, the penalty is up to 5 years' imprisonment and €75,000 fine (€375,000 if it is a business).

If the concealed labor is committed in an organized gang, the penalty is 10 years' imprisonment and €100,000 fine (€500,000 for a business).

The loan of labor illegal and the bargaining shall be punished by 2 years' imprisonment and €30,000 fine (€150,000 for a business).

If the illegal labor loan and bargaining are carried out in an organized gang, you risk 10 years in prison and €100,000 fine (€500,000 for a business).

If you employ a foreigner without a work permit, you risk 5 years in prison and €15,000 fine per person (€75,000 for a business). If the offense is committed in an organized gang, the penalty shall be 10 years' imprisonment and €100,000 fine (€500,000 for a business).

Supplementary penalties

In the event of conviction, the following additional penalties may be imposed:

  • Prohibition to exercise your professional activity for a maximum of 5 years
  • Exclusion from public procurement for up to 5 years
  • Confiscation of objects produced in the context of illegal work, or of professional equipment that allowed production
  • Viewing judgment in journals
  • Dissemination of the court decision convicting you (criminal decision) in a blacklist on the Ministry of Labor website. This dissemination is mandatory and lasts for a maximum of 1 year for concealed labor offenses committed against minors, vulnerable or dependent persons, in an organized gang or when there are several victims. Dissemination is optional and lasts a maximum of 2 months when concealed work is committed without aggravating circumstances. The maximum period for broadcasting is 2 years in the event of bargaining, illegal lending of labor or foreigner employment without a work permit.
  • Prohibition of civil rights (e.g. voting rights) and civil rights (displacement, kinship, marriage, inheritance, etc.).

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