Postings: Producing A1 forms during inspections conducted in France

publié le 24 février 2017
fr en

A measure introduced by the Social security financing law for 2017 steps up the duty of care for prime contractors located in France with regard to workers engaging in salaried or self-employment in France while belonging to another State's social security system. It enters into force on April 1st, 2017.

Article 27 of the 2017 Social Security financing LAW No. 2016-1827 of December 23, 2016

I. TEXT

I.- After article L. 114-15 of the French social security code, an article L. 114-15-1 is hereby inserted which reads as follows:

"Art. L. 114-15-1.-Salaried or self-employed workers who perform work in France while belonging to another State's social security system or, failing that, their employer or their employer's representative in France, must supply the inspection officials referred to in article L. 8271-1-2 of the French labor code, article L. 243-7 of this code, and article L. 724-7 of the French rural and maritime fishing code, with the form on applicable social security legislation prescribed by the currently applicable European regulations and international agreements on the coordination of social security systems.

"During an inspection, failure to produce this document by the worker, the employer, or the employer's representative in France or the person referred to in the aforementioned article L. 8222-1 shall result in the imposition of a penalty.

"For each worker for whom it is imposed, the penalty referred to in the second paragraph of this article shall amount to the current monthly social security ceiling. This amount shall be doubled if a new violation occurs within a two-year period following notice of a penalty for a previous violation.

"The penalty is payable by the person referred to in the aforementioned article L. 8222-1.

"The penalty is not applicable if proof of submission of a request for the form referred to in the first paragraph of this article is provided at the time of inspection, and the form issued as a result of that request is produced within a two-month period following the inspection.

"The penalty shall be collected by the organizations in charge of collecting Social Security contributions, in accordance with the rules and under the guarantees and penalties applicable to the collection of these contributions."

II.-This article shall come into force on April 1st, 2017.

II. EXPLANATION OF THE ARTICLE

The measure set forth by the new article No. L. 114-15-1 of the French social security code provides that workers performing salaried or self-employment in France while belonging to another State's social security system must have their certificate of applicable social security legislation, meaning their A1 form, available for inspection officials at their workplace, if said workers are subject to (EC) Regulation No. 883/2004.

This portable document can be produced:

Failure to produce an A1 form (or an A1 form request as specified below) during an inspection when the worker belongs to another State's social security system results in a lump-sum penalty, collected either by URSSAF or MSA as determined by the circumstances. It is stipulated that prime contractors are already required to ensure that workers providing services on their behalf are compliant with social security regulations, whether or not said workers belong to the French social security system, failing which a penalty applies if the subcontractor is found guilty of illegal employment. This means that the new measure adds on to the prime contractor's preexisting duty of care.

Should the employer or the appropriate person not have been able to secure an A1 form prior to inspection, the law provides that proof of submission of an A1 form request to the competent institution shall be recognized, on condition that the form that is issued then be produced within a two-month period of time. In this event, no penalty shall be imposed on the prime contractor.