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Working on the black ........ again


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Bit in the Sud-Ouest paper this morning that the local G men raided a work/building site in La Bugue yesterday and hauled away 4 Mailians who were caught working on the black.  They're now locked up in detention centres awaiting disposition of their cases, probably deportation.

And yesterday I was having coffee with a G man chum who told me that there's going to be a huge crack down on people working on the black in 24, checking building sites, non-French artisans with adverts on their vans, people that advertise on supermarket boards, paper shops etc.  He told me that this is a new government initiative so it looks like Sarkosy's reforms may be kicking in from both ends, nationally and locally.

Just a word to the wise for those employing people on a cash in hand basis really, not that such a practice would be at all condoned or practiced by our law abiding group of citizens in the SW.

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To add to the checking note. I read in Ouest France that Gendarmes were now checking  Carte Vitale's so that they know drivers/workers are  in the system. Unfortunately the new ones have a photo on and I already look like a detainee in mine.

Regards. Not working,black or white only unpaid.

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[quote user="Tony F Dordogne"]

there's going to be a huge crack down on people working on the black in 24, checking building sites, non-French artisans with adverts on their vans, people that advertise on supermarket boards, paper shops etc.  He told me that this is a new government initiative so it looks like Sarkosy's reforms may be kicking in from both ends, nationally and locally.

[/quote]

I don't know about Sarkosy's reforms but hopefully they are taking notice of people like me and numerous native French artisans who are just fed up with being chased up if we are a day late sending in our over complicated TVA returns, when there are literally thousands of brits and other nationalities out there working  on the black. The end result is our social charges go up to help pay for the 'unemployed' half of whom are undercutting legal artisans who then find it hard to get enough work to cover their social charges.

I have no conscience for reporting people working on the black - I just wish someone would do something about it.

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It's quite difficult for the French to be totally outside of the system but in certain trades (gardening, catering etc.) it is normal to pay cash in hand which, in my view, is fine. Those on the RMI or Chomage doing a bit of cash work is not unusual. The ones I have a problem with are the brits who are avoiding the system but also charging their customers more than the normal rate telling the naive twits that it's the best rate they'll get in France. In these situations the customer is at risk of being prosecuted as well.

This subject always tends to generate heated responses. I hope the 'clampdown' achieves something. If I had the time you'd find me applauding from the public gallery in the courthouse when the prison sentences and deportation orders are handed out. 

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[quote user="chris pp"]

Oh dear, this really does get people upset, and of course French people never work on the black or do a cash job, do they?

Chris, Artisan stress free.

[/quote]

It is up to the French to police the French, but as an ethnic minority we should be whiter than white or we will all be tared with the same brush

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I think that you will find that it's up to the French to police everything in France and although I'm not advocating breaking the law, the reality is, certainly around these parts where there is a massive Brit population, that skirting round the system is common place and I just can't get worked up about it, too busy with my own life.

Chris

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[quote user="chris pp"]

I just can't get worked up about it, too busy with my own life.

[/quote]

Chris, I don't know how you make you're living but I, like you, couldn't get worked up about it for years when it (the brits working on the black) didn't affect my livelyhood. These days there are so many brits. trying to scratch a living by doing bad building work for other brits. that it now can't be ignored. The most ridiculous aspect is that there are so many owners who think they're getting work done at an advantageous price when, in fact, they are being ripped off with poor quality work at high prices with no insurance cover and no invoice.

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As an add on, I wonder if the second home owners realize that none of the work done is tax deductable off the selling price,ie. the CGT? A recent conversation was that if cash is paid to the non registered workforce and their price is 50% cheaper,then I will still be ahead.. I did point out that if you think you get the same standard of work plus the same quality of materials for 50% less, you must live in cloud cuckoo land.

Fortunately I don't have to work in France in the building -renovation line but used to do this in UK. I soon found out that a tradesman who can do a decent job and get on with it, can demand a decent payment and after a few months I was lucky enough to know a good bunch of men who knew their jobs. Not forgetting the ladies, as I used to use 2 regularly for all the various paint finishes,marbling/rag-rolling etc ,that was the fashion of the day. Nowadays a roller and white seems to be the requirement.

A friend of mine in Normandy is having a job done now,for cash, after one visit to the site to see him and how work was progressing,I was frightened to open my mouth. A fool and his money came to mind but I was too polite to say so.They all enjoy a drink together and that seems to be the main thing.

Regards.

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[quote user="Gastines"]

They all enjoy a drink together and that seems to be the main thing.

[/quote]

Yes! That's so accurate. We've seen situations like that. Almost like the client thinks he's buying new best buddies along with the roof. [6]

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The Pub definately has a lot to answer for. I'm always amazed  at how many entrepreneurs manage to stay in them for so long. A good example.When re-furbing a large store for a furnishing chain, one of the Directors who liked a drink, brought 3 "carpenters" onto the site to build some platforms. Not directly employed by me so I let them deal with that specific task. I did think they weren't too bright when they didn't have any toolkits,apart from a couple of hammers and some new hand saws!!! They ordered the materials for the platforms and I could see at a glance that the quantities were not correct. They used to arrive about 10-10.30 in the morning ,usually the worse for wear and in an average day do about 4 hours work. The director paid the hotel and bar bill and a good time was had by all, perhaps I was doing it wrong? At the end of the job I hired a long wheel-base van to clear all the 100mmx50mm PAR and 60 sheets of stirling board which I got for free as the shop had to be cleared by a deadline, so I did quite well out of the pub in the end. All the material put to good use installing new floors in a house over here.As  foot note, I did let them use my hilti-gun/jigsaws/etc otherwise they'd still be there, and they were holding everyone else up. That director was soon replaced and I saw in the paper he owed something like 1.2million. Probably most of it over the bar.

Regards.

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I don't think that working on the black means working for cash I work selling plants on the markets and I'm paid cash 99% of the time its people who work without being registered at all that should be strung up and kicked out. The same people that have left England to live here because of all the foreigners. But of couse Brits are called expats not foreigners and I suppose that makes a differance.
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This afternoon we picked up a leaflet in Brico Leclerc which had been issued by the government and which set out the penalties and disadvantages of both working on the black and employing people on the black. An interesting penalty for those tempted to employ illegal workers is that as well as the fines and prison sentence, if the worker is killed or injured the person who employed them must pay a pension to the widow and children.
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It is not only the english who work on the black, our local gendarme told us it is the french, dutch and belgians too that they have a problem with, so I don't think we should just be judging our fellow countrymen, after all it happens everywhere. People just have to make their own choices when employing work people and face the problems which may follow. And also it is not only this country where it happens but ofcourse this is where we all are and where it affects us as individuals.
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This is all very interesting .....as the day before yesturday I had the pleasure of  sitting in my kitchen  drinking coffee with 3 Gendarmes  who had paid me a visit .....the reason for the visit was to acertain if I dealt with an agency engaged in letting properties.....They were of course satisfied when I told them that I and a member of my family were the only people who held keys to my house ....this was a specific question .....who apart from me held keys to my house  ?  which they obviously knew was a holiday home .  As I do not ....and will not.... rent out my house to others  I was not of much interest to them as a "Gite " owner who had passed a set of keys to others to  "manage " the place for me . So ........reading between the lines ....if you have a second home and you have an  " agent "  handling the place for you ......then you are of interest to them ......They were very nice guys ...very friendly ...but not local .....and sent into the area for the summer ......they appear to me to have been given a task .....
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Why just the non-French?  Is this a bit of racism, picking out the Africans?

In a way I don't blame people on low wages earning a bit on the black.  A French friend of mine does (mainly for English) but his official job is a low paid night shift carer's job.  It's the ones (especially Brits) who claim benefits and also work on the black.  Those of us who work are paying for them!

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When you see the amount of illegal cars on the road with UK plates, very old tax discs and French insurance, you would assume that these people are also conning the system in other ways. They may not be so obvious at the moment with all the Brit registered holiday makers around, but in the winter they are easy enough to spot. Who do they think they are fooling when they say that the car is legal?

I look forward to the time when the French police start looking at cars too.

I know a chap who has a classic car, has lived here for years, and because it has a cherished number is trying to find a UK insurance comany that offers a 12 month green card so that he can drive it. What he won't do is tell the insurance that he is a French resident, because UK insurance does not cover anyone who is not UK resident. He will overlook that little point, till the day that he has a bump, and I hope that they throw the book at him.

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[quote user="woody2122"]

how comes tony from dordogne is posting on south west france region if you are from dordogne, shouldnt you be posting on the western france region because dordogne is in the charente area[/quote]

You can live in Aberdeen or Milford Haven and post in any section of the forum you wish

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I guess I'm just not the reporting type myself, although I might well be secretly delighted when the authorities caught up with them - if we were talking large amounts over long periods of time.  However, I know a number of women in the UK who take in odd bits of ironing, do some cleaning etc for a bit of cash without filling in any tax forms.  I'll bet there are not a few people on here who've taken cash for something in their lives without declaring it.  Have you sold anything for a profit at a boot-fair or vide-grenier?  Declared the profit on your tax return?  Mildly irritating when you try to do everything by the book and others get away with it, I admit. And yes, I believe taxation is important and that it's important to contribute as there are people who - through no fault of their own - have to rely on the state for support and I personally feel duty bound to add my bit to the coffers.    One day, that might even be me. I also use the services which my taxes pay for.  But sorry, I just think there are too many more important things to worry about without coming over all moralistic and judgemental about these things - be the miscreant English, French, or any other nationality.
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