Mayotte: Social Security Fund ordered to compensate former executive for undeclared work

The Mamoudzou Court of Appeal upheld, on June 2nd, the conviction of the Mayotte Social Security Fund (CSSM) in a dispute with a former employee. The fund will have to pay her over €60,000 in compensation, as the court found that she had engaged in undeclared work for several weeks in 2020. This decision partially confirms the judgment rendered by the labor court in July 2024, while also increasing the employer's liability.

The former manager, initially employed by the French Guiana Social Security Fund, was seconded to Mayotte in September 2019 to bolster the local teams. After several extensions of this assignment, she claims to have continued to perform her duties between April 13 and June 15, 2020, without an employment contract, payslips, or prior declaration of employment. She was only hired on a permanent contract on June 15, 2020, before being dismissed in November 2021.

The court finds the work to be undeclared.

Unlike the labor court judges, the Court of Appeal ruled that the CSSM could not have been unaware of the irregularity of the situation. According to the decision, the institution should have formalized the employment contract as early as April 13, 2020, and could not simply claim an extension of the secondment. The judges considered that the employer had deliberately delayed this formalization, thus constituting undeclared work.

The Mayotte Social Security Fund contested this analysis, arguing that the employee remained registered with the French Guiana fund thanks to an addendum signed in June 2020. However, the court ruled that this arrangement did not meet the legal requirements and that the CSSM (Mayotte Social Security Fund) had to ensure the employee's agreement and the regularity of her status. The organization declined to comment on this decision and now has until [date missing]. 2 August to file an appeal to the Court of Cassation.