In Eure, this butcher risks closure to pay for the dismissal of an employee

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“Help us, please.” For several weeks, customers have been able to discover a poster calling for help on the front of the delicatessen and caterer Au Cochon Gourmand, in Neubourg (Eure). This links to an online prize pool, created by the children of the owners of this historic food business on rue Dupont-de-l'Eure, managed for 17 years by Sandrine and Richard Labbé.

At the origin of the difficulties encountered by the delicatessen, the illness of an employee, who had been off work for almost two years. On September 1, 2024, she was finally recognized as unfit by occupational medicine. “We have to fire her. This will cost us around 16,000 euros », explains Richard Labbé.

In fact, the boss must compensate the employee, hired by the previous owners of the business, for 18 years of permanent contract, as well as ten weeks of paid leave.

On October 29, the merchant received a formal notice to pay within eight days. “We will go to the Industrial Court. If they force me to pay, I will find myself in suspension of payments. We risk going into receivership and it is potentially the end of our business, summarizes Richard Labbé. We are fighting to find solutions. We are trying to check with our banks, but we are a little tight in terms of cash flow. »

The Covid period, still not digested

The cause: the Covid period, which has had a lasting impact on the finances of small food businesses. “We suffered. State aid was not a gift but additional debt,” testifies Richard Labbé. “For four years, gas has tripled and electricity has doubled,” he adds. Not to mention the increases on its raw materials. At the same time, the retailer tried to maintain its prices “to keep customers”.

« The first year, the cash flow allows you to absorb the shock. Then less and less, in the following years,” confides the trader. He also observes that consumer habits have evolved. “They allocate less and less budget to food,” according to Richard Labbé.

If I stop, my apprentices won't find a boss.

While his business is in danger, the boss believes that “ the law is poorly designed for small businesses “. “The doctor doesn’t want to stop it anymore. The CPAM no longer wants to pay its compensation. Now it's up to me to pay. But I have nothing to do with it if she's sick! »

With four employees and three apprenticesthe charcuterie is a VSE (very small business). “There aren’t fifty delicatessens in the area. If I stop, my apprentices will not find a boss and will have lost a year,” warns Richard Labbe.

Letters sent to elected officials

The trader sent letters to the MP Katiana Levavasseur (National Rally), as well as to the senator Hervé Maurey (The Centrists). The first undertook to ask a Written Question to the government, as well as to propose an amendment, while the second contacted the Minister of Labor, Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet, without response to date. “In any case, by the time the law changes, it will be over for us,” regrets the butcher.

He continues to work 3 a.m. to 4 p.m., six days a week. “I get up early because I like my job. But my first thought every morning is: “How are we going to do this?” » » he admits. “If we leave with debts, after all these years of work…” laments the caterer, who has 37 years of professional experience. At the time of writing these lines, €2,548 had been collected on the Leetchi platform.

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