'Money or betrayal': Why are French employers spying on their workers? Detective hirings boom

Employers in France are hiring more and more private detectives everyday, but not to investigate financial fraud or scams, but to track employees suspected of abusing sick leaves as the country’s healthcare costs continue to soar.

Fabrice Lehmann, a detective based near Paris since 1994, recently trailed a man leaving his suburban home for work. “Whether it's inside a company or in a married couple, it always boils down to two things,” Lehmann said, adding “money or betrayal.”

The scale of fraudulent absenteeism in France is hard to measure, but experts say it has grown alongside a 60% jump in sick leave since 2012, now costing the country more than 10 billion euros a year. Former Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, ousted this month over deficit-cutting proposals, had aimed to reduce healthcare spending by 5 billion euros in 2026 and crack down on fraud.

France’s national health insurer said that last year, it prevented 42 euros million in sick leave fraud , more than double the 2023 total. But these figures likely underestimate the problem. Many investigations are handled by private detectives hired by companies suspicious of employee behaviour, and stricter anti-fraud rules only began in 2022.

Detectives report booming demand

Another detective, Baptiste Pannaud, said that contracts tied to sick leave had more than doubled in four years, while some agencies have stopped traditional work, like spying on affairs, to focus solely on absenteeism.

Lehmann noted that some employees were working for rivals or running their own businesses while officially on leave. Patrice Le Bec, Lehmann’s colleague, recounted seeing people sign off sick and immediately fly away on holiday.

French social security pays up to 41.47 euros per day for up to three years of sick leave, with employers often topping up salaries. A 2024 report found public sector employees took an average of 14.5 days off in 2022, and private sector staff 11.7 days. By comparison, German workers took an average of 14.8 days in 2024.

Bayrou claimed that half of sick leave periods over 18 months were unjustified. “This is not acceptable in a country like ours and in a period like the one we are living,” he said.

However, some experts question the narrative of rampant fraud. Doctor Sabrina Ali Benali, co-author of France Unbowed’s healthcare proposals, said while a few patients seek false sick notes, “widespread fraud is pure fantasy.”

Private detectives like Bruno Boivin have seen little consequence for offenders. “We built cases, caught people working elsewhere. Nobody was punished,” he said, recalling a public transport firm where 30% of staff were on sick leave. “The client stopped hiring us, saying: 'It's pointless, we can't fire them.'”

Absenteeism rose after Covid, and critics blame management styles that fail to match employees’ expectations for empathy and collaboration. Economist Jean-Claude Delgenes called the system “oppressive.”

Despite reforms under President Emmanuel Macron, detectives say French workers still enjoy extensive protections. Some cases are extreme: Boivin described tracking a man who had been on sick leave for a decade, checking in only every three years to renew his company car.

Lehmann’s target eventually lost him in the crush of Paris commuters, highlighting the challenges detectives face in monitoring suspect employees.