Shaken by the business bankruptcies affair, the wage guarantee scheme seems to be gradually emerging from the zone of turbulence. While an interim director has been in charge since February, this social protection system has just recruited its new manager: Antonin Blanckaert, currently working at the National Old Age Insurance Fund. He should take office at the very beginning of January 2024. Remained confidential until now, his appointment results from a decision by employers, which gave rise to debates within Medef but also between employer movements.
Known by the acronym AGS, the Salary Guarantee Agency is the organization which allows employees of insolvent companies to continue to be paid, with the assistance of legal representatives (responsible for paying the sums due). It is governed by an exclusively employers’ association, while being attached, on an operational level, to Unédic, the joint structure which manages unemployment insurance.
For almost five years, the AGS regime has been at the heart of a fight punctuated by multiple twists and turns. Shortly after Houria Aouimeur took over as national director, several complaints were filed in 2019 following suspicions of embezzlement involving the former team of managers and legal representatives. The criminal investigation, still ongoing, has been entrusted to investigating judge Vincent Lemonier. One of the main questions that the magistrate must answer is whether embezzlement has been committed at the expense of the AGS scheme: this is the case for company bankruptcies.
Unanimous vote
At the end of 2022, Mme Aouimeur was, in turn, singled out for other acts. His employer – in this case Unédic – criticized him in particular for exorbitant food and travel expenses and for ignoring the rules for awarding public contracts. At the end of February 2023, she was dismissed for gross misconduct – a decision which she contested before the industrial tribunal, considering herself the victim of reprisals for having brought the scandal of insolvent companies to light.
Since his ouster, Mme Aouimeur was replaced, temporarily, by Rémy Mazzocchi, an executive from Unédic. At the same time, a firm of headhunters was commissioned to find a “real” director for the AGS regime. Among the names on the list of contenders, two emerged: Mr. Blanckaert and Mr. Mazzocchi, each of them having supporters within Medef. The first was supported by Christian Nibourel, the president of the employers’ association governing the AGS. The second benefited from the support of Jean-Eudes Tesson, the vice-president of Unédic. In the end, it was Mr. Blanckaert who won, on 1er December, following a unanimous vote by the office of the employers’ association, minus one abstention (that of Michel Picon, member of the Union of Local Businesses).
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