Shocking testimony on TF1: Rachid, a Moroccan baker, recounts four years of exploitation

Arrived in France in 2020 after twenty years of work in Morocco, Rachid responded to an ad on a WhatsApp support group. His future boss, Anthony M., promised him a job and housing. The audio recordings broadcast show an employer who refuses to discuss salary from the outset. On site, the reality was brutal: an unsanitary laboratory, the presence of rats and non-compliance with the cold chain. Motivated by the hope of obtaining papers, Rachid agreed to stay, signing a twenty-hour contract after three months, even though he was actually working seven days a week, even when sick.

"A room that looks like a cellar"

The described housing conditions are unworthy. Housed on the upper floor of the business without a rental contract, the baker lived in an apartment without heating, with broken windows and infested with cockroaches. This space, which also served as a storeroom, allowed the employer to have his employee available at all times. Rachid said he accepted this situation, telling himself that one day he would get his residence permit.

The situation deteriorated when the bakery went into decline. Wages were no longer paid for several months and the business eventually closed permanently, dashing the employee’s hopes of regularization. Without resources, with only 500 euros in his pocket and separated from his wife and children for five years, Rachid admitted to having had suicidal thoughts in the face of this impasse.

Advised by an association, he filed a complaint. Placed in police custody, the employer denied the accusations in front of the cameras, presenting himself as the "biggest victim" and claiming that Rachid only worked four hours. He also claimed to be unaware of the irregular situation of his employee, a version contradicted by a cover letter for the prefecture signed by his hand, which Rachid was able to produce. The investigation is ongoing.