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This Parisian bakery is hit with an €80,000 fine for opening on May 1st

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The Editor

© Yeh Xintong, Unsplash.

After opening three shops on May 1, 2021, the owner of Bo & Mie bakeries faced a hefty penalty with a fine of nearly 80,000€. 

No mercy on May 1st! Jean-François Bandet, owner of Bo & Mie bakeries and proprietor of a dozen shops (six of which are in Paris), just got hit with a €78,750 fine for the simple reason that he opened his shop on Labor Day in 2021. That's quite a hefty ticket that comes four years after the incident – complete with a summons to the Paris police – causing quite the uproar among industry insiders. Let us explain.


A hefty fine for May 1st

The events date back to 2021. On May 1st, the traditional public holiday celebrating Labor Day, Jean-François Bandet decided to open three of his Bo & Mie stores in Paris, with 21 employees, all volunteers and paid double. After all, many merchants do the same that day. Unfortunately, an inspection from a labor inspector happened to take place at the address on Rue de Turbigo in the 2nd district, with a full tour of the shop, administrative documents, and all the rest. And sure enough, a few months later, Jea...n-François Bandet receives a letter informing him that he owes a fine of exactly 78,750€ for opening his shops on May 1st. Specifically, the fine punishes 750€ per employee (21 on that particular day), all multiplied by five because the owner is considered a legal entity.

Yes, indeed! Not many people know this, but bakers and florists (how funny for May Day!) are not allowed to open on Labor Day. This rule is a bit puzzling for Jean-François Bandet, who points out, “McDonald's, Starbucks, and Pizza Hut are allowed to open.” He shared this with 20 Minutes. It’s a legal gray area that has still allowed the Labor Inspection to penalize Bo & Mie, suggesting at the time that the owner pay a guaranteed fine of €10,000 with no follow-up. Jean-François Bandet deemed the situation excessive and refused. After not hearing anything for over three years, he was finally summoned to the police station in Paris on Wednesday, April 23rd.


A proposed law dep

Outrage

The controversy isn't just about Bo & Mie, as other merchants have voiced their opinions too, including a bakery from Marseille that shared with France Bleu that they always take the risk to open on May 1st. In response to all this uproar, centrist senators have proposed a bill, as explained by BFMTV, which would allow establishments already authorized to open on Sundays (like bakeries and florists) to also open on May 1st.

The proposed law led by Vendée senator Annick Billon aims to adapt “the law to the realities on the ground,” she specifies.

-elle at BFMTV. If the text is adopted, then employees of the establishments and services "whose operation or opening is made necessary by the constraints of production, activity, or public needs" will be able to work. This Saturday, April 26, AFP announced that the government supports this proposal and is indeed planning to "support this initiative".