Illegal exploitation of migrant workers pays off for employers, fines appear to be far too low – Joop

The fines that employers have to pay for employing migrant workers from outside the EU without a work permit are far too low. This is stated by the Labor Inspectorate. Employers accept the risk of a fine, because the benefit of exploiting migrant workers far outweighs a possible sanction.

“The Labor Inspectorate has calculated the average ‘payback period’, a somewhat cynical term in this context, because the ‘earnings’ arise from violations of the law. So how long the employer must enjoy the benefit gained from the violation to ‘make up’ the amount of the fine. In almost 90 percent of cases, this is less than 1 year. In 7 of the 24 situations studied, the ‘payback period’ is even 3 months or less.”

In 2005, fines for illegal employment were set at a maximum of 8,000 euros. That amount has not been increased since then. If the fines had been adjusted for inflation and increases in prosperity, they would now have amounted to around 15,000 euros.

The Labor Inspectorate notes that employers pass on a large part of the costs of illegal employment to society. For example, social costs such as additional pressure on the housing market, healthcare and education are not included.

Two of the four parties currently negotiating an ultra-right cabinet, VVD and BBB, are stated supporters of the use of underpaid migrant workers by entrepreneurs. To divert attention from this, they make a lot of fuss about the arrival of refugees to the Netherlands. For example, the VVD dropped the previous cabinet on lies about so-called family reunification. Pinocchio Yeşilgöz came up with the idea that “thousands of people” are piling family journey after family journey. In reality it concerns several dozen people per year.