Crackdown looms on illegal workers

12 October 2005

BRUSSELS — The labour inspectorate is demanding greater legal possibilities to crackdown on employers who employ illegal workers.

The inspectorate has also demanded that companies be obligated to report to authorities when they employ foreign workers, Flemish broadcaster VRT said on Wednesday.

The aim is to reduce the amount of illegal working practices, for example, on Belgian construction sites.

The demands come amid concerns over an increasing number of problems with foreign subcontractors and fake self-employed workers.

Breaches of regulations primarily involve wage and workplace conditions, with workers receiving insufficient pay for the number of hours worked.

Other breaches involve the absence of social security premiums paid in the worker’s land of origin or in Belgium.

The problem mainly involves labourers from East European countries that entered the EU in May 2004.

Subject: Belgian news