Illustrative stock photo (source: SME)
This is an increase of 15.03 percent year-on-year, according to a report that the cabinet discussed during its session on April 6. Supervisory authorities made 23,698 checks aimed at identifying illegal labour. “The results of the checks, that is, the number of illegal jobs discovered, were the highest for the past three years,” stated the Labour Ministry in the report, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
“The number of checks increased by 0.43 percent y-o-y; by 14.53 percent when compared to 2013, and by 95.97 percent when compared to 2012. These data attest to an intensification of the monitoring of illegal labour,” the ministry reported.
Special anti-tax evasion unit Cobra helped significantly in uncovering cases of illegal employment, as it tracked down 1,749 illegally employed people (53.57 percent of the total).
Most of the people concerned worked in the construction sector, and in wholesale, retail, accommodation and in pubs and restaurants. Companies employing between one and nine people were among those that violated the ban on illegal employment most often.
The number and level of fines for illegal labour are also still on the rise. Whereas in 2012 the authorities imposed 312 fines worth a total of €675,050; the figures rose to 993 fines worth €3.4 million in 2015 which represented an increase of 409.38 percent.
