Westland greenhouse grower fined for breaking labor law with Ukrainian migrant workers
The Labor Inspectorate fined a greenhouse grower in Westland for violating labor laws with over 200 Ukrainian migrant workers. The grower deployed the workers without properly registering them and deducted their housing costs from their wages. The employer also didn’t properly register their working hours.
Ukrainians are allowed to work in the Netherlands under the European Union’s Temporary Protection Directive, but they must be registered with the immigration agency IND, the municipality where they live, and benefits agency UWV at least two days before they start working.
The greenhouse grower failed to register 219 Ukrainian migrant workers with the UWV on time. Another 41 were not registered with the municipality or IND.
The employer also deducted the workers’ housing costs from their wages, instead of charging them separately. The company’s working time registration did not match the actual situation, making it difficult to check whether employees were paid fairly and worked reasonable hours.
“Just like other employees in the Netherlands, migrant workers are entitled to fair wages and work,” the Inspectorate said.
The total amount of the fines is still being calculated.
