Dutch employers must hire migrant workers on permanent contracts: Dutch Safety Board

Employers in the Netherlands must offer migrant workers permanent contracts, the Dutch Safety Board (OVV) said on Wednesday. Currently, 88 percent of migrant workers work on temporary contracts, and that leads to them being overrepresented in workplace accidents, the OVV concluded after investigating the “work-related safety” of this group of workers.

Research by the Labor Inspectorate last year showed that migrant workers are more likely to get hurt at work than their Dutch colleagues. The OVV is not surprised. According to the OVV, over 200,000 migrant workers are working “in a vulnerable position” in the Netherlands.

They often have unskilled and low-paid “disposable work” that Dutch people are rarely willing to accept. That comes on top of poor housing conditions, long commute times, and language barriers. And employers hiring people on a temporary basis have less incentive to ensure a safe working environment, the OVV said.

Remarkably, while much of the work migrant workers do is structural and exists year-round, 88 percent of migrant workers in the Netherlands work on a temporary basis through an employment agency. Because they are largely dependent on their employer for work, income, and housing, they don’t dare to assert their right to a safe workplace. They know that they are easily replaced if they get sick or hurt or cause too many waves, the OVV said.

“We see a clear link between flexible employment relationships and the unsafe working conditions of the migrant workers involved,” OVV chairman Chris van Dan said. “Therefore, we advocate that employers in sectors with a high level of unhealthy and dangerous work substantially increase the share of sustainable employment relationships for structural work. In some sectors, 80% of workers are hired on a temporary basis, even though the work is constantly available.”

It is time for employers to take responsibility for the people they employ, Van Dan added to NOS, mentioning the construction, agriculture, horticulture, meat processing, and logistics sectors in particular. “We target large retail companies, major parcel delivery services, horticulture, and construction. We say that these are reputable Dutch businesses that really need to approach hiring temporary workers differently.”

The OVV also addressed the Labor Inspectorate, saying it must adopt a “more robust and less permissive approach” when it comes to the working conditions of migrant workers.