Interest groups plead for Minister to maintain measures to protect migrant workers

Several organizations that advocate for migrant workers have appealed to parliament not to scrap measures intended to improve the position of these workers. Caretaker Minister Marielle Paul of Social Affairs decided last week not to proceed with these measures. But according to the Salvation Army, Fairwork, Stichting Bewonersbelangen Arbeidsmigratie, and the Netherlands’ largest trade union, FNV, that would give temporary employment agencies free rein to continue their “questionable practices,” NOS reports.

The measures in question were devised by Paul’s predecessor, Eddy van Hijum. He wanted to gradually ban employers from withholding housing costs from migrant workers’ minimum wage. Currently, employers are allowed to withhold up to 25% of the minimum wage for housing. As a result, employees receive below minimum wage because the employer bears the costs of housing, which the workers often have no say in.

Van Hijum wanted to decrease the maximum amount withheld to 20 percent in January and then gradually to 0 percent in 2030. According to Van Hijum, this construct has the advantage of migrant workers quickly getting housing through their employer. But in practice, undesirable situations arise “in which some employers view housing migrant workers as a business model.” Migrant workers get housed in deplorable conditions and then also lose their housing if they lose their jobs. This increases their dependence on their employer.

The Labor Inspectorate also supported abolishing the withholding scheme, calling it important to make the business model of transport, work, and housing less attractive to employers. According to the Inspectorate, it can be more profitable for employers to house migrant workers than employ people who have a home in the Netherlands.

But according to caretaker Minister Paul, this measure wouldn’t stop employers from withholding migrant workers’ wages; it would only make them do so in ways that are not visible. And due to the tight housing market, ending the withholding scheme would be disadvantageous for migrant workers, Paul believes.

The other measure Paul decided to scrap was the introduction of an identification card on construction sites, where many migrant workers are employed. The card would list what qualifications the worker has and which employer they work for. Van Hijum wanted this to reduce uncertainty on construction sites, combat unqualified work, and help track hours worked and accrued entitlements like pensions.

But according to Paul, such an ID card would not guarantee safe and fair work, and it would compromise the workers’ privacy. She will therefore not legally require identification on construction sites, but will allow sites to implement this “on a voluntary basis.”

Paul said that she still considered it important to strengthen migrant workers’ position and make them more independent of their employers. She said she was working on other ways to achieve this, including a bill to improve rent protection for migrant workers.