The European Parliament wants more and tougher rules to combat the exploitation of seasonal workers and temporary hired personnel. The EU is set to develop new, specific guidelines for cross-border workers and subcontracting. Germany is already working on such a law.
It is estimated that between 800,000 and one million seasonal workers are recruited annually within the EU, mainly in the agro-food sector: 370,000 in Italy, 300,000 in Germany, 276,000 in France, and 150,000 in Spain.
The European Parliament’s call for stricter measures responds to recent allegations regarding how Eastern European slaughterers have to work in the German meat industry and the manner in which they are (compulsorily) housed in temporary accommodations. Thousands of them contracted the coronavirus and had to quarantine for two weeks.
In the Netherlands, a report about the situation in Dutch meat processing plants was published last week, drafted by a committee led by former SP Member of Parliament Emile Roemer. “It must become impossible as soon as possible for employers to simultaneously be landlords to their workers. This setup creates an undesirable dependency relationship,” said a spokesperson for FNV.
“These people never know how many hours they are allowed to work from their temp agency boss. Even if they are offered few working hours, they still pay full rent. Because the employer deducts the rent from their wages. And that leads to situations like this. People who work and yet need a food package to survive,” according to the FNV.
The Dutch Labour Inspectorate halted work last weekend at an asparagus farm in North Brabant. The dozens of foreign workers had been picking asparagus every day for six weeks straight, seven days a week, despite being entitled to statutory rest periods. It also appeared that the asparagus pickers had to work between 8 and 14 hours per day. The 44 asparagus pickers are labor migrants from Poland and Romania and live in employer-provided housing.
During the inspection, checks were also made on whether the working conditions were safe and healthy and whether the employer minimized the risk of Covid-19 infection at work as much as possible. The Inspectorate found that the asparagus grower fell short in several respects and ordered improvements. The Labour Inspectorate is currently conducting further investigations into compliance with the Minimum Wage Act and the Working Hours Act.
The European Parliament also believes the European Labour Authority (ELA) must be fully established as soon as possible. This EU body was set up last year to tackle abuses in the international cross-border transport sector. EU countries now need to increase the capacity of their labour inspections. The European Commission is expected to soon issue guidelines for better protection of cross-border and seasonal workers.
In 2018, the largest numbers of cross-border workers moved from Poland to Germany (125,000 people, many in construction), from France to Luxembourg (88,000), from Germany to Luxembourg (52,000), from Slovakia to Austria (48,000, most of whom are women in healthcare), and from France to Belgium (46,000). Seasonal and cross-border workers can work in another EU country based on their right to free movement within the EU. In that case, the laws of the country where they work apply. Approximately 1.3 million people in the EU live in a different EU country than where they work.