137 companies inspected in EU-wide construction site checks

9 concerted and joint inspections took place across the EU on 16-22 June, in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Lithuania and Malta. The action was carried out by labour inspectors as well as enforcement officers from customs, social security, tax, police and migration authorities. Visiting inspectors joined from Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania and Sweden.

The inspections primarily targeted worksites with a significant presence of a multinational workforce and focused on phenomena characteristic of the construction sector, such as subcontracting, posting, and self-employment.

570 workers interviewed
137 companies checked
19 construction sites inspected
184 control officers involved, including observers from other participating Member States and ELA staff
13 Member States participated in total.

Following the worksite inspections, investigations have ensued on undeclared work, illegal employment of third-country nationals, remuneration, occupational safety and health, and non-genuine posting or bogus self-employment.

One of the three cross-border inspections in Germany was joined by inspectors from Romania. The inspection focused on a worksite with many workers from Romania who have been in Germany mostly for a few months, performing low-skilled jobs at the construction site.

Investigations are ongoing. We are examining the hours worked and wages paid to ensure that minimum wage laws are being respected. The presence of Romanian inspectors has been invaluable, as they provided background information on matters such as tax and social security payments in Romania. Interestingly, the Romanian inspector was the first to spot a fake Romanian ID of a worker from Moldova.

For the joint inspection in Cyprus, the Labour Inspectorate selected four mid-sized construction sites:

Inspection units separately visited these four sites and interviewed more than 150 employees of multiple nationalities regarding basic terms of employment. In addition, checks were conducted on declared work and declared salaries.

The Ergani Information System serves as a key investigative resource for the Labour Inspectorate in Cyprus. It contains records of employees' working hours and, more recently, includes essential terms of employment for each worker. Andis Apostolou added:

In total, ten employers received notices for possible violations. The fines could amount to approximately 100,000 euros for undeclared salaries and under-declared work, missing payments to the welfare fund, absence of payslips, payments in cash, or not complying with the minimum wage.

Discover more on concerted and join inspections at ELA: