The Dutch government will take tougher action against employers who underpay migrant workers

The Dutch government is working on a new law to take tougher action against employers who underpay their workers. The law will allow underpaid employees to claim the money they are entitled to by shifting the burden of proof regarding fair pay onto the employer. This will particularly protect migrant workers, who are often faced with exploitation, reports AD. The Labour Inspectorate suspects that many thousands of migrant workers are receiving less than the statutory minimum wage. Claiming this money from the employer is currently difficult, as unscrupulous employers do not keep proper records of hours worked. As a result, it is impossible to prove whether someone has been underpaid. Under the new law, employers will have to prove that they have paid their workers sufficient wages. If a company cannot do so, it must pay the outstanding wages retroactively. In the most extreme case, this amount could reach around €14,000 – six months’ work, 36 hours a week, at a minimum wage of around €15 an hour. Companies are already obliged to keep proper records or risk a fine. However, according to the Labour Inspectorate, unscrupulous employers sometimes accept the fine, as it is lower than the back pay owed, and workers currently have no legal means of claiming their unpaid wages. Losing records or failing to keep them properly is a way of paying migrant workers less than they are entitled to. The law is one of the recommendations made by the Rumer Commission six years ago, after it uncovered widespread exploitation of migrant workers in the Netherlands. Many employers in the Netherlands make migrant workers work excessive hours for very low pay, whilst housing them in appalling conditions. This also means that the worker is dependent on the employer for housing – if they lose their job, they are left homeless. The previous government has already taken steps to provide greater protection for migrant workers who are tenants, but these rules have not yet come into force.