Govt to crackdown on undeclared construction workers

The labour inspection service will carry out checks across the construction industry next month, targeting undeclared workers.

The inspection service said the campaign was intended to raise awareness among employers and workers of the consequences of undeclared employment and noncompliance with labour legislation.

Inspectors will also check compliance with basic conditions of employment, including working hours and weekly rest.

Under existing law, an employer found to have an undeclared worker registered with the social insurance fund faces a fine of €1,000 per employee for the month in which the violation is detected, rising by €500 for every six months the violation continues.

A second offence within two years raises the fine to €2,000, and a third or subsequent offence to €3,000, unless the employer can show the period of violation was shorter, in which case a lower fine applies, or longer, in which case the fine is multiplied accordingly.

The labour ministry said a hotline, 77778577, remained open for anonymous or named reports of undeclared work or breaches of employment terms.

House labour committee chairman and Akel MP Giorgos Koukoumas said this week that complaints over the use of temporary employment agencies to supply construction and tourism workers were “linked to slave trade and human trafficking.”

He said the practice created a “two tier workforce”, describing cases in which “employers transport workers in buses or vans and leave them at workplaces, construction sites or elsewhere to work under degrading working conditions and for a pittance.”

Koukoumas said the labour ministry had acknowledged such cases existed, and the committee was awaiting data on whether sanctions or criminal proceedings had followed.

He questioned why a bill addressing the liability of main contractors in construction had not yet reached parliament, saying it was needed “to close other legal windows that exist in such cases.”

Disy MP Andreas Constantinou said inspections needed to distinguish clearly between legitimate service contracts and the unlawful supply of labour through agencies.

“If through this process it is determined that there are gaps in the existing legislation, we are ready to examine the necessary regulations so that the framework is clear and implemented effectively, in order to prevent a modern slave trade,” he said.