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Harvest workers in Serbia and Romania had to work more than 100 hours a week at a vegetable grower in Marchfeld. Therefore, women received € 4.20 and men € 4.40 per hour. The financial police, who had received an anonymous tip, discovered the serious case of wage dumping during a raid. Officials speak of “incredible exploitation of harvest workers.”
The official inspection took place on Sunday, September 6. That day, all the workers were present to pack the vegetables in an aisle. The financial police found several crimes: in twelve cases, there were late registrations in the social security system of up to six weeks and in one case there was no registration. According to the farmer, this employee was allegedly on site for training; actually, the man is said to have worked on the farm in the past.
Sometimes I worked more than 100 hours a week
Among other things, the financial police secured the hour lists for 2020. This shows that workers officially only had 40 hours of work, but sometimes they had to work more than 100 hours a week. The massive lower wage of around four euros per hour instead of the statutory collective agreement of around eight euros also represents a massive violation of the Law on Social and Wage Dumping.
Blümel has “zero tolerance for wage dumping and social fraud”
Deputy Finance Minister Gernot Blümel is also shocked: “None of the harvest workers received fair pay for their work. In some cases, the employer only paid half of the collective agreement. These black sheep exploit workers, damage the reputations of all honest entrepreneurs, and enrich themselves at the expense of decent taxpayers. “And further:” I have zero tolerance for wage dumping and social fraud and we will continue to crack down on this. “
The entrepreneur’s approach is now expensive: the tax office and the Austrian health insurance company have started various procedures. The farmer faces high fines and even imprisonment, as the punishment range for social fraud is up to seven years in prison.
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