Almost 1,200 illegal workers found in first half of 2018

Labour inspectors found 1,166 illegally employed people in Slovakia in the first half of 2018, almost half of whom (533) were foreigners, National Labour Inspectorate (NIP) officials told a news conference in Košice on Tuesday. The ban on illegal employment was mostly violated by men (933). Inspectors checked almost 12,000 entities and over 28,000 people over the first half of this year, levying fines amounting to over €2 million. The highest proportion of illegally employed foreigners were Serbs, Ukrainians and Poles. "Previously, we used to have a lot of employees from China and Vietnam ... Now the trend has changed, as large factories that came to invest in Slovakia are in search of labour," said Ivan Hambálek of the Slovak Police Corps' Border and Alien Police, adding that factories often employ people through labour agencies. NIP general director Karol Habina said that there are two kinds of illegal employers: those employing illegally because they don't know the legislation and those who are aware of it, but strive to gain an advantage over the competition in this unfair manner.