Prague, March 13 (CTK) – The Czech labour inspection, in cooperation with immigration officers, carried out 296 checks that revealed unlawful job mediation in 110 companies and entities in 2016 and 187 people without the required documents, Labour Ministry spokesman Petr Haban told CTK.
Most of the people without the necessary documents were from third countries. Only four were Czechs and four others were citizens of other EU countries, Haban said.
The labour inspection imposed fines worth 8.6 million crowns in total for the violations of law.
Agencies from EU countries may mediate jobs in the Czech Republic only temporarily and exceptionally and they must report such activities to the Czech job office.
Haban said some firms abused an exception thanks to which people from third countries can provide services for a firm from their country of origin in the Czech Republic only based on a residence permit. The labour inspectors concluded that these foreign employees work for their foreign firms only formally and that they actually work for a Czech employer, he said.
When Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka visited the Prague labour inspection office last December, he said foreign agencies employed foreigners illegally in the Czech Republic. He said especially Polish agencies brought Ukrainian manual workers to the country.
The Czech unemployment rate is the lowest in the EU. Czech companies complain about a shortage of workforce, they call for foreign labourers and say protracted bureaucratic procedures prevent them from hiring new workers.
In this situation, Czech employers are trying to take advantage of any legal or semi-legal possibility and any unclarity in law to gain more employees, the Czech association of job agencies (APA) said on Monday.
Rene Kuchar, from the APA committee, told Czech Radio that tens of thousands of Ukrainians with Polish visas are in the Czech Republic.
