Last year, over 3,000 illegally working foreigners were deported from the Czech Republic
As Radio Prague notes, in 2017 alone, over 3,000 illegally employed migrant workers were deported from the Czech Republic, which is 8 times more than the figures recorded four years ago. Most often, foreigners work in construction and industry in violation of the law.
It is quite plausible that the number of violations will increase further in the future. The law is most often violated by Ukrainians who have a Polish visa, which, however, in accordance with Czech legislation, does not give them the right to work in the Czech Republic, said Vladimir Takach, an analyst at the Police for Foreign Affairs, to the newspaper Hospodářské noviny (HN).
"The shortage of workers has reached a critical limit. Some firms, out of desperation, resort to illegally using the potential of migrant workers who do not have the necessary permits. However, in the end, they risk not only losing their reputation but also losing part of their accumulated capital due to high fines," describes the situation Milena Jabůrková, vice-president of the Czech Confederation of Industry and Transport.
The amount of fines imposed for violating employment rules in the Czech Republic can reach up to 10 million crowns (400,000 euros). For example, in 2016, inspectors fined employers a total of more than 70 million crowns. Data on the total amount of fines applied for the reporting year for 2017 have not yet been published, but it is known that the number of deported foreigners who worked illegally in the country last year doubled compared to 2016.
"Companies should not rely on the 'word of honor' of private employment agencies and should demand all required documents. Some enterprises, unfortunately, later claim that they were deceived by intermediaries," said Josef Středula, leader of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions.
Employers have called on the Czech government to simplify the employment of Ukrainians in the Czech Republic in order to quickly provide the production process with the necessary personnel. According to a new government decree, from January 10, 2018, quotas for hiring workers from Ukraine were doubled, namely from 9,600 to 19,600 people per year.