“The harmfulness of the actions of a person performing illegal work is very low. The bearer of its origin is the employer, who chooses this illegal procedure under the influence of saving funds on levies,” stated the ministry in the submitted draft law on platform work.
According to the office, such an employer often takes advantage of the workers’ family and financial situation. These are, for example, people who have difficulty finding work and are struggling with debts and loans. “These persons are easily manipulated,” added the ministry officials.
Those who are caught by the labor inspectorate working illegally are already affected by the fact that they are removed from the records of the Labor Office and must return unemployment benefits.
People working without a contract are currently threatened with a fine of one hundred thousand crowns, but it is not often used. Last year, the labor inspectorate found illegal work for 2,500 people. However, she conducted misdemeanor proceedings in only 166 cases and the average fine was twenty thousand crowns.
On the contrary, a new option for sanctioning employers is to be added. And that for performing work in violation of the issued work permit or perhaps without an employee card.
The unions do not agree with the proposed change. “If the fine for illegal work is abolished, we would be unique in the Czech Republic. It is complete nonsense. Both the employer and the person who accepts the work are involved in illegal employment,” stated the chairman of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions, Josef Středula.
Change of definition
The definition of illegal work should also be adjusted. So-called continuous dependent work, which a person performs under all conditions of the employment relationship, could be considered as such, but this cannot be documented. This will now be considered only as undeclared work.
“Only work will continue to be considered illegal work “Foreigners without an employee card, a card of an intra-company employee transferred or a blue card, or without a work permit,” the ministry specified. In some cases, this will also affect minors.
The definition of the term dependent work should also be relaxed. Newly, only two of its four characters will be preserved. According to the Česká justice server, it will no longer be possible to prove the black system, for example, by the fact that a person working on a trade license would receive the same benefits as an employee.
“The new definition could have unfathomable consequences. It is impossible for classic conditions to be transferred to the black system. It threatens the income of the state budget,” protests Středula.
According to Jiří Horecký, president of the Confederation of Employers’ and Entrepreneurs’ Unions, there was an extensive debate about this during the preparation of the law. “The main feature of whether it is a black system will be the organization and timing of the work,” explained Horecký.
The changes could start to apply already this year. But they still have to go through comments, the government and the parliament.
