A new study by the European Migration Network (EMN) highlights the issue of illegal employment among third-country nationals (TCNs) in EMN Member Countries from 2017 to 2022. The report details the various ways in which TCNs engage in illegal employment and the challenges faced by both workers and authorities. It offers an analysis of key legislative and policy frameworks, as well as practices to prevent, identify, and tackle illegal employment.
Illegal employment of TCNs continues to be a top political concern for many countries. National debates have intensified around the impact of illegal employment on society, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Since 2017, many EMN Member Countries have implemented significant legislative reforms, targeting employer sanctions. However, preventive measures have largely remained the same since 2017, focusing on awareness-raising, mandatory notifications to authorities when employing TCNs, compiling lists of unreliable employees or blacklisted employers.
Between 2017 and 2022, all EMN Member Countries actively conducted on-site inspections to tackle the illegal employment of TCNs. Most countries integrated this effort into broader labour inspections. Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the most common employers of illegally employed TCNs, particularly in sectors like construction, accommodation, food services, manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, and fishing. Sectors increasingly vulnerable to illegal employment practices include beauty and wellness, delivery services, security services, event management, and demolition work.
EMN Member Countries have improved cooperation between national actors and with other countries and sectors. Since 2017 new schemes for better collaboration between national agencies involved in prevention and enforcement efforts have been introduced. Labour inspectorates often collaborate with immigration and asylum services, financial and tax authorities, law enforcement and border control, social security and insurance agencies, and occupational safety and health authorities. Cross-border cooperation has also increased, using new initiatives like the European Labour Authority’s (ELA) European Platform tackling undeclared work.
The consequences for TCNs caught working illegally depend on their residence status and whether they currently have or previously had a work permit. Penalties range from revoked or denied residence permits to return decisions and fines. However, special procedures are in place in most EMN Member Countries for victims of exploitation or human trafficking.
Prevention of illegal employment of third-country nationals is indirectly related to the prevention of illegal migration and fight against unrecorded economy, both of which are significant national policy priorities priority in Latvia. The changes made in the regulatory enactments are focused on attracting foreign employees and promoting the related legal migration and facilitation of procedure in order to minimize the labour force shortage. The employment conditions were eased for the third country nationals working in professions where a significant labour force shortage is predicted, reducing the time period for which the vacancy should be free before the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs approves the invitation for a third-country national.
In Latvia, State Labour Inspectorate and State Border Guard perform joint inspections at the companies of different sectors, and the sectors where the highest number of violations are detected are under increased control, for example, construction, where for a long time unregistered employment has been detected most often. Both authorities cooperate in order to uncover cases of illegal employment of third-country nationals, however, obstacles arise due to the difficulty of acquiring information and evidence promptly, the different and varying forms of illegal employment, the employees’ unwillingness to cooperate and the identification of the guilty parties.