V4 Plus Romania and Serbia Agree on Combating Illegal Employment

Bratislava, June 1 (TASR) – Labour ministers of the Visegrad Four (V4) countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) plus Romania and Serbia agreed in Bratislava on Thursday on further activities aimed against illegal employment of people from third countries (i.e. outside the EU) and on sanctions for the violation of relevant labour laws.

“Our task has been to reach agreement on the need for closer cooperation. We’ll initiate more intense communications between labour inspectorates,” said Slovak Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Minister Jan Richter (Smer-SD) at a press conference.

It was agreed that specific forms of cooperation will be negotiated bilaterally. For example, according to a memo signed between Slovakia and Hungary, the two countries’ labour inspectorates will exchange information within 48 hours, instead of 30 days as stipulated by earlier rules. Meanwhile, Slovakia wants to sign such memoranda with the Czech Republic and Poland as well.

“For me, it’s important to sign a memorandum also with the Romanian labour ministry. We need to have our relations arranged in order to be able to react promptly in case of any problems,” said Richter, adding that it’s also necessary to harmonise the labour legislation of the countries involved in order to protect workers’ rights.

Meanwhile, Richter also wants to discuss sending workers from third countries with the Ukrainian labour ministry.

Serbian Labour Minister Aleksander Vulin following the meeting stated that people mustn’t lack necessary information and be exploited. “It’s in our interests to see all staff from Serbia protected by laws. We want to make it more difficult for personnel leasing agencies to exploit employees,” he said.