Since the introduction of a tougher approach to fraud in 2013, the Inspectorate SZW has systematically imposed unjustified and excessive fines for violation of labor rules. This is evident from an analysis by the FD of dozens of lawsuits and conversations with lawyers. They compare the harsh policy with the childcare allowance affair, which caused thousands of parents financial problems.
Small entrepreneurs are particularly affected, the newspaper writes. Over the past seven years, the Inspectorate has handed out some 20,000 fines totaling more than 200 million euros. The 2019 annual report shows that that year the service had to pay back about 15 percent of the fines in full or in part after an objection.
Since the introduction of the Fraud Act in 2013, the approach to fraudsters has been tightened up. According to lawyers who spoke to the FD, the Inspectorate SZW has since assumed that suspects commit fraud. “But most companies do not violate the rules willfully,” says lawyer Maayke Maas-Cooymans.
For example, the newspaper gives an example of a fine of 8,000 euros imposed on a café owner because a Bulgarian visitor helped him clean the windows. Litigation would make no sense because litigation costs more money than the fine.
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