Portuguese builders found working for 3.40 euros an hour

The Belgian labour inspection has discovered Portuguese building workers working on a construction site near the Brussels North Station who are being paid over ten euros an hour less than the Belgian minimum wage. The 15 Portuguese builders were only getting 3.40 euros an hour.

Labour inspectors from Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal joined their Belgian colleagues in Brussels last week to learn from each other’s work methods. The foreign inspectors were invited to join the Belgians on an operation aimed against social dumping.

The inspectors encountered a number of infringements of labour regulations.

Belgian work minister Monica De Coninck: "The Portuguese inspector will follow up the complaint together with his Belgian colleague."

Belgian labour official Philippe Vanden Broeck: "The Belgian inspector will calculate the surcharges needed to reach the 14.23 euro hourly minimum wage. The Portuguese inspector will check the payments are made. He will also check that taxes and social security contributions are reported to the Portuguese authorities."

Earlier the Portuguese workers had filed a complaint in Portugal alleging that their wages were not being paid.

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