Wetron has been fined for employing drivers from Romania. The Dutch logistics service provider must pay a total of €250,000, according to a fine report by FNV Bondgenoten that was picked up by regional channel L1. According to the Ministries of Infrastructure and the Environment and Social Affairs and Employment, Wetron violated two laws. The Limburg-based service provider allegedly violated the Foreigners' Employment Act and also failed to comply with working hours.
Fine not correct
According to Wetron director Paul Maas, the company's fine is not justified. "We have filed an objection to this because this fine is not justified and they know that at both ministries. Therefore, I am sure they will come back on this. It is therefore a mystery to me how this story came into the world," Maas informed L1.
Fine report
Inspectors investigated the Limburg-based company several times in the past. Several complaints and road inspections were said to have prompted this. For example, douden several drivers were found working on paper for a Romanian subsidiary, but fully paid by the Weert branch, which is not allowed by law. According to the inspector, this construction tended towards a PO Box construction that is used by many companies as a u-turn construction to avoid the law and/or evade tax. In addition, there would be no clear records of the trips carried out. Nonsense, thinks the director: "I reject the suggestion that we have no office in Romania. We have had our own office with planners and fleet management there for years. So I wouldn't know how they got this and the FNV knows that too. In my opinion, therefore, they have been at the wrong door during the investigation." Whether Wetron will actually pay the fine is not yet clear.
Trade union action
The fine imposed on Wetron is partly due to action by FNV Bondgenoten. The union has been carrying out actions against Dutch logistics service providers and transporters for some time. According to FNV, they would not always deal properly with laws and regulations by, for example, letting European drivers drive and this, in turn, is bad for the employment of Dutch drivers
Editorial LogistiekProfs
