Bart Eijgenhuijsen/Hollandse Hoogte. The company in the photo has no link to the research report.

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Profiting from dependency

Profiting from dependency

Working conditions of Polish migrant workers in the Netherlands and the role of recruitment agencies

Publication

Esther de Haan

Fleur Scheele

Katrin McGauran

Francien Winsemius

28 June 2016

The Introduction outlines the main research question and the methodology.

Chapter 2 reviews the policy context facing migrant workers in the Netherlands. It looks at the initiatives that have been taken by the Dutch government, including an Action Plan to tackle artificial employment arrangements, which has led to a binding law.

Chapter 3 reviews the current labour situation of Polish migrant workers in the Netherlands, based on media and research reports, and interviews with Polish migrant workers carried out by SOMO and FairWork between 2012 and 2015. Most of the complaints address the recruitment agencies or the companies where the Polish migrant workers are employed.

To identify shortfalls and regulatory opportunities to prevent labour rights violations, Chapter 4 provides a backdrop to agency labour in the Netherlands, describing the liberalisation of the sector and the flexibilisation of labour relations in the Netherlands.

Chapter 5 describes the regulatory framework regarding recruited labour in the Netherlands and discusses the problems that the flexibilisation of labour relations and the (lack of) stricter legal regulation poses for the enforcement of agency workers labour rights.

Chapter 6 outlines the current EU and Dutch supply chain liability regulations, which form an example for other EU countries to improve EU-wide standards to improve labour conditions in subcontracting and other flexible work arrangements.

Chapter 7 summarises the conclusions of the different chapters and provides a number of recommendations to put an end to labour exploitation and unacceptable working conditions for migrant workers in the Netherlands.