27 Ukrainians, 23 Serbians, 8 Macedonians and 4 citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina were producing components in Shin Heun Precision Slovakia. This company is the subcontractor for the Samsung plant in Galanta, southern Slovakia. They were detained at their workplace on Tuesday. Their stay in Slovakia was found illegal as they were not dispatched staff members. Michal Slivka, spokesperson of the Slovak Police Corps explains: "All the workers due in court have already been expelled. They are banned from entering the Schengen area for a period of one year. They must leave Slovakia within 7 days."
The Korean company states it did not have any knowledge that it was employing illegal workers. These foreigners were not its employees; they had been hired by an agency. The National Labour Inspectorate found out that the expelled people were employed by Czech companies which found their way to the Korean plant via a Slovak agency. According to the information published by the Serbian Foreign Ministry, it is the Max recruitment agency. The Slovak radio public broadcaster's reporter Jana Maťková has contacted its representatives. "We did indeed but the agency refused to provide any comment on the situation to the media," informed Maťková from RTVS.
The Slovak Labour Ministry has intensified its verification of recruitment agencies, as 6 months ago the Serbian media informed about these agencies mistreating Serbian employees working in Slovakia. The recruiters provide illegal jobs with no contract and insurance. Labour Ministry spokesperson Veronika Husárová calls upon companies to check the agencies beforehand. "That's why we are warning employers to audit the agencies in order to avoid sharing responsibility in the case of illegal work", said Husárová.
The fine for a firm illegally employing workers can reach up to EUR 200,000 in Slovakia. If the law is broken several times, the company can be deprived of its business activity.
