850 euros per month for 90 hours per week: Owner of a Malgrat de Mar company arrested for labor exploitation
The businessman had workers without contracts and who were in an irregular situation.
BarcelonaThe Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) have arrested the owner of a cleaning and waste management services company in Malgrat de Mar for labor exploitation, document falsification, and irregular hiring. The arrested man, a 47-year-old resident of Blanes, employed several workers without contracts and also employed some with other people's documentation. He imposed average working hours of 90 hours per week for only €850 per month. The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) have also filed charges against three of his employees for the same offenses. The company provided services in several municipalities in the Barcelona and Girona regions, including Malgrat de Mar, Tordera, Santa Susanna, Vidreres, Maçanet de la Selva, and Fogars.
Investigators detected irregularities on June 27 when they asked the company for the working hours of one of its workers as part of a police investigation into another matter. The owner informed the officers that the employee had worked normally that week and showed them his employment contract, but that was impossible because he had been detained. Faced with this irregularity, the Mossos d'Esquadra contacted the Generalitat's Labor Inspectorate and on July 24, they conducted a joint search of the company. They identified nine workers who either lacked identification or were providing copies of documents belonging to others.
Once properly identified, the officers contacted the National Police, who confirmed that the employees were in Spain illegally. After taking their statements, investigators detected a possible situation of labor exploitation. Many had started work without a contract, and after a while, the company had asked them to provide documentation from someone legally residing in Spain to formalize an employment contract. For other workers, the company directly issued a contract using someone else's information.
Three workers, reported
Furthermore, in all cases, the workers were paid less than their employment contract stipulated, worked longer hours than required, and were not allowed required holidays. In fact, the company took advantage of these individuals' vulnerability by forcing them to work an average of 90 hours a week for approximately €850 a month. The day after the July 24 inspection, the company notified nearly twenty workers with irregular contracts not to return to their jobs. The owner was arrested on August 6 for violations of workers' rights and for document falsification, and three other employees were prosecuted for the same offenses.
