European Platform tackling undeclared work
The European Platform tackling undeclared work enhances cooperation between EU countries. It brings together relevant authorities and actors involved in fighting undeclared work, to tackle this issue more effectively and efficiently, while fully respecting national competences and procedures.
This EU-level forum allows different actors, including social partners and enforcement authorities, such as labour inspectorates, tax and social security authorities, to exchange information and good practices and learn from each other and together. Furthermore, it engages in closer cross-border cooperation and joint activities
The Platform’s 2-year work programme for 2019-2020 includes activities enabling Platform members to deal with undeclared work through a holistic approach. Four sectors that are heavily affected by undeclared work have been identified for specific action: agriculture; aviation; tourism; and the hotel, restaurant and catering sector.
It is clear that the most effective approach to tackling undeclared work is one that uses a variety of different measures at the same time. So-called direct measures include deterrents, such as fines and other penalties, in addition to incentives such as amnesties and other actions designed to help the transition into declared work. So-called indirect measures are also valuable – these include awareness-raising campaigns and actions to educate and inform people about undeclared work.
Developments in tourism
Undeclared workers in the tourism industry, including many seasonal workers, are more vulnerable than ever. Most of these individuals work in unregistered employment, bogus self-employment (whereby workers declare themselves as self-employed to reduce tax liabilities or employers’ responsibilities) or receive envelope wages (cash which is not declared).
Measures to help tackle undeclared work in this sector include certified cash registers and voucher schemes. For example, in 2015 Belgium implemented a ‘Black box cash register’ and similarly, a holiday voucher scheme in Romania was used to promote the use of registered tourist accommodation and reduce undeclared earnings in the sector.
Actions taken in agriculture
The ILO has reported that 61.2% of the EU agricultural labour force is engaged in informal employment. Successful approaches to tackling undeclared work in this sector include, for example, tripartite partnerships and cross-border cooperation, improved risk analysis and data mining for more effective inspections, combined with ‘whitelisting’ of compliant companies. Work under the Platform has also highlighted the importance of fostering better awareness of rights and obligations among workers and employers, as well as the possibility of supporting the transition to declared work.
A successful partnership approach is the joint work between the Spanish and Romanian labour inspectorates, consisting of a joint inspection during the garlic harvesting campaign in Albacete, Spain. Another example comes from an awareness-raising campaign in Germany. In 2016, seasonal workers picking crops in Germany were informed about their rights through on-the-field educational and awareness-raising campaigns. A similar successful awareness-raising campaign was the Raise Up: Stop Undeclared Work in Agriculture project in Bulgaria, Italy and North Macedonia.
Initiatives in personal and household services
Measures such as service vouchers, awareness-raising campaigns and tax incentives are particularly effective in tackling undeclared work in the PHS sector. Many countries have also successfully used alternatives such as tax rebates.
In Belgium, service vouchers have been used since 2004 to pay for everyday PHS. There are also successful voucher schemes in Austria and France.
In Denmark, the Private Family Residence/Job initiative (BoligJob – plan) entitles private individuals to a tax rebate. There are similar direct tax incentives schemes in Finland and direct tax incentives schemes in Sweden to bring PHS from the undeclared to the declared economy.
Conclusion
Due to the complex nature of undeclared work and the differences that exist across these three economic sectors, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for tacking undeclared work. However, the agriculture, PHS and tourism sectors in different Member States face many similar challenges, and effective solutions can therefore be found by the adoption of holistic approaches and joint working at national and cross-border levels.