The Senate has agreed to the Act to tackle fraud (WAS). This law will enter into force on 1 July 2015, except for some parts whose entry into force has been postponed to 1 January 2016. The aim is to achieve equal pay for equal work, to combat exploitation and underpayment of workers as well as unfair competition.
From 1 July 2015 there is chain liability for the payment of (at least) the CLA wage. Employees to whom less than the CLA wage is paid can sue not only their employer but also their client(s) for this. The principal can only escape liability by successfully arguing that it did not know, nor should have known, that the employee was underpaid.
This new chain liability does not apply to work performed by a self-employed person at the bottom of the chain, nor to private clients.
This new chain liability concerns only labour employed by an employer in the performance of a works contract or a commission contract. Transporting people and goods does not qualify as contracting work and is exempted by law from the contract of assignment. Entrepreneurs in the transport sector therefore sometimes have to deal with the WAS and sometimes not.
From 1 January 2016 follows the prohibition of deductions from and offsets against the statutory minimum wage. In addition, (at least) the minimum wage must be paid to the employee by bookkeeping (i.e. not by cash). Expense allowances must be shown on the payslip.
The Inspectorate SZW will monitor compliance with the WAS. Obviously, administrative fines may be imposed in case of violations. In addition, the Inspectorate SZW will publish the names of inspected companies.