An employment agency in the Netherlands has been implicated in fraud over using forged identity documents according to an investigation by the Dutch Labour Inspectorate.

The Dutch Labour Inspectorate found an employment agency in the Netherlands that mediated migrant workers from outside the EU to various companies. These migrants were not allowed to work in the Netherlands. Despite the forgery, the Inspectorate has not named the agency.

During inspections of an exotic fruit packaging company, a flower nursery and a pepper nursery in South Holland, inspectors found employees who had been put to work there by an employment agency.

Inspectors found 14 workers originally from the European country of Georgia. None of the individuals could produce an original identity document.

At one company, copies of EU identity documents were shown. These turned out to be forged. When asked by inspectors, it turned out that the hiring companies had made almost no effort to check identity documents.

During the inspections it also emerged that the employees were engaged via different employment agencies that are affiliated with each other. The migrant workers thought that they were working for only one agency.

The Labour Inspectorate said it keeps a close eye on constructions in which these workers from outside the EU are passed on from one employment agency to another.

During previous checks, inspectors also found Georgian employees with forged European identity papers. With these types of constructions, not only the employment agency, but also the hirer, violates the Foreign Nationals Employment Act. For every employee who is not allowed to work here, both the employment agency and the hirer can receive a hefty fine.

The Labour Inspectorate told SIA that the investigation is not yet finished.