Customs takes action: 16 illegal workers in Potsdam's restaurants exposed!

Customs takes action: 16 illegal workers in Potsdam's restaurants exposed!

A look at current developments shows that the fight against undeclared work in the catering and hotel industries is becoming increasingly important. How City report Reportedly, targeted checks were recently carried out by the financial control of undeclared work at the Potsdam Main Customs Office. This nationwide focus test aimed to put a stop to illegal employment in the catering and hotel industries.

The operations were carried out in various districts, including Potsdam-Mittelmark, Teltow-Fläming, Potsdam, Prignitz and Ostprignitz-Ruppin. The results didn't take long to arrive: a total of 16 people were caught without registering for social security, which is quite worrying given the current immediate reporting requirement.

Results of the controls

In addition, six criminal proceedings had to be initiated for illegal residence and unauthorized employment. More than 1,500 euros in security deposits were collected in these cases. The report also shows that in nine cases no identification documents were presented, which also led to administrative offense proceedings and a total of 340 euros in fines. In three cases, the suspicion of misuse of social benefits arose while a person was being advertised for a residence investigation.

The checks were carried out by 50 emergency services from the customs locations in Potsdam and Neuruppin and included checking 16 objects and 76 people. The deployment highlights the risk that the industry poses with regard to undeclared work, as it is one of the largest and most employable in Germany.

Political measures to combat undeclared work

But what is politics doing to counteract this problem? The Federal Ministry of Finance has approved a government draft to modernize and digitize the fight against undeclared work in order to improve the investigative instruments of the Financial Control of Undeclared Work (FKS). This includes expanded powers and improved data analysis protection, such as the ministry highlights.

Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil emphasizes the importance of combating tax injustice and financial crime. In the future, the FKS will work on an equal footing with the police and other investigative authorities, which will make the exchange of information much easier. In this way, weak points, such as fictitious invoice fraud, can be discovered more quickly.

New draft law and outlook

The federal government has also passed a draft law to strengthen the FKS, which is intended to promote the investigation of social grievances and competition violations. This also stipulates that companies that operate in risky sectors such as the catering and hotel industries will be held more accountable. The hairdressing and cosmetics industry is now also included in the catalog of particularly affected sectors, and automated data analyzes to check subcontractor chains are reported.

Find out more about the new measures to combat undeclared work and how they will help ensure fair working conditions and prevent illegal employment by reading the comprehensive report from the Federal Government read.

Overall, it can be seen that the political efforts to combat undeclared work in Germany are taking a clear course. The coming months could be crucial for the implementation and effectiveness of these measures.