This manual is designed to be used by workplace inspection staff in the Member States. It is intended to empower them to enforce the protective standards in EU law that safeguard the rights of third-country workers, including seasonal workers, migrant workers with temporary permits and migrants in an irregular situation. Third-country workers are nationals who are not from a Member State or from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine posed new challenges for the EU. Millions were forced to flee the war. As a result of the scale of people’s displacement, the EU activated for the first time the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD). More than 1.3 million children sought international protection in the EU. This bulletin explores the respect, protection and fulfilment of the fundamental rights of displaced children and ways to safeguard their rights. The third in a series, this bulletin builds on the evidence in FRA’s Bulletin #1 and #2 on the experiences of displaced people seeking safety in the EU.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered solidarity from EU governments, local authorities and society as they welcomed more than 7 million people fleeing the aggression. The European Union’s rapid response, activating the EU Temporary Protection Directive, offered welcome relief and much-needed support to those in need. It allowed displaced persons the opportunity to quickly settle and to work, travel and access services across the EU. But other pressing human rights issues have come to the fore and remain high on the EU’s agenda, such as human trafficking, sexual and gender-based violence, hate crime and hate-fuelled disinformation.

The Employers Sanctions Directive was primarily enacted to dissuade employers from recruiting migrants in an irregular situation, but it also contains provisions to protect workers. It facilitates access to justice for exploited workers and sets out workers’ rights to claim back payment of outstanding wages. The directive also contains provisions to enhance the effectiveness of labour inspections. This report describes how the 25 Member States bound by the directive have been implementing its protective provisions, focusing on the impact these provisions have on migrant workers in an irregular situation who are victims of exploitation and other labour
law violations.

Worker exploitation is not an isolated or marginal phenomenon. But despite its pervasiveness
in everyday life, severe labour exploitation and its adverse effects on third-country nationals
and EU citizens - as workers, but also as consumers - have to date not received much
attention from researchers. This report identifies risk factors contributing to such exploitation and
discusses means of improving the situation and highlights the challenges EU institutions and
Member States face in making the right of workers who have moved within or into the EU
to decent working conditions a reality.

L’exploitation de la main d’oeuvre n’est pas un phénomène isolé ou marginal. Toutefois,
en dépit de leur omniprésence dans la vie quotidienne, les formes graves d’exploitation
au travail et leurs effets préjudiciables sur les ressortissants des pays tiers et les citoyens
de l’UE - en tant que travailleurs, mais également en tant que consommateurs - n’ont pas
à ce jour suscité beaucoup d’intérêt de la part des chercheurs. Ce rapport
identifie les facteurs de risque qui contribuent à ce type d’exploitation et discute des
moyens d’améliorer la situation, tout en soulignant les défis auxquels sont confrontés les
institutions et les États membres de l’UE pour veiller à ce que le droit à des conditions de
travail décentes des travailleurs provenant de l’UE ou de pays tiers soit réellement appliqué.

Die Ausbeutung von Arbeitskräften ist kein vereinzelt auftretendes oder nebensächliches
Phänomen. Aber ungeachtet ihrer weiten Verbreitung und Alltäglichkeit haben schwere Arbeitsausbeutung
und ihre negativen Auswirkungen auf Drittstaatsangehörige und EU-BürgerInnen –
als Arbeitskräfte, aber auch als VerbraucherInnen – bislang bei WissenschaftlerInnen kaum
Beachtung gefunden. Im Rahmen der umfangreichen Feld- und Sekundärforschung der FRA
wurden die unterschiedlichen strafrechtlich relevanten Formen der schweren Ausbeutung von
Arbeitskräften aus anderen EU-Mitgliedstaaten oder Drittstaaten erstmals umfassend untersucht. Ziel war es, die diesbezüglichen Wissenslücken zu schließen und das derzeit herrschende
Klima der stillschweigenden Akzeptanz schwerer Arbeitsausbeutung in Frage zu stellen.

Worker exploitation is not an isolated or marginal phenomenon. But despite its pervasiveness in everyday life, severe labour exploitation and its adverse effects on third-country nationals and EU citizens - as workers, but also as consumers - have to date not received much attention from researchers.