Lithuanian recruitment company Nermeka and ice cream producer IceCo were fined for exploiting Ukrainian workers, which was revealed by Siena Centre for Investigative Journalism last month.
Nermeka is a company that provides recruitment services to job seekers and workers for companies seeking employees. When the war broke out in Ukraine, the company announced on social media that it would help Ukrainian refugees find jobs in Lithuania.
The company promised Ukrainians good pay and free accommodation. However, the reality was quite different, Ukrainians told Siena.
Ukrainian Irina (not her real name) was offered a job as an ice cream packer by Nermeka. According to her, working at the IceCo ice cream factory, she was promised pay of 1,000 euros per month.
The woman was, however, shocked as she was asked to work six days or seven nights in a row without rest. The pay was also much lower than promised.
According to Vilijus Maciulaitis, a lawyer and an expert in labour law, the work schedule received from Irina violated Lithuania’s Labour Code.
“The 6-day period means that the employee works 66 hours per week, which is not allowed in Lithuanian labour law. The maximum working time is 52 hours,” Maciulaitis told Siena.
Before coming to Lithuania, Nermeka also offered Irina free accommodation in Marijampole. She was informed that she would only have to pay 60 euros for utilities. But when she arrived in Lithuania with her family, she was told that she would have to pay 150 euros extra for children and 240 for parents.
Another Ukrainian, Olena (not her real name) found a job at Biovela meat-processing group through Nermeka and even signed a contract before coming to Lithuania. However, when she arrived at work, Biovela representatives told Olena that they had no information about her employment.
After the Siena investigation, the State Labour Inspectorate (VDI) fined Mecislovas Busas, head of Nermeka, as well as the production manager of IceCo.
“An inspection at Nermeka found violations of maximum working hours for workers who were citizens of Ukraine. The responsible person, the director of the company, was subjected to administrative liability. Recommendations were also made to the company on the improvement of the labour law situation,” Jolanta Bielskiene, a representative of VDI, said in her written response to Siena.
However, the production manager of the IceCo ice cream factory was fined for offences committed against Lithuanian employees.
“The inspection of IceCo also revealed violations of the maximum working time for employees who are citizens of the Republic of Lithuania,” Bielskiene said.
Both Busas and the productions manager of IceCo were fined half of the minimum fine, 120 euros each. (LRT/Business World Magazine)
