With increasing exploitation of foreign workers, a Cameroonian student found himself facing appalling working conditions. He was threatened with a 1,500-euro fine for disclosing information about his contract, while the company refused to pay his wage when he decided to leave the job.
Emmanuel is a student from Cameroon who came to Lithuania to pursue a master’s degree in social sciences. He already holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and anthropology.
“I decided to pursue a master’s degree to improve my skills in dealing with social problems in my community. Cameroon has been experiencing a social and political crisis for the past 10 years.
“This crisis has caused widespread trauma, claimed many lives and resulted in the loss of property. There is no longer any stability in people’s lives. I could not continue my studies in Cameroon, so I decided to pursue them abroad,” Emmanuel told LRT.lt.
The student arrived in Lithuania a year ago. He attended lectures for several months without working before finding a job at a construction company. However, Emmanuel said he had concerns about the company’s operations from the outset.
“The recruitment process seemed strange to me, but I had arrived in a new country and did not know how the system worked. I had never worked in Europe before,” the Cameroonian said.
According to the student, the construction company told him to register as self-employed. There was no proper recruitment process and no employment contract.
Fearing that he would not be covered by health insurance in the event of an accident without an employment contract, Emmanuel soon demanded one.
Some time later, he was offered a document which he described as a mockery.
“The document was in Lithuanian. I asked how I was supposed to sign something I could not understand, but they told me I did not need to understand it – I just had to sign. I refused, and later translated the document myself,” Emmanuel said.
According to him, the document provided no rights for the employee and stipulated financial penalties for various breaches.
Emmanuel was also surprised to discover that, when working as a self-employed person, his wages were not transferred automatically – he had to issue an invoice.
As he did not speak Lithuanian, he was unable to do this. The company offered to prepare an invoice on his behalf in exchange for a fee, which it deducted from his wages.
Emmanuel was also unhappy with the working conditions and eventually decided to quit. Although his contract stipulated that he had to give two weeks’ notice, his employers demanded that he stay for an entire month. According to Emmanuel, a month passed, but he still had not received his final wages.
“I said I would contact lawyers, and then my employers sent me documents claiming that I had failed to show up for work. I was scared. I think that was probably their intention – to intimidate me,” Emmanuel recalled.
The company demanded that he pay compensation for alleged losses and warned that he would receive a court summons.
Frightened, the student asked his employers to keep the money they owed him and let him continue his studies without pursuing legal proceedings.
Eventually, Emmanuel managed to contact a trade union, which helped him with the subsequent proceedings.
Migrants more vulnerable
Emilis Starodubovas, head of the May 1st Trade Union (G1PS), recalls that Emmanuel was hired under a contract for services, even though his work had all the characteristics of an employment relationship: subordination, fixed working hours and a stable monthly salary.
He says this was how the company concealed the actual nature of the working relationship.
Emmanuel’s contract also included various deductions and financial penalties. For example, it stipulated a €50 fee for assistance with issuing an invoice, a €12 fine for an incorrectly issued invoice and an €80 penalty for arriving late to work.
Fines of up to €1,500 were also in place for disclosing information about the contract or providing services to other contractors.
Starodubovas also notes that the contract included a clause stipulating that, if the employee approached the Labour Disputes Commission or a court seeking recognition of an employment relationship, he would have to cover various costs if the decision went against him.
The Labour Disputes Commission later confirmed that the company had failed to fulfil its tax obligations related to the employment relationship, the trade union leader said.
Starodubovas points out that migrants are generally more vulnerable in the labour market because they do not speak Lithuanian and lack information about the law and other procedures.
“Foreign nationals are often afraid to seek help because they have been seriously misinformed. For example, they may be told that simply initiating legal proceedings will automatically result in them losing their temporary residence permit in Lithuania.
“Our experience shows that there are a great many cases of exploitation, and their number is growing. The scale of harm suffered by workers is also increasing,” Starodubovas said.
According to the trade union leader, companies often give migrants documents written in Lithuanian without providing them with a separate copy.
They are also intimidated with threats that, if illegal employment is discovered, they will face hefty fines or even imprisonment.
“In reality, the employer bears full responsibility for illegal employment, but there are many misconceptions,” Starodubovas said. “People often do not even realise that their rights are being violated or that this is not normal practice in Lithuania.”
In the first half of this year, labour disputes involving foreign nationals accounted for around 19% of all cases examined, the majority of them involving citizens of non-EU countries, according to the State Labour Inspectorate (VDI).
Citizens of non-EU countries most frequently bring claims concerning unpaid wages. Such complaints account for around 78% of all cases involving this group.
Other complaints concern unfair dismissal, working and rest hours, compensation for material and non-material damage, and the terms of employment contracts.
Around 30% of disputes involving citizens of non-EU countries were resolved through settlement agreements approved by the Labour Disputes Commission.
Around 25.2% of claims were rejected, while approximately 17.7% were upheld either in full or in part.
“Foreign nationals belong to a more vulnerable category of workers because of language barriers, a lack of knowledge of legislation and their own rights, economic vulnerability and other factors,” the State Labour Inspectorate (VDI) told LRT.lt.
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