Director Bandić: Activities of Labour and Employment Agency of BiH aimed at preventing frauds in recruitment of our workers in Slovakia



A delegation of the Labour and Employment Agency of BiH, headed by Muamer Bandić, the Agency Director, met today in Brussels with representatives of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic, the National Labour Inspectorate of the Slovak Republic and the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic.

The meeting was focused on the problems faced by workers from Bosnia and Herzegovina who had gone to work in Slovakia.  Following the initiative of the Labour and Employment Agency of BiH to establish the status of workers from Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Slovak Republic and after our information on frauds encountered by our workers, the representatives of the above Slovak institutions have found out that our workers were victims of employment frauds committed by certain private recruitment agencies and some companies, both from the Republic of Serbia, that attempted to place workers from Bosnia and Herzegovina in jobs in the black market.   These private recruitment agencies have taken advantage of the lack of information among workers from Bosnia and Herzegovina knowingly deceiving them and bringing them in a position in which they were deprived of all rights in the labour market of the Slovak Republic. 

Director Bandić said he was satisfied with the activities undertaken by the Labour and Employment Agency of BiH that have led to detection of certain companies providing jobs to our workers in the black market in the Slovak Republic and, most importantly, that the Slovak institutions prevented this practice in order to protect the rights of workers employed in this country.

It was concluded that workers from Bosnia and Herzegovina should be informed to refrain in future from getting jobs in the Slovak Republic via private recruitment agencies that are not registered in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  It is also advisable that workers from Bosnia and Herzegovina contact the Labour and Employment Agency of BiH for any questions they may have regarding employment possibilities in the Slovak Republic.  Director Bandić added that the Labour and Employment Agency of BiH will launch an initiative with the Council of Ministers of BiH to negotiate a protocol on exchange of information on movements of workers from Bosnia and Herzegovina in the labour market of the Slovak Republic.

According to the data of the representatives of the Slovak institutions, the number of workers from Bosnia and Herzegovina in the labour market of the Slovak Republic is very small, percentage-wise it is the lowest amongst all the states whose citizens work in Slovakia.