Undeclared labor is on the rise in Greece as figures show that more than one in five working people inspected were not registered with the proper labor and insurance authorities.
According to figures deriving from checks conducted by the Labor Inspection Squad on sectors with a high rate of violations, illegal labor rose to 23.05 percent in April, against 21.21 percent in March and 21.65 percent in April 2014.
Sectors that show high rates of undeclared labor are cafes, bars and restaurants as well as construction and retail. The same applies to tourist areas, especially during the summer months.
Inspectors visited a total of 2,720 businesses, 524 of which (19.26 percent), employed undeclared workers. From a total of 11,398 employees checked, the inspectors identified 1,106 undeclared workers (9.7 percent), while the fines imposed on the companies that broke the law added up to 11.74 million euros in April.
Since September 2013, when the fine per undeclared worker increased to 10,550 euros, only 10,602 illegal employees have been identified, or 4.94 percent of the 214,807 workers monitored. The total amount of fines imposed came to almost 111 million euros in 20 months.
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