Local councils are reporting increased problems linked to labour migration, saying they want better controls of staffing agencies that bring in foreign workers to do low-skilled jobs in farming, in slaughterhouses and logistics.

A survey of 18 councils, including the four big cities, by local government news site Binnenlands Bestuur showed that three-quarters had experienced more problems in the last year. This is despite the recommendations made by a committee headed by former SP MP Emile Roemer four years ago.

These included better registration of workers and a clamp-down on dodgy job centres, few if any of which have been followed up.

Local authorities said many labour migrants are still disappearing under the radar because they are not registered anywhere. A growing number of them end up sleeping rough because losing their job means they cannot stay in the accommodation provided for them. Councils, whose legal duty it then becomes to provide accommodation, have little or none to offer.

Economic geographer Ton van Rietbergen said local authorities and employers are at loggerheads over who is responsible. “If things go well they are eager to claim success but if there are problems no one wants to know. The moral responsibility lies with the jobs agencies but technically and legally the local authorities must step up,” he told broadcaster NOS.

Some 93% of the local councils said the companies who hire foreign workers should carry their part of the responsibility for workers who are let go.

“Most companies are well-organised. But we also see employers who ignore the well-being of the workers and the locals and only think of their own interests. I think that if an employer lets someone go they have a duty to either provide a safe way to get them home or find them an alternative place to sleep,” Horst aan de Maas official Roy Bouten said.

The councils said they want binding agreements with employers “who are reaping the benefits of cheap labour” which would cover the “cost of the accommodation, obligatory language classes during working hours, and the costs of the consequences of the homelessness of former workers”.

Legislation delayed

Legislation designed to stop low-skilled workers from abroad from being exploited by staffing agencies has been postponed again because there is no one to monitor compliance, social affairs minister Eddy van Hijum told parliament last month.

The legislation should have come into effect on January 1, 2026. It would have required staffing agencies to get formal approval from the ministry before being allowed to operate and pay a deposit of €100,000 as evidence of their commitment to pay workers properly and meet tax and premium obligations.

It is the second time the legislation, supposed to end the exploitation of thousands of seasonal and other food industry and logistics workers, has been delayed.