Elche Arrests Man for Hiring Uncontracted Worker

National Police have arrested two businessmen in Elche for allegedly exploiting the irregular status of two foreign nationals to employ them in violation of labour laws. The investigations, conducted in coordination with the Labour Inspectorate and the Police Assigned to the Valencian Community, revealed that the employees worked “without a contract and in precarious conditions,” according to the Police.

The investigation took place in Elche during a traffic control operation by the National Police’s Citizen Security Units. During the inspection of a vehicle, officers identified its occupants, the driver and a passenger.

The passenger was identified as a foreign national in an irregular arrangement working for the vehicle’s driver without a contract during the initial enquiries. It came out that the latter, who was carrying a lot of cash, was the manager of a shoe company.

The National Police’s Immigration Unit took over the inquiry and verified that the irregular worker had entered Spain illegally a year prior. He had been working three days a week, six-hour shifts, doing gardening and maintenance work at the driver’s warehouse for the previous seven months, all for five euros an hour.

Knowing his employee’s unusual administrative position, the 51-year-old Spanish driver allegedly used his weakness to “benefit from his work.” The event has been reported to the on-duty local Magistrate’s Court, and the accused criminal has been taken into custody in Elche.