POSITION OF LABOUR MIGRANTS FROM BELARUS, MOLDOVA AND UKRAINE IN NEW EU MEMBER STATES HUNGARY, LATVIA, LITHUANIA, POLAND, SLOVAK REPUBLIC Piotr Kazmierkiewicz Justyna Frelak Institute of Public Affairs, Warsaw

Overview 1 SCOPE OF RESEARCH 2 SCALE AND LEGAL BASIS OF WNIS LABOUR IN NMS 3 CHALLENGES TO WNIS MIGRANTS’ INTEGRATION 4 KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

1 SCOPE OF RESEARCH

Determinants of migrants’ position: 1 Legal and administrative framework Legal and administrative barriers to entry and equal status on the labour market Awareness of foreign workers’ rights among employers and migrants themselves Discrimination against foreigners: legislative framework, enforcement, public opinion – Equality in recruitment, – Immigration and employment procedure, – Recognition of qualifications – Wages and social security

Determinants of migrants’ position: 2 Social attitudes and institutional support Social attitudes toward workers from WNIS Support to migrants – Government employment agencies – State institutions helping migrants – NGOs working with foreigners – Diaspora networks – WNIS consulates – International organizations Factors determining willingness to use the institutional support – Legal status – Integration with the host society

Study of legal-administrative framework and actual work conditions Desk research – Volume and trends of regular, irregular migration in 5 NMS – Review of current legal framework, administrative procedures – Public opinion on foreign employment Field study – 120 interviews with employers, experts, legal and irregular workers – Case studies: Latvia, Hungary, Poland – Cross-section of sectors, nationalities Field study – 120 interviews with employers, experts, legal and irregular workers – Case studies: Latvia, Hungary, Poland – Cross-section of sectors, nationalities

2 WNIS LABOUR IN NMS: SCALE AND LEGAL BASIS

WNIS migrants are important part of NMS labour markets Until EU and Schengen accession, high volume of cross-border traffic – Before Schengen entry, Poland and Hungary alone issued together over 1 million entry visas to WNIS nationals annually – Substantial share of migrants informally employed: Poland in the lead with 100, ,000 WNIS irregular workers, mainly Ukrainians Dramatic rise in legal employment of WNIS nationals since EU accession

Ukrainians form the largest group among WNIS legal workers in NMS

Pull factors TRADITIONAL – Income gap – Close language and culture – Informal economy NEW – Greater demand for labour due to emigration, growth – Wage increases in NMS – New opportunities for legal work NEW – Greater demand for labour due to emigration, growth – Wage increases in NMS – New opportunities for legal work

Background to labour regimes for WNIS nationals Heritage of restrictive regimes of 1990s – No integration policies, high unemployment among own nationals (PL, SK) Since EU accession, preference for own and EU nationals Little interest in legal employment among migrants – Entry on tourist visa, circular migration

Legal pathways to employment Work permit procedure Employer needs to demonstrate unmet need Labour market test Permit tied to a specific contract Employer needs to demonstrate unmet need Labour market test Permit tied to a specific contract Other forms of status Residence permit with right to work Self-employment Special regulations (seasonal work permit, waiver)

NMS state policies do not adequately address migrants’ needs Ukrainian and Belarusian migrants assumed to integrate easily and not targeted with integration programmes Distinctions rarely made among WNIS migrants by nationality Moldovans the only group not covered by any preferential bilateral schemes

3 CHALLENGES TO WNIS MIGRANTS’ INTEGRATION

Migrants at a disadvantage compared to native workers Migrants less likely than nationals to enforce their working rights Key factors making migrants more vulnerable to abuse of their rights: – Unwillingness to contact institutions of receiving state or own consulate – Inability to legally change an employer during the stay in the country – Low awareness of own rights

Hazardous conditions of work Migrants concentrate in construction, transportation and agriculture—which generally present more risks to workers – highest rates of reported workers’ rights violations (esp. delay or failure to pay wages, unpaid overtime) – hazardous health and safety conditions (lack of protective equipment, excessive working hours)

Importance of legal status Legal status, not national origin, determines the actual position on market – Written or informal work contract – Limits on working hours, right to paid leave – (In)security of wages being paid

Irregular workers caught in an institutional trap Migrants of low socio-economic status willing to get employment at any cost Work permit procedure discourages employers and employees from legalizing Work permit restrictions place migrants at a disadvantage Many migrants lack information and language skills to overcome the institutional barriers

Irregular workers are not likely to legalize employment Migrants are not going to become legal workers for different reasons – Administrative and social security costs cut into wages – Informal employment allows greater mobility and flexibility – Many irregular workers are not aware of opportunities for legalizing employment

Low level of social integration Migrants maintain few social contacts outside of workplace – Interested in maximizing income – Do not plan on staying – Often live in separate quarters with fellow migrant workers – Irregular workers afraid of visibility

Relations with host population Few complaints on discrimination from employers, native colleagues Opinion polls and interviews: those who work with migrants accept them Migrants are aware of common stereotypes of ‘migrants from the East’ in media and public discourse

4 KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

Attracting migrants with matching skills Shortening and reducing cost of work permit procedures Selective opening of labour market (e.g. waivers of work permits, quotas) Comprehensive solutions to recognition of WNIS qualifications

Providing incentives for legal employment to employers and migrants Shortening and reducing cost of work permit procedures Trainings for staff of labour offices, sensitizing to migrants’ needs Information campaign among employers and migrants (incl. leaflets, websites)

Improving protection of migrants’ rights Concluding new bilateral agreements with WNIS states – social security and legal protection guarantees – regulation of activities of intermediaries Emphasizing migrants’ rights in activities of labour inspections and law enforcement – collection of information – interagency cooperation – collaboration with NGOs

Strengthening institutional support to migrants Openness of WNIS consulates to receiving signals from migrants on violations of their rights State support to targeted integration programmes for different national groups of migrants (language and civic courses) Involvement of diaspora networks in raising migrants’ awareness of their rights

THANK YOU The research was conducted in the framework of the Söderköping Process and will be available soon on and published in Russian and English