19/02/2013 00:00
TW
0

THE Balearic Employment Inspection Department is on full alert to look out for any possible fraudulent paperwork regarding the new legalisation for immigrants, which will benefit around 30'000 immigrants on the islands who currently have no legal status to work and live here. The new legislation has been criticised by Brussels and other European Union countries who were not consulted. In the first week of opening offices to deal with this ruling, 600 cases were dealt with on the islands, which is 200 more than was previously estimated, and Government workers have provided advice for around 2'300 people, according to central government representative, Ramón Socías. Of these 600 cases that have been dealt with, 497 were in Majorca, 65 in Ibiza and 38 in Minorca. It is possible that some immigrants will buy fraudulent work contracts to fulfill the requirements for the ruling and some employers will try to make the workers pay social security, Socías admitted yesterday. But “Nobody should make use of this situation to make money,” he warned. He confirmed that so far there have been no irregularities and called on anyone suffering from pressure of this kind to get in contact with the relevant organisations. The law will severely fine those employers who employ immigrant workers without insuring them or without regulating their paperwork. The fines can be as high as 12'000 euros per worker. The Government offices that are dealing with this process have not been constantly full and this is due to the efficiency of the civil servants, Socias said. In this first week, they have advised 2'848 people, 2'300 of these were either only asking for information or they did not have all the correct paperwork. The high number of cases that have been dealt with in the Balearic Islands make the region one of the top three Spanish regions, after Madrid and Catalonia in dealing with this process.