Two directors of a road haulage company based in The Hague have been arrested on suspicion of continuing business operations during a mandatory two-month suspension. The arrests were announced on 26 October 2026 by the Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie (Netherlands Labour Authority). Both directors have been summoned to appear directly before a criminal court, where they could face a maximum sentence of six years in prison if convicted.
In July 2026, the Labour Authority ordered the unnamed company to suspend operations for two months following repeated breaches of the Wet Minimumloon en Minimumvakantiebijslag (Wml), the Minimum Wage and Minimum Holiday Allowance Act. Payslips, proof of payment and records of hours worked were missing for ten employees, preventing inspectors from verifying compliance with minimum wage requirements. The irregularities emerged during two inspections. The most recent, carried out in 2025, identified the missing records for ten workers. An earlier investigation had been unable to verify whether nine employees were receiving the minimum wage and resulted in a €73,000 fine. In July, the Labour Authority also announced a further fine of €315,000, bringing the total to €388,000.
During inspections to check compliance with the suspension, the Labour Authority reported that inspectors found the company was continuing its normal business activities for several customers. The authority's criminal investigation service, the Opsporingsdienst, subsequently launched an investigation that led to the arrest of the two directors. Investigators seized several data storage devices and a company vehicle which, according to the Labour Authority, had allegedly been used to continue the prohibited operations.
