Overview
- The Dutch Labour Inspectorate, which announced the penalties Monday, fined Habeo+/Avans+ €347,200, Zorggroep Drenthe €224,000, and Woonzorg Flevoland €132,000.
- Woonzorg Flevoland also received a €33,000 penalty for minimum wage breaches and, along with Zorggroep Drenthe, a preventive shutdown warning that allows the inspectorate to halt operations if abuses recur.
- Investigators found a sham setup that brought 64 Indonesian nurses to the Netherlands on study visas limited to 16 work hours per week, yet they worked about 32 hours with half of that time unpaid and without real HBO-level training.
- The inspectorate said Woonzorg repaid withheld wages to 22 students and then billed them back higher ‘costs,’ and it ordered fresh payments with a coercive fine of €1,200 per day until workers are made whole.
- Earlier reporting showed care homes paid about €50,000 per recruit to Habeo+/Avans+ as intermediary Yomema handled hiring in Indonesia, and Avans+ separately settled in 2024 with 15 students for €100,000.