Compliance Radar
Who was sanctioned, and for what?
Fines, court rulings and incidents from Europe and North America: 756 cases from 32 jurisdictions, each with an official source and checked against that source before publication. Filter by country, area of law and sector. Click a chart to drill down one level.
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Where?
by countryWhat for?
by topicWho?
by companyNo cases for this selection.
When?
per quarter, by date of decision| Period | Cases | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2023 | 0 | — |
| Q4 2023 | 0 | — |
| Q1 2024 | 0 | — |
| Q2 2024 | 0 | — |
| Q3 2024 | 0 | — |
| Q4 2024 | 0 | — |
| Q1 2025 | 0 | — |
| Q2 2025 | 1 | — |
| Q3 2025 | 1 | €35,028 |
| Q4 2025 | 0 | — |
| Q1 2026 | 3 | €259,816 |
| Q2 2026 | 0 | — |
| Q3 2026 | 0 | — |
5 cases
23 Feb 2026 15 construction workers not registered: criminal fine and administrative fine for managing director €16,316
A Romanian construction firm, acting as a subcontractor for a Düsseldorf client, deployed 15 workers on a construction site in the district of Emmendingen without registering them for social insurance; the loss amounted to around 85,000 EUR. The managing director received a final penalty order (Strafbefehl) of 15,000 EUR and a fine of 1,316 EUR (date = publication).
Companies that deploy foreign workers must be able to prove social insurance coverage in the country of origin (A1 certificate) – otherwise German contribution law applies.
- Authority / court
- Amtsgericht Kenzingen / Hauptzollamt Lörrach (Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit)
- Area of law
- Health and safety and employment law · Minimum wage and undeclared work
- Legal basis
- § 266a StGB (Vorenthalten und Veruntreuen von Arbeitsentgelt); SGB IV (Meldepflichten)
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- final
- Sector
- Construction and real estate
- Culpability
- intentional
- Liability of senior managers
- Managing director personally convicted by penalty order.
- Published
- 23 Feb 2026
- Hohe Geldstrafe für Geschäftsführer einer Baufirma (Hauptzollamt Lörrach) Press release of an authority
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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12 Feb 2026 Polish construction company: underpayment of rebar benders – 11,000 EUR upheld €11,000
The managing director of a Polish construction company with twelve employees (anonymised in the decision as ‘P Sp. z o.o.’), which was working as a subcontractor on a motorway bridge construction site in Upper Austria, had paid five rebar benders below the collectively agreed wage in March 2023. The Gmunden district authority (Bezirkshauptmannschaft Gmunden) imposed 12,500 EUR, and the Upper Austria Regional Administrative Court (Landesverwaltungsgericht Oberösterreich) reduced this to 11,000 EUR; Austria's Supreme Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof, VwGH) rejected the appeal on points of law (Ra 2025/11/0196).
When posting workers to Austria, the correct classification of each activity under the collective agreement is decisive – it is subject to full judicial review.
- Authority / court
- Verwaltungsgerichtshof (Vorinstanzen: Bezirkshauptmannschaft Gmunden, Landesverwaltungsgericht Oberösterreich)
- Area of law
- Health and safety and employment law · Minimum wage and undeclared work
- Legal basis
- § 29 Abs. 1 Lohn- und Sozialdumping-Bekämpfungsgesetz (LSD-BG)
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- reduced
- Sector
- Construction and real estate
- Employees
- Under 50
- Mitigating circumstances
- Reduction of the fine by the Regional Administrative Court.
- Liability of senior managers
- The fine is directed against the managing director as the person responsible under administrative criminal law.
- VwGH Ra 2025/11/0196 vom 12.02.2026 (RIS) Court decision
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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9 Jan 2026 Bulgarian construction subcontractor: 232,500 EUR for paying below the minimum wage €232,500
A Bulgarian construction company that worked as a subcontractor for a German firm on a major construction site in the district of Tuttlingen between January and May 2023 paid below the minimum wage, recorded only the duration of working time rather than its start and end, and did not register the posting. The decisions issued in September 2025, final since the end of 2025, amount to 232,500 EUR – of which 215,000 EUR is disgorgement of the economic benefit and 17,500 EUR is imposed on the managing director (date = publication; exact date of the decision not specified).
General contractors should actively check the minimum wage, working time records and posting notifications of their foreign subcontractors – the economic benefit is disgorged in full.
- Authority / court
- Hauptzollamt Singen (Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit)
- Area of law
- Health and safety and employment law · Minimum wage and undeclared work
- Legal basis
- Mindestlohngesetz; Arbeitnehmer-Entsendegesetz (Aufzeichnungs- und Meldepflichten)
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- final
- Sector
- Construction and real estate
- Liability of senior managers
- Separate fine of 17,500 EUR against the managing director.
- Published
- 9 Jan 2026
- Zeit, Geld, Meldepflicht – Zoll ahndet Verstöße mit sechsstelligem Bußgeld (Hauptzollamt Singen) Press release of an authority
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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30 Sep 2025 Scaffolder left injured undeclared worker without help – Federal Supreme Court upholds sentence €35,028
In February 2020, a scaffolder employed without a work permit fell around 4.5 m from scaffolding; the owner and managing director of the scaffolding company (anonymised in the judgment as ‘A.A. GmbH’) did not call the emergency services despite knowing of the accident, and had employed two Kosovars without permits. The Swiss Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgericht) upheld the conviction by the Lucerne Cantonal Court (Kantonsgericht Luzern): a suspended custodial sentence of 9 months and an unconditional monetary penalty of 80 daily rates of 410 CHF (32,800 CHF), plus a fine of 2,000 CHF that also covers traffic offences (6B_163/2024).
After an accident at work, first aid takes priority over everything else – attempting to conceal illegal employment makes the case more serious under criminal law.
- Authority / court
- Schweizerisches Bundesgericht (Vorinstanz: Kantonsgericht Luzern)
- Area of law
- Health and safety and employment law · Minimum wage and undeclared work
- Legal basis
- Art. 128 StGB (Unterlassung der Nothilfe); Ausländer- und Integrationsgesetz (Beschäftigung ohne Bewilligung)
- Action
- Custodial sentence
- Status of proceedings
- final
- Sector
- Construction and real estate
- Culpability
- intentional
- Liability of senior managers
- Owner and managing director convicted personally.
Original amount 32,800 CHF, converted at the ECB reference rate of 30 Sep 2025.
- Bundesgericht, Urteil 6B_163/2024 vom 30.09.2025 Court decision
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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20 May 2025 Plastering business: 7.85 million EUR loss from cash-in-hand wages, over four years in prison Custodial sentence
A Munich master plasterer, whose business specialising in stucco façades at times had up to 60 employees, paid undeclared cash wages for years and concealed them with sham invoices from supposed Italian subcontractors; the loss uncovered for public funds amounts to 7.85 million EUR. The Munich I Regional Court (Landgericht München I) sentenced him with final effect to 4 years and 3 months, and a foreman to 3 years' imprisonment for aiding and abetting.
Cash-in-hand wage schemes are uncovered over the years – the loss adds up, and employees who take part are also punished.
- Authority / court
- Landgericht München I, 6. Strafkammer (Ermittlung: Hauptzollamt Rosenheim, FKS Weilheim)
- Area of law
- Health and safety and employment law · Minimum wage and undeclared work
- Legal basis
- § 266a StGB (Vorenthalten und Veruntreuen von Arbeitsentgelt); § 370 AO (Steuerhinterziehung)
- Action
- Custodial sentence
- Status of proceedings
- final
- Sector
- Construction and real estate
- Employees
- 50 to 249
- Culpability
- intentional
- Liability of senior managers
- Owner and foreman personally sentenced to prison terms.
- Published
- 9 Jul 2025
- Über vier Jahre Haft wegen Sozialversicherungsbetrugs für Bauunternehmer (Hauptzollamt Rosenheim) Press release of an authority
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link