Compliance Radar
Who was sanctioned, and for what?
Fines, court rulings and incidents from Europe and North America: 718 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?
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When?
per quarter, by date of decision| Period | Cases | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2023 | 0 | — |
| Q4 2023 | 0 | — |
| Q1 2024 | 1 | €500,000 |
| Q2 2024 | 0 | — |
| Q3 2024 | 0 | — |
| Q4 2024 | 0 | — |
| Q1 2025 | 1 | €100,000 |
| Q2 2025 | 0 | — |
| Q3 2025 | 0 | — |
| Q4 2025 | 2 | €11,250 |
| Q1 2026 | 2 | €246,231 |
| Q2 2026 | 0 | — |
| Q3 2026 | 1 | €95,588 |
7 cases
27 Aug 2026 Flower bulb business failed to disclose hours of Polish seasonal workers – fine of around 95,600 EUR €95,588
A lily and tulip grower with an average of around 50 (at peak 75) employees, where Polish migrant workers are employed (anonymised in the judgment), was unable to produce sufficient records of hours worked and wages paid for 18 employees for September 2020 to February 2021. The Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment (Minister van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid) imposed 118,000 EUR in 2024 (112,100 EUR after objection); the North Netherlands District Court (Rechtbank Noord-Nederland) reduced the fine to 95,587.50 EUR, partly because of measures taken and excessively long proceedings.
Companies employing seasonal workers must be able to document hours and wage payments for each person without gaps – missing records are fined separately for each employee.
- Authority / court
- Rechtbank Noord-Nederland (Bußgeld: Minister van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid / Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie)
- Area of law
- Health and safety and employment law · Minimum wage and undeclared work
- Legal basis
- Art. 18b Abs. 2 Wet minimumloon en minimumvakantiebijslag (Wml)
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- reduced
- Sector
- Food and agriculture
- Employees
- 50 to 249
- Mitigating circumstances
- Reduction of 12.5 % for appropriate measures, 5 % for delay and 2,500 EUR for exceeding the reasonable length of proceedings.
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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22 Jan 2026 Logistics business: fines for minimum wage, reporting and foreign employment violations €13,731
Between June and December 2023, a logistics and transport business withheld a total of around 2,000 EUR in minimum wages from several employees, breached reporting and immediate notification obligations, and in July/August 2023 employed a foreign national without a residence permit. The fines: 5,231 EUR (minimum wage), 750 EUR each (reporting obligations) and 7,000 EUR (unauthorised employment of foreign nationals), totalling 13,731 EUR (date = publication).
Even small wage arrears are penalised individually alongside reporting and residence violations – HR processes for new hires need a fixed checklist.
Immediate notification and checking of work permits when hiring
- Authority / court
- Hauptzollamt Karlsruhe (Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit)
- Area of law
- Health and safety and employment law · Minimum wage and undeclared work
- Legal basis
- § 21 Abs. 1 Nr. 11 MiLoG; § 111 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 SGB IV; § 404 Abs. 2 Nr. 3 SGB III
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- unknown
- Sector
- Transport, logistics and shipping
- Published
- 22 Jan 2026
- Zoll ahndet Mindestlohn- und Meldepflichtverstöße bei Logistikunternehmen (Hauptzollamt Karlsruhe) Press release of an authority
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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17 Dec 2025 Asparagus farm without reliable working time records: Raad van State upholds 11,250 EUR €11,250
In May/June 2022, the working time records of an asparagus business (anonymised in the judgment) deviated structurally from the hours actually worked; among other things, Sunday work went unrecorded, so compliance with working and rest times could not be checked. The Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Dutch Council of State (Raad van State, Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak) upheld the fine of 11,250 EUR, imposed in 2023 without prior warning, including the increase factor of 1.5.
Working time records that do not reflect actual hours are treated as missing – businesses are then sanctioned without prior warning.
Correct recording of working and rest times
- Authority / court
- Raad van State, Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak (Bußgeld: Minister van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid)
- Area of law
- Health and safety and employment law · Working time
- Legal basis
- Art. 4:3 Abs. 1 Arbeidstijdenwet
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- final
- Sector
- Food and agriculture
- Raad van State, ECLI:NL:RVS:2025:6142 vom 17.12.2025 Court decision
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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13 Nov 2025 BSG: company car does not replace the minimum wage – additional contribution claims upheld Order
Two employers remunerated part-time workers solely by providing a company car. Germany's Federal Social Court (Bundessozialgericht, BSG) upheld the German pension insurance's claims for additional contributions: the benefit in kind does not satisfy the minimum wage entitlement, and contributions must be paid on the minimum wage owed (B 12 BA 8/24 R, B 12 BA 6/23 R).
Remuneration models involving benefits in kind should be checked for minimum wage compliance before they are introduced – otherwise additional contribution claims going back years may follow.
Minimum wage in money only – benefits in kind in payroll
- Authority / court
- Bundessozialgericht, 12. Senat (Betriebsprüfung: Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund)
- Area of law
- Health and safety and employment law · Minimum wage and undeclared work
- Legal basis
- § 1 MiLoG; § 28p SGB IV (Betriebsprüfung)
- Action
- Order
- Status of proceedings
- final
- Published
- 14 Nov 2025
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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10 Feb 2025 Fatal pallet fall in warehouse: 100,000 EUR fine for industrial door manufacturer €100,000
In January 2023, in the warehouse of a manufacturer of industrial doors in Didam (anonymised in the judgment), a 792 kg pallet fell from an unstable stack four high onto a new employee, who died; the forklift used, fitted with fork extensions, had no CE marking of its own and was unsuitable for the load, the risk assessment was incomplete and the instruction of the victim, who did not speak Dutch, was inadequate. The Overijssel District Court (Rechtbank Overijssel, economic division) imposed 100,000 EUR (of which 25,000 EUR suspended) for intentional violations of the Dutch Working Conditions Act (Arbowet), plus 17,500 EUR in damages to the mother (ECLI:NL:RBOVE:2025:711).
Instruct employees in a language they understand – and draw consequences from earlier reportable accidents.
Instruction of employees who speak other languages; safe stacking
Missing or inadequate training played a role in the decision.
- Authority / court
- Rechtbank Overijssel (economische kamer)
- Area of law
- Health and safety and employment law · Workplace safety and accidents
- Legal basis
- Art. 32 Arbeidsomstandighedenwet i. V. m. Art. 5 Abs. 1, 8 Abs. 1 Arbeidsomstandighedenwet; Art. 3.17, 7.2 Abs. 1, 7.18 Abs. 2 Arbeidsomstandighedenbesluit
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- unknown
- Sector
- Manufacturing and mechanical engineering
- Culpability
- intentional
- Mitigating circumstances
- No previous convictions of the company; part of the fine suspended.
- Rechtbank Overijssel, ECLI:NL:RBOVE:2025:711 vom 10.02.2025 Court decision
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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30 Jan 2024 Vegetable grower cheats harvest workers out of minimum wage: around 500,000 EUR in fines and confiscation €500,000
A vegetable-growing business did not pay harvest workers the collectively agreed minimum wage; the shortfall was just under 300,000 EUR. The investigation was based on interviews conducted with interpreters and the analysis of working time and harvest volume data. Fines of around 200,000 EUR were imposed, and around 300,000 EUR in proceeds of the offence were confiscated in addition (date = publication).
Piece-rate and volume-based pay in seasonal work must reach the minimum wage per hour; deductions for accommodation and work equipment are closely scrutinised.
- Authority / court
- Hauptzollamt Karlsruhe (Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit)
- Area of law
- Health and safety and employment law · Minimum wage and undeclared work
- Legal basis
- Mindestlohn- bzw. Tarifrecht (tariflich bestimmter Mindestlohn); Einziehung des Tatertrags
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- unknown
- Sector
- Food and agriculture
- Published
- 30 Jan 2024
- Erntehelfer um Mindestlohn betrogen (Hauptzollamt Karlsruhe) Press release of an authority
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link