This Thursday, the Departmental Directorate of Labor Employment and Solidarity of Côte-d'Or (DDETS) published in a press release the results of the labor inspection controls on the conditions of employment and accommodation of seasonal workers.
Several infractions noted
“Like every year, the Côte d'Or labor inspection service carried out checks in the vineyards to ensure compliance with the conditions of employment and accommodation of the pickers. During six days of visit, including one in collaboration with the Mutualité sociale agricole (MSA, editor's note), the teams checked 23 areas as well as 12 service providers and temporary employment companies,” indicates the DDETS.
These inspections “revealed several violations, mainly cases of hidden work and employment of foreign workers without authorization. These offenses involve wine service providers and their principals, namely wine estates,” specifies the DDETS.
Among the checks, six of them “focused specifically on the accommodation conditions of grape pickers, including two carried out in cooperation with the gendarmerie, notably in the commune of Chaux”. Following these inspections, two injunctions were issued to “estates, forcing them to relocate grape pickers housed in unworthy conditions by service companies”. Indeed, “when the accommodation conditions are considered unworthy, the principals must order the employer to regularize them without delay, failing which the estate must itself ensure the rehousing of the workers. The areas concerned took rapid measures to rehouse the grape pickers,” underlines the DDETS.
For the latter, “this recurring control aims to guarantee respect for the rights of seasonal workers, in the context of a wine-growing activity requiring strict compliance with employment and safety standards”.
