A Palma transport company has been fined more than 600,000 by the TSJIB for Social Security fraud.
The company apparently made a pact with its workers two years ago, to pay per diems to compensate for a reduction in wages, which enabled the company to pay a lot less in Social Security. This scheme was detected by the Labour Inspectorate and the company was sanctioned.
The Litigation Chamber says the company paid 24 euros in per diems, whereas other companies in the Sector paid 11 euros.
“The facts of the case reveal that it agreed to avoid the conflict arising from a possible reduction in wages. That pact was made at the expense of Social Security contributions. The purpose of per diems is to compensate workers for expenses such as meals, overnight stays and working away from base," they said.
"The sentence rejects that the existence of an agreement with the workers can allow a reduction of the contributions,” he said. "The per diem for the workers’ breaks is not excluded and any agreement that seeks to alter the contribution bases is null and void.”
The sanction includes a fine and a payment of 350,000 euros that the company saved.