Update on the fight against illegal employment

The customs authorities responsible for investigating illegal employment may also conduct inspections at dispatch agencies, but only of existing data, not future data.

The plaintiff, a cooperative, operates a radio and telephone dispatch center for its members to arrange driving assignments. On July 8, 2013, an inspection was conducted under the Illegal Employment Act. One day later, the customs inspectors requested the regular and complete transmission of the data they had on file regarding driver reports and orders. The case was brought before the Münster Fiscal Court, which issued the following ruling:

Inspection Order Lawful

The judges deemed the audit order lawful. The reason for the permissible audit was to obtain comparative data for potential audits of the taxi companies affiliated with the plaintiff. Thus, the driver data was to be checked for completeness. Only the plaintiff, as the intermediary, maintains data on the trips accepted by the taxi drivers, so that an audit is only possible with her. The plaintiff was to be regarded as a client within the meaning of the Illegal Employment Act. As such, it was obligated to tolerate the audit, in particular to provide the necessary information and to submit the relevant business documents.

Ongoing monitoring unlawful

The court ruled differently regarding the request to transmit data that did not even exist at the time of the audit. That was not lawful.

Conclusion: With its forward-looking, ongoing monitoring, the customs authority has likely exceeded the legally permissible scope.