A man from Negotino worked for eight months without being paid. When he asked for his money, he got insults and threats over the phone. Then he went to the police.

According to the report, he started work in September 2025 with an agreed monthly wage. From January to August 2026 he did not receive a single denar. The total damage he reported comes to around 280,000 denars, roughly 4,550 euros.

The police report states that during a phone call the suspect insulted and threatened him when the worker asked to be paid what he had earned. The police said they are taking measures to fully establish the circumstances of the case.

Eight months is a long time to stay

The question that imposes itself is not why the man reported it, but why he waited that long. Eight months of work without pay means eight months of bills, food and fuel covered from somewhere else - from savings, from family, from a loan.

The answer is familiar to anyone who has worked in a smaller town: you stay because there is nowhere else to go, because the promise "next month for sure" arrives every month, and because filing a report means ending the relationship with the only employer who was available.

That is exactly why this case is not just a criminal complaint for fraud. It is a picture of the balance of power on the labour market outside the capital, where the worker has exactly one option and the boss has several.

Where was the inspectorate

The State Labour Inspectorate exists and has jurisdiction over precisely this - unpaid wages. Eight months of non-payment is not something you hide easily; it leaves a trail in the contributions, in the records, in the accounts.

The case now sits with the police as a fraud of 280,000 denars. But before it became a criminal offence, it was a violation of workers' rights that ran for almost a year. Whether anyone from the labour inspectorate turned up at that company during those months is a question no press release answers - and the answer determines how many similar cases are sitting where this one sat until yesterday.