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Most REC members recognise that the GLA has gone some way to address rogue behaviour by labour providers who supply workers into the agriculture and food processing industries.  However is that impact strong enough yet? 

Commenting on the one year of GLA enforcement activity Tom Hadley, Director of External Relations said: “The REC always supported the attempt to drive rogue agencies out of business.  One year on, it is clear that the GLA is starting to achieve this in a sector where there was a specific need for action.  The licensing regime will be paid for by agencies operating in this area so it is vital for the industry that it does its job in driving out rogue operators rather than simply adding extra costs to legitimate businesses.”

In relation to the suggestion that the GLA should be extended to other sectors, such as construction, Hadley comments: “The rationale behind the setting up of the GLA was that margins have been driven down over decades in the food industry and that this resulted in problems further down the supply chain.  When looking at construction it is clearly a different matter.  The industry is booming and so where abuse happens in construction it may not be for the same reasons as in the food industry. 

"We need a sensible analysis of the construction market in order to understand why any abuse of workers occurs before we come up with solutions to solve these problems.  It may well be that reviewing and effectively enforcing existing regulations could be the quickest way to address instances of bad practice and worker exploitation."

It is important to note that all recruitment agencies must abide with the Employment Agencies Act.  Penalties from this Act extend to a possible ten year ban from running an employment business.  The Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform recently announced a doubling of the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate which was a welcome move to improve enforcement of this regulation. 

The REC is a member of the GLA Board and the Government’s Vulnerable Workers Enforcement Forum.