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Too early to extend Gangmaster Licensing, says REC

The REC has today urged for caution following Trade Union calls for Gangmaster Licensing regulations to be extended to other sectors such as care homes.  

The current licensing scheme focuses on the food industry and Trade Unions claim that a number of unscrupulous gangmasters have moved from agriculture to care homes in an attempt to avoid controls implemented by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) on the provision of labourers to farms and packing warehouses.  

The REC is represented on the GLA Board well as on the Vulnerable Workers Enforcement Forum chaired by the new Employment Relations Minister Pat McFadden. 

In response to concerns that rogue operators may be switching to other sectors, REC Director of External Relations, Tom Hadley says: “Recruitment professionals welcome measures to address the activities of rogue labour providers that routinely exploit workers and undercut law-abiding agencies.   

“The REC is fully supportive of the GLA but it will be important to evaluate the effectiveness of the current licensing scheme before discussing any possible extension.

"We must focus on the best way of driving out the outlaws rather than simply adding extra costs on agencies that already comply with existing regulations and industry Codes of Practice”.  

All employment agencies and businesses in the UK must operate in compliance with the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003.

These place a number of requirements on agencies, in particular with regards to ensuring that workers receive health and safety protection and adequate payment. Agencies in the social care field also come under the remit of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI). 

Commenting on the need to focus on enforcement of these existing regulations, Hadley concludes: “Although we are not averse to a future debate on licensing issues, the effective enforcement of current legislation could be the most effective means of addressing instances of worker exploitation in sectors such as social care or construction.  

“In addition, the whole debate on protecting vulnerable workers needs to be widened in order to focus on rogue employers as well as on rogue labour providers”.