The Gangmasters Licensing Authority is an agency in the United Kingdom regulating the supply of workers to the agricultural, horticultural and shellfish industries. Employment agencies working in those fields need to be registered with the authority from 1 October 2006.
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History
The agency is a non-departmental public body which was established on 1 April 2005 by the Gangmasters (Licensing) Authority Regulations 2005. The primary purpose of the agency is to support the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004. [1] It is based in Bilborough in north-west Nottingham.
Licensing
The GLA scheme was set up to prevent the exploitation of workers, and to improve health and safety standards, in what have often been unregulated areas of employment. It is also concerned with illegal working and debt bondage. [2]
Businesses which provide labour in the following sectors need to be licensed:
- agriculture, including horticulture, forestry work, dairy farming, the production of consumable produce (whether for profit or not), the raising of animals that will enter the food chain, and the use of land as grazing, meadow or pasture land
- processing and packaging of products (food and drink) containing an agricultural component, any animal product that will enter the food chain, shellfish/fish products, plants/flowers/bulbs, and pet/animal feed
- gathering shellfish.
Until the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994, introduced by Conservative minister John Redwood, all such agencies would have needed to operate under scheme. This followed from the Employment Agencies Act 1973, which required all employment agencies to register for a license to operate. The 1994 Act removed the licensing regime, though there have been renewed calls for reintroduction, especially given the drive for the Temporary and Agency Worker (Equal Treatment) Bill.
Enforcement
Companies who use contractors in these sectors are termed ‘labour users’, and will face prosecution if they use workers or services provided by an unlicensed labour provider, although this provision did not come into effect until 1 December 2006.
Four specific offences have been established by the Act:
- Operating without a licence
- Obtaining or possessing a false licence or false documentation which is likely to cause another person to believe that a person acting as a gangmaster is licensed
- Using an unlicensed gangmaster (subject to a reasonable steps/due diligence defence)
- Obstruction of enforcement officers/compliance officers exercising their functions under the Act
Moves to create the Licensing Authority were spearheaded by the Transport & General Workers' Union following the deaths of 23 Chinese cockle pickers in the 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster, England on 5 February 2004.
Criticism
Limited scope
Trades Union Congress criticised the government for failing to extend the Authorities regime for gangmasters to sectors such as construction, hospitality and care. It was estimated that at least 2 million workers were left out while UCATT, the building workers’ union, estimated that East European workers were paid as low as £8.80 for a 39-hour week.
Helpline
The GLA helpline (0845 602 5020) was only set up for workers to report mistreatment and illegal pay rates in the GLA regulated sectors. The UK government has since promised to set up a single helpline for all workers in the UK to report abuses.[1]
See also
- UK agency worker law
- Temporary Labour Working Group, 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster.
- Paul Chapple Whitehouse, appointed the Chairman of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority in 2005.
- Agency Workers Directive
References
External links
- Gangmasters Licensing Authority official website
- TGWU Campaign
- Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004
- The Gangmasters (Licensing Authority) Regulations 2005
Video clips
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