Paul Whitehouse, chairman of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority has congratulated the BBC undercover news investigation into “trafficked migrants working as ‘bonded labour’ in the UK.
Aired on last night’s 10 o’clock news, the report exposed exploitation of migrant workers and raised a number of issues that require action by all sectors of the food supply chain.
The report identified two agencies, ITC and CCCP UK Ltd, which it is alleged charged the undercover reporter for work-finding services. Neither of these agencies possesses a GLA licence. All labour users or labour providers in the regulated sector must be aware that if they use an unlicensed overseas agency to source permanent or temporary labour they are likely to be committing an offence for which the maximum penalty is a prison sentence of six months and a fine.
“The BBC News report is an excellent piece of investigative journalism. It appears to have uncovered evidence of serious worker exploitation.
“The GLA is unable to go into the specifics of this case, but can confirm that an investigation into the activities of this labour provider commenced in early 2007. We look forward to receiving this evidence. It should be a valuable supplement to our own investigation into FocusStaff Ltd and the related businesses and individuals involved. We have completed our investigation and we expect a decision on it’s results shortly.
“It is unacceptable that workers can be exploited by unscrupulous gangmasters.”
The Association of Labour Providers also welcomed the report. Its chairman Mark Boleat said: “It is an increasingly common practice for overseas agents to claim that they are working on behalf of legitimate licensed UK labour providers and to subsequently charge the worker for work finding and other associated services. The worker is instructed to report to a particular office of the legitimate labour provider who of course has no knowledge of the worker and no business relationship with the agent. In many cases the labour provider will do his best to find the worker some work.”
He added that labour users must also play their part in ensuring these practices are stamped out. “Labour users must currently pay a rate around £6.20 per hour (£6.50 for agricultural workers) just to cover the minimum wage, national insurance and statutory holiday entitlement. Overhead and transport costs increase this figure to around £7 (£7.30 for agricultural workers) and this is without any allowance for labour-provider profit margin. Labour users that pay consistently below these figures are knowingly or recklessly conniving in illegality.
“The fact that a labour provider holds a GLA licence does not mean that labour users or retailers can abdicate their responsibility to ensure that temporary agency staff who are predominantly migrant workers are treated ethically and are provided with employment conditions that meet minimum legal standards. Whilst the labour provider at the centre of the investigation, Focus Staff Ltd denies any illegal practices, the report alleged that workers were paid below the minimum wage, accommodation was unsuitable and deductions were not shown on payslips. The labour user could have highlighted such practices at any stage by conducting a simple payslip audit or through interviews with the workers.”
The ALP has produced a straightforward “Labour User Checklist for Using Labour Providers” which contains the reasonable steps that a Labour User can take to ensure that temporary labour supplied through a labour provider is being treated legally and ethically. A copy can be obtained by emailing info@labourproviders.org.uk.
