New legislation coming into force today (December 1) means that anyone using an unlicensed labour provider in the farming and food processing sectors will be committing a criminal offence.
At a media briefing in London, Mike Wilson, chief executive of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA), said the new offence was “the last big piece of the legal jigsaw” that will allow the GLA to meet its remits of curbing the exploitation of workers and getting labour providers to act legally. “The emphasis now moves, as far as we’re concerned, from licensing to enforcement,” he said.
Labour users can either check their provider against the GLA public register on the GLA website and print out a record of their check, or make an “active check”. This leaves a footprint in the GLA records that a check has been made and allows the GLA to notify the labour user automatically if the labour provider’s licensing status changes.
Defra has issued guidance setting out the “reasonable steps” a labour user can take to ensure its labour provider is licensed. Wilson stressed that the user’s responsibility does not end there. “It’s not acceptable that labour users, having satisfied themselves that a labour provider is licensed, can turn a blind eye to any obvious exploitative practice by that provider,” he said.
The penalty for prosecution is up to six months imprisonment and/or a £5,000 fine.
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