David Camp, ALP director

David Camp, ALP director

Many growers are refusing to pay agricultural overtime rates to agencies in the run-up to Christmas, according to the Association of Labour Providers (ALP).

Workers covered by the Agricultural Wages Order are entitled to overtime at time and a half for hours worked in excess of eight in a day or 39 in a week. Historically, though contrary to the order, this has often not been paid to agency workers supplied to farmers, growers and packhouses by labour providers.

However, the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) has taken the position that failure to pay agricultural overtime is a critical non-compliance, and so will result in a labour provider having its licence revoked by the GLA - forcing labour providers to comply.

But many growers are refusing to fork out the overtime, stating that supermarket margins do not allow enough profit to pay it. Many growers are finding legal - and illegal - ways to avoid doing so, according to the ALP.

The legal way often involves growers restricting agency workers to 39 hours a week, so no overtime is due. Workers generally prefer 50-60 hours at basic rate, but now find that their income is restricted and they must find additional work elsewhere to top up their wages.

The illegal method involves a grower finding a labour provider ignorant of the Agricultural Wages Order, or one willing to breach requirements to win the business.

ALP director David Camp said: “This is another case of the law of unintended consequences. The enforcement of this requirement is driving the provision of agricultural labour towards the more dishonest providers. Our members who seek to comply with this requirement are stuck between a rock and a hard place - if they don’t pay overtime they run the risk of losing their licence; however, the farmers won’t pay it and will instead find a complicit agency to supply their labour.

“The GLA just doesn’t have the resources to enforce this consistently around the UK. This is another case of the Agricultural Wages Order failing to meet the needs of temporary workers,” he added.