The Gangmaster Licensing Authority’s (GLA) Operation Scallion exposed seven companies providing labour to Bomfords, which between them showed 57 instances of non-compliance with gangmaster licence standards.
Five of the seven providers were not paying the minimum wage, none were paying holiday pay or had provided adequate health and safety training, and all seven had either non-existent or inadequate worker contracts. Not one had a public service vehicle licence.
GLA chairman Paul Whitehouse said more providers to fresh produce firms are in his sights: “We confidently expect to run a couple more similar operations in the future,” he told freshinfo this week.
He warned major retailers to be wary of what their suppliers, as labour users, are paying labour providers. “The minimum hourly rate that a labour provider must charge a labour user to meet legal obligations is £7.06, and that figure is published on our website,” said Whitehouse. “Lord Rooker wrote to the chief executives of all the main retailers in November telling them this and saying it needs to be cascaded down the supply chain.
“If a licensed business cannot demonstrate continued compliance we will revoke the licence,” said Whitehouse. “A business must earn its licence not just on a specific day when it is first inspected, but at all times. We have shown we are conducting unannounced operations and we will continue to do so. I’d advise all businesses operating with a licence to maintain continuous compliance with the GLA standards or they will meet the same action.”
The Association of Labour Providers, of which at least two of the providers involved are members, endorsed the GLA approach. “We have been urging the tax authorities to deal with Bomfords for years,” said chairman Mark Boleat. “We fully support what the GLA is doing and have been urging it to adopt this approach by identifying the labour users that are not paying their labour providers enough to operate within the law.”
Boleat said labour users should look at the rate they pay. “If you pay £6.70 an hour, how do you think the labour providers are complying with the law?” he asked. “Users are well aware of what the position is - by effectively outsourcing the legality, they are enjoying lower costs.”
Bomfords is not a member of the Fresh Produce Consortium, but the FPC’s chief executive Nigel Jenney said the company’s experience with the GLA serves as a warning to others.
“The FPC has worked for many years to promote best practice in the industry and it is essential that it performs at the very highest level in respect of labour usage so as not to compromise the support of consumers, given that trading fairly and responsibly are now key market factors. This is a clear reminder to the industry,” said Jenney.
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