Authority stresses gangmaster worker-welfare recession fears

The Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA), an agency that monitors the use of temporary workers in the UK, says that it fears unlicensed agencies supplying workers in food manufacturing may decide to cut costs in employee welfare as recession threatens to bite.

As the European Commission takes a growing interest in tightening regulation for the use of temporary and migrant workers across the bloc, the claims reflect growing concern over payment and treatment of such staff.

Over the last year, the European Parliament has approved proposals to incorporate a directive on temporary agency work. This regulation, it claims, will benefit the working conditions of three million temporary workers in the bloc.

Gangmasters​

A gangmaster is an individual or business that supplies labour to areas such as agriculture, horticulture food processing and packaging.

With the enlargement of the European Union to incorporate new member states, an influx of migrant workers has been seen as one solution for filling manual labour positions in the food industry.

However, the system does not appear to be without problems.

Unlicensed fears​

The GLA said this week, that research conducted by ICM in Northern Ireland found that only 63 per cent of agencies that provide workers for the food processing & packing sector were licensed to do so under its guidelines.

A spokesperson for the authority told FoodProductionDaily.com that with a growing number of packaging and food groups being forced to offset rising commodity and fuel costs, more unscrupulous manufacturers may increasingly look to flaunt recruitment laws.

“As labour can be one of the major costs to businesses it will obviously be looked at if costs need to be reduced,”​ said the spokesperson. “Some gangmasters may decide to risk paying less than the minimum wage in order to win contracts or claim back money from the workers through deductions or non payment of tax.”​

Industry cooperation​

The group added that it was increasingly looking to work with the food industry and retailers to ensure they source goods from manufacturers that commit to legal requirements for temporary workforces.

To this end, in obtaining a license from the GLA, gangmasters are inspected to ensure they are meeting their legal requirements for providing workers, with the organisations then being listed on a database,

“After the initial inspection the GLA operate a risk based inspection system, if we receive information of problems we will inspect again often unannounced,”​ stated the spokesperson.

“Any food processor who finds their gangmaster on this list should contact the agencies and ask to see the GLA result letter which will explain if they passed, if minor problems were found or if we are revoking their licence,”​ they added.

The GLA says that to ensure best practice, manufacturers should not ideally rely on temporary workers to form the bulk of their staff, instead relying on agencies to bridge demand during production surpluses.

“[We have] have come across food production and packaging businesses with up to 80 per cent of their workforce supplied by gangmasters,”​ said the spokesperson. “The GLA works with a number industry bodies and associations and is currently working with ​UK​ supermarkets to ensure their audits match our standards and the industry receive guidance on what to look out for.” ​

European aims​

With the adoption of a common position on an EU-wide Temporary Agency Work Directive on 15 September this year, the Commission expects to ensure a number of improvements in the treatment of temporary staff.

These measures include immediate equal treatment for temporary workers compared to their permanent counterparts, and better access to training both on, and in between assignments, according to the Commission.