New GLAA licensing standards to come into force in October

New licensing standards to better protect vulnerable and exploited workers will be introduced by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) at the start of next month.

The licensing standards will be brought in on 1 October 2018 following an extensive consultation process over the summer and approval from the GLAA Board.

Businesses must apply for a GLAA licence before supplying workers to a GLAA regulated sector, such as agriculture, horticulture and shellfish gathering.

The standards set out the conditions applicants must meet to get a GLAA licence. They are all legal requirements to protect workers from poor treatment and exploitation, covering issues such as working hours, training and the National Minimum Wage.

All GLAA inspections from 1 October will be tested against the revised standards.

It is a criminal offence to supply workers without a licence or use an unlicensed labour provider.

GLAA Head of Licensing Charlotte Woodliffe said: “I’m delighted to announce the launch of the new standards which have been published after a lot of hard work from our team and really positive discussions with our stakeholders.

“The standards were in need of refreshing having last been changed back in 2012 and we are very happy with the finished document. People will not see wholesale changes to the standards but a number of small revisions and clarifications which we believe will help us in the fight against modern slavery and labour exploitation.”

The new licensing standards are available to download from the GLAA website.

Read more about the changes here.

If you would like a hard copy, please email licensing@gla.gov.uk.