10 warning flags to watch for in your temporary labour supplier
Temporary labour, specifically in the agricultural and food industries, is a minefield of legislation & red tape. And rightly so.
Human trafficking is an enormous issue, not just in the UK, but around the world. As the industries are attacked with anti-slavery legislation which gets tougher year on year, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to identify legitimate, genuine labour suppliers from Cowboys and illegal traffickers.
Here, we’ve rounded up our top 10 warning flags which can easily identify the dishonest from the genuine:
1. GLA License
The first major red flag should be raised if your provider cannot evidence a current & valid GLA License. You can check your suppliers Gangmasters Licensing Authority License by visiting this website & searching for them.
2. Evidence of Minimum Wage Pay
Your provider should easily be able to prove minimum wage payments to you on your request. Of course, minimum wage should be just that, the minimum. If you haven’t received proof ask for it but allow no time for fabrication of evidence.
3. Evidence of PAYE
Similar to evidence of minimum wage is PAYE. If your supplier does not run payroll through PAYE, they are breaking the law. Staff (and the supplier) should have national insurance and tax deductions through HMRC and records should easily be produced on request.
4. Evidence of Holiday Pay
All temporary workers accumulate holiday pay (and sick pay, maternity, paternity and such) through every hour they work. This allowance should be paid as and when the candidate requests to receive it and it should be evidenced with each payroll.
5. Evidence of NI Applications
For non-British staff, it is key that each staff member has, at the very least, a temporary National Insurance number prior to working for the supplier. A supplier who does not assist the candidate in sourcing an NI number should be avoided at all costs.
6. Evidence of Right To Work Checks
Similar to NI registration, every supplier has a duty to operate thorough Right to Work (RTW) checks before beginning a candidate induction. RTW checks are complicated, it’s easy to find out if your supplier does them by asking for details of their process.
7. Evidence of 48-hour opt in/out
Each candidate should personally opt into, or out of, a 48-hour maximum working week agreement. This is a choice for each candidate and they should not be penalised for opting one way or the other. Ask for evidence of your teams 48 Hour Agreement today.
8. Evidence of Induction Training
Every worker moving through a supplier and into work with you should have basic training before they start. This could include English training, grading training or health and safety training. Look for the most thorough training from suppliers as these staff will be worth their weight in gold.
9. Evidence of ETI Compliance
A Best Practice measure, the Ethical Trading Initiative exists to add an extra layer of safety & welfare to temporary staff. It is an anti-slavery measure which is strongly upheld by the best suppliers and a pre-requisite for supplying to the supermarkets.
10. Evidence of Staff Turnover
How often is it that you receive the exact same staff members for a full season? What about year after year? Probably unlikely, right!? Not only is this costing you efficiency, training time, stress and frown lines, but it also can be a sign of a poor labour supplier…