The purpose of the consultation is to seek views on the proposed revisions and clarifications to the licensing standards.
The proposed revisions cover:
- assessing whether an applicant/licence holder is fit and proper and compliant with the Standards by considering how they operate outside of the licensable sector.
- the circumstances when a licence expires – retaining discretion to review whether a change of VAT number requires a new application.
- strengthening the GLAA’s review of forced labour/mistreatment of workers by including the International Labour Office indicators.
- ensuring that applicants/licence holders have an agreement when they make a loan to workers.
- providing greater clarity on the payment of holiday pay and the requirement to allow workers to take leave.
- providing greater clarity on what the GLAA considers to be a fee levied on workers and brigading all the requirements together.
- removing requirements on applicants and licence holders to keep records so that the GLAA is consistent with the repeal of aspects of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations.
How can you have your licence revoked?
Each Licensing Standard failure carries a points value, up to 30. At the end of an inspection if a business has 30 points or more the GLAA has a right to revoke the licence.
Charging fees for work finding services
Under the proposed critical licensing standard 7.1, a licence a holder cannot charge a fee to the worker for work finding services. This clause would affect the way many employment businesses operate.
The proposed Standard 7.1 states;
A licence holder must not make providing work-finding services conditional on the worker:
- purchasing other services and hiring or purchasing goods/equipment from the licence holder which should either be provided by the licence holder or any person connected to them as they are necessary for the work being undertaken, or
- giving, or not withdrawing, consent to disclosing information about themselves, or
- A worker must be able to cancel or withdraw from any services provided at any time without incurring any detriment or penalty, subject to the worker giving 5 working days’ notice or, for services relating to providing accommodation, 10 working days.
A worker must be informed in writing of any fees relating to services which they have taken up. This should include:
- the amount or method of calculation of the fee,
- the identity of the person to whom the fee is or will be payable,
- a description of the services or goods to which the fee relates as well as explaining the worker’s right to cancel or withdraw from the service and the length or notice period required, and
- the circumstances, if any, in which refunds or rebates are payable to the worker, the scale of such refunds or rebates, and if no refunds or rebates are payable, a statement to that effect.
The GLAA believe all matters relating to fees and services should be classed as critical on the basis that they involve the worker being asked to pay for a service. The GLAA state that charging fees for services is an easy way to exploit workers.
Holiday Pay
The GLAA proposes to create a new licensing standard to cover specifically holiday pay. The proposed wording is as follows:
- a licence holder must maintain records to show that a worker receives paid annual leave to which they are legally entitled (8 points)
- a worker must be paid any holiday pay to which they are legally entitled during the course of their employment (30 points)
- where a worker’s employment is terminated during the course of a leave year a licence holder must give them payment in lieu (30 points)
Therefore, it is extremely important to pay the workers the holiday pay they are entitled to as one breach would score 30 points and would allow the GLAA to revoke your licence.
Aspire Comment
Successfully applying and maintaining a GLAA licence is a difficult task, with a single critical compliance failure costing your business its licence. The new proposed standards will bring more compliance requirements and obligations to applicants/licence holders, therefore it is important to fully understand the Licensing Standards and assess whether your business complies with these to meet the criteria of obtaining a licence and ensuring the GLAA have no basis to revoke it at a later stage.
The consultation closing date is 3rd July 2018.
Click here to read the full consultation.