GLA revokes Peterborough recruiter’s licence over multiple violations
6 June 2013
Peterborough recruitment agency INTERecruit has had its Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) licence revoked, after inspectors from the organisation discovered multiple breaches of conditions.
Thu, 6 Jun 2013Peterborough recruitment agency INTERecruit has had its Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) licence revoked, after inspectors from the organisation discovered multiple breaches of conditions.
The company paid its workers below the national minimum wage and also withheld holiday pay. Pay included a compulsory transport charge, which resulted in earnings of £6.50 an hour dipping below the statutory minimum.
INTERecruit was controlled by its now-disqualified former director Zahib Darr, failing the ‘fit and proper’ person test for operating a business supplying workers to GLA-regulated sectors of farming, food processing and packaging, forestry, horticulture and shellfish gathering.
Although INTERecruit officially told GLA inspectors that Darr only attended meetings to take notes, during one phone call to an inspector he said that he “managed the company”. GLA inspectors also found that his sanctioned replacement Rizwan Ali had very little knowledge of his obligations under the GLA Licensing Standards.
INTERecruit has not lodged an appeal against the decision to revoke its licence, and the deadline for doing so has now passed. The workers have been taken on by another GLA licence holding company.
This news comes after Monday’s launch of a new ‘Strategy for Protecting Vulnerable and Exploited Workers 2013-2016’, following its annual general meeting last month. As Recruiter had reported in February, on the arrival of the GLA’s new chief executive officer, this involved a dual track approach to the industry.
The GLA, a non-departmental public body, recently was successful when a labour supplier appealed against the decision to revoke its licence, after its director was found to have left over £100k in unpaid tax when his previous company had folded.
The company paid its workers below the national minimum wage and also withheld holiday pay. Pay included a compulsory transport charge, which resulted in earnings of £6.50 an hour dipping below the statutory minimum.
INTERecruit was controlled by its now-disqualified former director Zahib Darr, failing the ‘fit and proper’ person test for operating a business supplying workers to GLA-regulated sectors of farming, food processing and packaging, forestry, horticulture and shellfish gathering.
Although INTERecruit officially told GLA inspectors that Darr only attended meetings to take notes, during one phone call to an inspector he said that he “managed the company”. GLA inspectors also found that his sanctioned replacement Rizwan Ali had very little knowledge of his obligations under the GLA Licensing Standards.
INTERecruit has not lodged an appeal against the decision to revoke its licence, and the deadline for doing so has now passed. The workers have been taken on by another GLA licence holding company.
This news comes after Monday’s launch of a new ‘Strategy for Protecting Vulnerable and Exploited Workers 2013-2016’, following its annual general meeting last month. As Recruiter had reported in February, on the arrival of the GLA’s new chief executive officer, this involved a dual track approach to the industry.
The GLA, a non-departmental public body, recently was successful when a labour supplier appealed against the decision to revoke its licence, after its director was found to have left over £100k in unpaid tax when his previous company had folded.
- And as reported by recruiter.co.uk last week, rogue recruitment firms in Peterborough's neighbour Corby are also under scrutiny, thanks to a three-day investigation into alleged minimum wage violations totalling a possible £100k.
