The have specialist officers with police-style powers of arrest to investigate forced labour and human trafficking. In addition to what they examine to ensure compliance with Licensing Standards, they will also be working with partners to look into Labour Market Enforcement to include offences such as failure to pay National Minimum Wage (NMW) and breaches of the Employment Agency Act.
The article goes on to identify a number of ploys used to exploit workers that the GLAA has uncovered:
Clocking in and out - employers who round down the time their employees clock in by a few minutes here and there. With hundreds of workers this soon adds up. Labour providers taking hours off a time sheet - the worker may not notice or fail to query it because it might only happen occasionally. This also has a knock on effect for holiday pay because that is calculated by looking at the hours someone has worked. Holiday pay - labour providers withholding this money by not paying out when they issue P45s or only reluctantly paying it if the employee requests it. Holiday pots - where money is put in for each worker’s holiday pay but by the end of the year, when those workers have left or haven’t asked for any leave, the business pockets the money.
The GLAA say that whether you’re simply a worker in a factory or a labour provider, you have a moral and ethical responsibility to prevent people from being forced to work or from being exploited.
The full article is available to read here - Protecting vulnerable workers from exploitation . It provides advice for employees and also specific guidance that can help anyone spot the signs of labour exploitation.
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Come rain or shine… 9 June 2017
…employees will be planning and booking time off for holidays over the ‘summer’. What should employers be considering?
Employers may struggle to grant all their employees the leave they have asked for at popular holiday times, while still meeting their business needs. If you are an employer, have you considered allowing flexible working? Do you know what "time off for dependants" is? Can someone take three weeks holiday during the school summer break? As long as the employer agrees to the request then yes, the employer will look at the levels of staff off at any one time and they may agree to someone taking three weeks leave. However, they can also refuse this request if too many people are off. The employer should have a policy regarding when leave can be taken, how many people can be off at any one time etc. Employers should be fair and consistent with all staff when considering requests. Can an annual leave request be refused? Yes, employees have the right to statutory annual leave but the employer can say when leave can or cannot be taken. Some organisations have shutdowns when employees have to take leave, others may stop people taking leave at certain times of the year during busy periods. What is the current annual leave entitlement? Most workers, whether part-time or full-time, are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid annual leave. Additional annual leave may be agreed as part of a worker's terms and conditions of employment. If a worker does a five-day week, they are entitled to 28 days of leave. If they work a three-day week, the entitlement is 16.8 days of leave. This can include bank holidays, there is no statutory right to bank or public holidays. Does someone have a right to take time off if their childminding arrangements break down? The legal right is to reasonable "time off for dependants", which can give you time off to deal with emergencies. This would be unpaid and would normally expect to last one or two days (or what is considered to be reasonable) so other arrangements can be put in place. Some employers may suggest the use of annual leave or special leave which the employer may give with pay. Can a flexible working request cover just the school summer holidays? If a request for flexible working is made the employer will need to agree any new work pattern, however once agreed it will make a permanent change to the terms and conditions of employment. Any other arrangements for a temporary change to work patterns may be negotiated between employer and employee.
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Policy News Journal
cipp.org.uk
Page 133 of 516
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