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  • Case studies
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Following the Morecambe Bay cockle pickers tragedy in 2004, the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) was established to protect workers from exploitation in agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering and food processing and packaging. The GLA has had some success in rationalising and controlling labour providers through auditing and issuing licences however, due to limited resources, they are unable to guarantee complete confidence of control. Therefore, companies who hire labour through agencies or labour providers are still vulnerable to rogue gangmasters who try to exploit loopholes in the system and flout the rules through bullying tactics and financial exploitation of their workers. The GLA will readily revoke licences when they become aware of wrongdoing, but rely on gangmasters to be selfregulating once a licence is granted.

Produce World became aware of the shortcomings in the system and the resulting vulnerability of the group, its suppliers and its customers to charges of labour exploitation. So, whilst respecting and closely supporting the work of the GLA, the group decided that more stringent checks needed to be made on labour providers throughout the supply chain and, indeed, on the directly employed labour on our sites and those of our key suppliers.

The outcome was the decision to implement an in house auditing system which would support and complement the work of the GLA. It soon became clear that this was a huge commitment and so the appointment of a full time Group Compliance Officer (Helen King) was made. Helen has made this role very effective and, through her enthusiastic commitment to her work and by building a close working relationship with the GLA, gangmasters have been encouraged and assisted in improving the way in which they deal with their staff.

The issues surrounding employment law and the provision of temporary labour are complex and as a result, Helen's job is extremely varied. Her work includes:

• Maintaining a close working relationship with labour providers to Produce World companies to ensure that adherence is being maintained to relevant legislation and standards such as GLA, HSE (Health and Safety), UKBA (Immigration), AWB (Agricultural Wages) and NMW (National Minimum Wage). This is achieved by conducting in depth annual audits and 6 monthly reviews which incorporate time bound recommendations for improvement. Follow up visits are then made to ensure that areas identified for improvement are corrected within the timescales set.
• Supporting and assisting Labour Providers in meeting their obligations, and being a voice for them across all Produce World sites to ensure that strong relationships are built.
• Conducting regular, confidential, worker interviews, both stand alone and in conjunction with the GLA, often requiring the use of interpreters.
• Inspection of labour providers' transport arrangements (including vehicle inspections) to and from group sites to ensure that VOSA and GLA standards are being met in addition to the standards set by Produce World.
• Inspection of accommodation which labour providers may provide to ensure adherence to HMO (Houses in Multiple Occupation) legislation is maintained. During the year to the end of June 2009, Helen audited 27 labour providers supplying Produce World, 4 of the group's growers and 12 of the growers' labour providers. In addition she conducted more than 20 follow up visits, 16 internal audits and 17 one to one worker interviews.