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REC counters trade union calls for extending licensing to construction

It has been reported that the Labour Party’s National Policy Forum this weekend agreed to consider the extension of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority to the construction sector after the next election.

Commenting on this proposal, Tom Hadley, the REC’s Director of External Relations said: “The GLA currently covers the supply of largely unskilled workers into lower paid jobs in agriculture and food processing. This is a huge contrast to the construction industry were agencies can place professionals for hundreds of pounds a day.

“The REC is keen to ensure that construction recruitment agencies work to the highest standards. But with the enforcement of employment agency rules just being overhauled; it would be foolish to look to new solutions before the impact of the current changes has even been felt.”

The REC has consistently raised the recruitment industry’s concern that licensing extension would just add extra cost to legitimate agencies whilst ignoring the minority of rogue operators who break all the rules.

Trevor Rees, Chair of the REC’s Construction Sector Group said: “Construction is a complex trade, stretching from home improvements to massive infra-structure projects such as the Olympics.

“Flexible workers are a vital part of the supply of labour in construction to ensure that projects are completed on time and that specialist skills can be bought in when they are needed. At this stage it is not clear how a licensing regime could effectively police an industry across such a wide range of fields.”

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