Gangmasters Licensing Authority Tackling Labour Exploitation Tony Byrne Senior Investigating Officer • Working in partnership to protect vulnerable and exploited workers
Jan 16, 2016
Gangmasters Licensing Authority
Tackling Labour Exploitation
Tony Byrne
Senior Investigating Officer
• Working in partnership to protect vulnerable and exploited workers
GLA History
2
Essex
• The gathering of Shellfish is being reported on a daily basis to EHO at Southend Local Authority
Regulated Sector
•Agriculture•Horticulture•Shellfish gathering•Food and drink processing and packaging
Labour supplied by agencies to a Labour User
The GLA regulates the supply of labour
• COMPLIANCE
• Regulatory - 8 civil standards
• Application and compliance inspections
• ENFORCEMENT
Law enforcement - Criminal offences
• Power of arrest, search, seizure
• Prosecution – conviction
Compliance and Enforcement
Legislation
• The Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 created four offences:
• Supplying labour without a licence• Possessing a false document• Using services of an unlicensed labour provider• Obstructing a GLA Enforcement/Compliance
Officer
Partnership Working
• Police (National Crime Agency)• United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre• Her Majesty Revenue and Customs (Tax)• Health and Safety Executive• UK Fire Service• Local Authorities • Charities (Migrant Helpline and Salvation Army)• Employers (Labour Recruitment- Stronger Together )
Compliance• Initial licence application (UK Based OR in
Europe)• 8 national Licensing Standards• ‘Fit and Proper’• Pay and Tax• Treatment of Workers• Accommodation• Working Conditions• Health and Safety• Contractual arrangements
Overseas Labour Providers• There cannot be any work finding fees charged to any
workers.• Services must be completely optional and not be an
integral part of the work finding process.• The worker must not be penalised in any way if they opt
not to use any of the optional services• Services should not be “sold”• All optional fees and services must be clearly explained
and understood by workers.• Services should not be offered that are meaningless and of
no benefit to the worker
Two enforcement teams
Intelligence lead
Home-based covering entire UK (England, Wales,
Scotland and N Ireland)
3 Jurisdictions
Work closely with partner agencies
Enforcement
The GLA is active in Identifying and tackling:
• Forced and bonded labour• Human trafficking• Tax evasion• Health and safety negligence• Fraud• Breaches of Employment Law
• But without legislative power !!
Emerging Trends
• Increase in number of OCGs involved in the supply of labour
• Nationalities generally exploit “their own”• Increase in labour exploitation – Eastern
European males• Polish, Romanian, Slovakian, Lithuanian• Low risk/high return• Links to benefit and tax fraud• Credit Card Fraud• ID Fraud
Perceptions/Reality
•Workers being held under lock and key•Workers only allowed out to go to work•Workers being accompanied by controllers at all time•Workers having no control of documents
•The reality is that some of those indicators are prevalent but often the coercion and control is more subtle.
Forced Labour is perceived as:
Recent Cases
• Workers recruited in home country • Brought to addresses in the UK• Placed in houses with a controller/enforcer• Placed in work in regulated sector with licensed agencies• No control over bank cards• Taken to withdraw money• Fear of assault if wages not paid over• Actual assaults if step out of line• Become alcohol-dependent
•How were the workers recruited•Have they had to pay to get a job/accommodation•Can they choose where they live or work•Do they have to pay anyone to get work•Can they leave freely•Do they receive all of their wages•Do they have access to and control all of their money•Do they live in fear
Considerations: dealing with workers
Case Studies
• Operation ATWOOD and MORKUNAS
Operation Atwood
• A worker went to the Salvation Army in Derby for help, claiming to be a victim of human trafficking
• The subsequent investigation led to Operation Atwood - a multi-agency initiative involving Police, GLA, UKHTC, Red Cross and the local authority
• All brought expertise and powers to the case and all involved at the earliest planning stage, to include CPS input
• Day of action main perpetrators remanded
The extremes of trafficking
Brothers Marek and Igor Marcin lived in a typical Derby semi.They trafficked men into the UK from Slovakia and the Czech Republic
The Marcin’s trappings
•They housed 11 workers in a three-bedroomed house•They controlled all their bank accounts•They paid them between £5 and £20 per week•They claimed benefits in their names•They wore expensive jewellery•They drove expensive cars•Their wives stole ‘ready cash’ from the workers•They made in excess of £1.3 million!
They lived in a normal house
No one suspected what was happening in their own street
The workers’ reality
• Slept two, three, or more, to a room …• … mostly on bare mattresses …• … in rooms infested with insects• Woke up covered in bites• Were given one salami each … to last a week• Were fed only plain potatoes and pasta in the evenings• Were driven into debt• Were threatened, beaten and forced to work
Operation Atwood – Outcome for the workers
• 11 workers were rescued from the Marcins’ control• All entered the National Referral Mechanism • 8 workers were assisted in returning to their homeland• 3 have remained in the UK …worked with Slovak
authorities
they wanted to stay and work for a decent wage
The Traffickers
Marek and Igor Marcin and their wives were arrested on 15 July 2013In February 2014 both men admitted human trafficking chargesMarek got 40 months in prison – Igor got 52 months
The Wives
Marek’s wife Gabriela received an eight month sentence for theft.Igor’s wife, Dagmar, got 10 months
East of England• 2012 onwards – Andrius MORKUNAS exploited
Migrant workers
• In November 2014 lost an appeal against his seven year jail sentence.
MORKUNAS
• He put workers into jobs in agriculture and at food processing factories around East Anglia, charging them a fee to help them get work and to open a bank account.
• made about £100,000 from 250 immigrants who he placed in cramped, sub-standard accommodation
• May 2012, he and three ‘henchmen’ attacked a worker who was not paying up and was getting into debt.
The Appeal judges
• Mr Justice Blake and Judge Alistair McCreath, “This case involved the well-organised exploitation of a large number of migrant workers, by the control of their accommodation and bank accounts.
• “There was a background of threats, violence and intimidation.
• “He displayed no remorse or empathy with the victim.”
Modern Slavery Act
• Received Royal Assent on 26th March 2015• Newly appointed Anti-Slavery commissioner • Modern Slavery Act 2015 is the first of its kind in Europe to
specifically address slavery and trafficking in the 21st century !
• Increase maximum sentence available for most serious offenders from 14years to life imprisonment
• Toughest confiscation regime• Consolidation of existing modern slavery offences into one
Act• Reference to the GLA remit – Section 55
GLA Results• Direct intervention on behalf of 3,064 workers to protect them from exploitation• Modern slavery/labour exploitation training and awareness to 2500 supply chain and
public sector staff from 314 organisations pledging to raise the risks of labour exploitation to an estimated 367,154 workers.
• Steps to recover over £3.5 million on behalf of workers being exploited financially• The identification of over £5.1 million in proceeds of crime including vehicles,
properties.• 779 potential victims of labour exploitation have been identified and given support
to remove them from danger • Involvement in the rescue of 38 potential victims of trafficking for labour
exploitation• Regulating the labour supply in an industry worth £100 billion with a budget of 0.004 per
cent of that amount• 22 convictions and 15 pending trial• 32 organised crime groups identified/disrupt• Creation of a European network of enforcement agencies whose primary role is to
address labour exploitation (18 countries to rise to 32 by 2016)
GLA 2015 and beyond
• Greater working partnership with our overseas partner agencies (ILO)
• GLA visits overseas for compliance checks on Licence holders !
• Partnership and intelligence sharing with embassies and labour Inspectorates based in Europe and beyond!
• Education & Awareness• Political changes – Amalgamation of Enforcement effort in
UK as announced by Prime Minister in last 2 weeks• Modern Slavery Legislation
Any Questions?
Contact
• www.gla.homeoffice.gov.uk• [email protected]• 0845 6025020
• [email protected]• Mobile 07818 596398