Licensing decisions
The GLAA licensing team are responsible for making decisions on new and existing licences.
These include:
- Granting a licence
- Placing additional conditions on a licence (ALCs)
- Revoking a licence, with or without immediate effect
- Refusing a licence
We check that you meet the conditions in the GLAA Licensing Standards using information gathered from inspections, other government departments and enforcement agencies such as the police.
Each of the licensing standards has a number of points attached to it. Critical standards, such as withholding wages, have the highest score of 30 points. Most of the other standards have a score of 8, for example providing an itemised payslip. The points of any standards that you have not met will be added together. A total score of 30 or more points is considered a ‘fail score’ and the application will be refused.
Additional Licence Conditions (ALCs)
If there are some standards which you have not met, but your overall score is less than 30, you may be issued a licence with ALCs. These additional conditions show the areas that need to be corrected within an agreed time. If you do not resolve these issues within the timescale your licence may be revoked.
We have a proportional approach when applying the licensing standards, this means that our priority is to deal with those who exploit and mistreat workers. We will work with businesses who have minor non compliances to ensure legitimate labour providers can meet the licensing standards.
How to appeal against a decision
If your licence application is refused, you can provide further information to correct any factual errors. This is called a ‘pre appeal’ and must be made within 10 days. You have the right to appeal against any GLAA decision. Read our appeals page for further information.
Find out more...
Licence decision policy: The decision process explained
The licensing standards: The conditions that must be met to qualify for a licence
Terms and conditions: Information on use of the website
Labour user best practice: Information on how to comply with the legal requirements and GLAA recommended best practice
Reasonable steps booklet: Defra guidance for labour users