Inspections and Investigations

All new applicants are inspected by a GLAA officer to make sure they meet the licensing standards.

Licence holders may also have a compliance inspection as part of a random check or following a risk assessment.

Inspections 

Part of a labour provider's inspection may involve visiting the labour user's premises to make sure the workers are treated in accordance with the licensing standards.

We will always try to minimise the impact of any inspection on your business, so may also visit workers at their homes, particularly if there are any concerns about their accommodation. Depending on the size of the workforce and any problems identified, we aim to interview around 10% of the workers supplied by the labour provider being inspected. To ensure the findings are objective we will select the workers to be interviewed.

Criminal Investigations

We investigate any circumstances where there is a risk of worker exploitation or other illegal activity such as unlicensed trading. If a labour provider has been operating without a licence we will also investigate any labour users who they have supplied with workers.

If a labour user has been using workers from an unlicensed labour provider we will issue an enforcement notice which explains that this is a criminal offence. The enforcement notice does not prohibit the labour user from using the workers but they will be continuing to commit an offence if they maintain a contract with an unlicensed labour provider.

Continuing to use workers from an unlicensed provider, together with evidence that the workers supplied have been exploited or mistreated will increase the likelihood of prosecution.

If a labour user notifies the GLAA that they are using, or have used, an unlicensed labour provider we may need to investigate. We will decide whether the labour user's contact is voluntary disclosure. If so, we may issue a warning rather than consider prosecution. Our decision will include consideration of the following factors:

• whether the notification arose after an investigation had already commenced
• whether the work was an activity that required clarification, or had recently been clarified as work that requires a licence.

Active check alerts

Registering for the 'active check' alerts service will help you check your labour provider is licensed and keep you informed of any changes, such as additional licence conditions following an inspection, or a revocation.

Conducting an active check and following the guidance in the Defra 'Reasonable Steps' booklet will give you greater protection against prosecution should your labour provider be operating without a licence.  

Find out more...

How we inspect and prosecute: Information on the different types of inspection, how the findings are reviewed and action that is taken
Inspection information: This page provides more information about the inspection process
Criminal offences and sanctions: Information on the offences and penalties for labour providers and users
Active check guidance: Detailed information on how to register and check your labour provider is licensed