GLAA supports workers’ rights training for Romanian communities in UK

Hundreds of Romanian workers living in the UK will complete a course designed to improve their knowledge of employment rights this month.

The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) has commissioned the Skills and Education Group (SEG) to create the three-hour programme which is being piloted within Romanian communities across the UK during March.

Content for the course is based on the award-winning Level 1 Award in Workers’ Rights and Labour Exploitation, a qualification developed by the GLAA and SEG.

More than 25 in-person courses are taking place across the country including in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Nottingham.

Two online courses are also scheduled and between 250 and 300 attendees are expected to finish the project by the end of March.

The course aims to raise awareness of basic employment rights and where to report concerns. An exercise book is included which participants can take away with them.

GLAA Head of Prevention and Partnerships Frank Hanson said: “More than 1.4 million Romanian nationals applied for settled status, the most out of any country in the EU.

“Many workers may lack a full understanding of their employment rights though. Combine this with cultural and language barriers and this can make them vulnerable to exploitation.

“We have received excellent support from the Romanian Embassy and Consulate General in London who have helped us in different implementation stages of this awareness raising project on employment rights.

“We have also built important links with several organisations delivering services to the Romanian community in the UK. A small number of representatives from these organisations have completed training so that they can deliver the course to Romanian workers in their own language.

“A crucial legacy of the project will be to make the course freely available so it can be delivered to other communities. This is really important in empowering vulnerable and potentially exploited workers across the UK and building that community resilience we need to fight the threat of labour exploitation.”

Robert Marin, Head a.i. of the Consulate General of Romania to London said: “We welcome this unique opportunity to be part of a multi-agency cooperation involving the GLAA, the Skills and Education Group and the Romanian organisations, all working in partnership to implement a very concrete prevention project for the Romanian workers in the UK.

“We highly appreciate the support of all those involved in this results-oriented initiative which will significantly contribute to the empowerment of Romanian workers by increasing their knowledge on employment rights and labour exploitation.”

An evaluation report will be produced at the end of the project.