The Gangmasters Licensing Authority has revoked the licence of a firm which failed to pay agricultural workers for 35 days. They reported that 40 Bulgarian workers had to scavenge for food in the fields where they worked because Cornwall-based Baltic Work Team Ltd had not paid them.

Paul Whitehouse, chairman of the GLA, said: “Revoking a licence with immediate effect is a serious decision and is only taken when we find significant non-compliance. The GLA was set up to curb the exploitation of workers and in the case of Baltic Work Team Ltd, we had to take action immediately to protect the workers.”

Despite these serious

breaches of employment law, it is still legal for Baltic Work Team Ltd. to rebrand and set up work in one of the many unlicensed sectors of the economy - the GLA’s powers only extend to those who supply workers to the agriculture, shellfish gathering, food and drink processing or packaging sectors in the UK.

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