Can my agency act on behalf of an approved operator?

This page explains how third party agencies recruit people under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS) on behalf of the approved operators.

Some operators use agencies to help them in their recruitment activity. If you are interested in working as an agent for an approved operator you should contact the operator directly to discuss their needs. Details of the current operators are available from the right side of this page.

If you are recruited by an operator to work on their behalf you will need to comply with the following guidelines:

• you must be registered with the relevant authority in your own country, or the country in which you intend to operate;
• you must have an appropriate licence issued in the United Kingdom by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority;
• you must not make any charge to a SAWS applicant in connection with their recruitment to the scheme;
• any additional services you offer to SAWS applicants must be on a voluntary basis;
• any fees payable for additional services must be reasonable;
• you must be clear to the prospective applicant exactly what you can offer and what charges will apply for the services;
• you must not discriminate between individuals that use the additional services you offer and those that do not use the additional services.;
• you must keep the operator you work for informed of the services you offer and the charges you intend to make, this information must be documented in the agreements between you and the operator;
• you must maintain documentation as agreed with the operator you work for. You must make this documentation available to the operator when requested.