Gary Smith - the GMB's national organiser for the security industry - has called on the Government to extend the licensing deadline for security officers from 20 March to 30 June (although the GMB is not advocating any extension for directors and managers of guarding companies, and suggests that any company that has not co-operated with the Security Industry Authority's licensing programme must be barred from Approved Contractor status).

The union has received many telephone calls from worried GMB security members stating that officers are being laid off because their employers cannot find work for them post-20 March as they don't yet possess a licence. Members are reporting that their employers have been remiss in their training programmes, have failed to help their employees through the licensing process and are expecting the officers to pay the licence fee of £190.

Speaking at the GMB Commercial Services Conference in Brighton on 22 February, Smith told delegates: "The major companies have worked with the SIA and are on schedule, but many other contractors are not. Their failure to address the issue has put our members at risk of redundancy or committing a criminal offence if they work after 20 March unlicensed."

Smith is also "gravely concerned" that the criteria for ACS have been "watered down" to allow companies to use their existing British Standards as a way of passporting into the SIA's scheme.

Source

SMT