Why do organisations need a Modern Slavery Statement?

According to the International Labour Organisation, modern slavery exists in nearly every country in the world with 86% of people who are in forced labour being in the private sector.

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 was introduced to address the issues of modern-day slavery in business operations and their global supply chains.

In accordance with the Act, UK companies and subsidiaries who have an annual turnover of £36 million or more in any financial year are legally required to set out how they will tackle modern slavery through:

• Due diligence processes
• Risk assessment and management in their operations, organization structure, and supply chains
• Key performance indicators to measure preventative actions taken
• Staff training

In addition, they are required to produce and publish a Modern Slavery Statement. This is a document which sets out an organisation’s commitment to tackling modern-day slavery and the measures it is taking to prevent it. This includes analysing their business activities and the potential risk of modern slavery being involved, carrying out checks on anyone in their supply chains, and using internal policies and training to educate their employees.

The Modern Slavery Statement must be published within six months of the organisation’s financial year-end. With many organisations having April – March financial years, that means that their Statements must be published no later than the end of September.

HR Solutions can discuss with you how you are going to meet your obligations under the Modern Slavery Act. We can work with you to produce a Modern Slavery Statement in the correct format. We can also advise you on the publication of the Statement and publish it for you on the Government’s Registry.