Big businesses will have to publicly state each year what action they have taken to ensure their supply chains are slavery free, Home Office Minister Karen Bradley has announced.
The measure is to be included in the Modern Slavery Bill, that is going through Parliament. According to the Coalition Government what it proposes goes further than any similar law in the world by applying to businesses regardless of the nature of a company or what it supplies.
The Coalition points to a report by The Salvation Army which shows the number of victims referred to them for support has risen.
Karen Bradley said: The fact that there are more people in slavery today than at any other time in human history is shameful. We all have a responsibility to stamp out this evil trade and this world leading measure calls on business to play their part. There are already many companies showing a lead and taking action. Greater transparency will give customers, campaigners and shareholders the information they need to hold all big business to account while also supporting companies to do the right thing.”
The Government did not say how a business can satisfy the Government that it’s doing enough to be ‘slavery-free’, nor what size of a business will have to go through such an annual exercise. The Government said only that a consultation will be held to set the exact threshold for the size of business to ensure the system is both fair and robust. Statutory guidance will also be produced setting out the kinds of information that might be disclosed to help companies comply.
The Home Office said that there are similar transparency requirements in California but they only apply to businesses producing goods for sale. The duty of disclosure will apply regardless of the nature of the company or what it supplies, whether goods or services, the Government stressed.
The Home Office has two-page factsheets covering the agricultural, construction, fishing, food and hospitality industries, on their potential for modern slavery. In the building factsheet for instance it says that victims of ‘modern slavery’ are often Eastern European men who are promised a job in the UK and then forced by traffickers to work as labourers, or in factories for instance, for little or no money. Through threat, violence or coercion they may be forced to live in squalid accommodation and have their identity documents taken from them. It says: “All employers involved in the construction industry should make proper background checks on the agencies who supply them with labour, including where the agency is operating in a supervisory role.” Signs of slavery according to the document include appearance (unkempt) and behaviour (the workers seem withdrawn or frightened, and unable to answer questions directed at them or speak for themselves). Or a gangmaster may take all their pay.
From the factsheets it would appear that the requirement to prove supply chains are slavery-free is much the same as the work in the 2000s against unlicensed gang master-providers of labour; and may apply to hotels, bars and restaurants, the building trade and food retail.
