Modern Slavery Statement guidance

The Modern Slavery Act came into force in March 2015. The Act aims to prevent all forms of labour exploitation and increase transparency of labour practices in supply chains.

Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act says organisations must report on the steps they have taken to make sure their supply chains are slavery free. This is called the 'Transparency in Supply Chains' clause and it applies to all organisations with a worldwide turnover of £36m or more with a 'demonstrable' presence in the UK.

These organisations have to produce and publish a slavery and human trafficking statement each financial year (this started in March 2016). A statement needs to be published even if they have not taken any steps.  A statement that a company has done nothing to make sure their supply chains are slavery free is legally compliant under the law. But a statement like this can leave a company open to negative publicity from customers and human rights organisations.

The Home Office has published a practical guide to the Transparency in Supply Chain clause. This sets out the basic requirements of the legislation, as well as advice on what would be sensible to include in a statement to give assurance. There is no standard form.

Guidance and support

We ran a workshop to give the seafood industry a better understanding of what they needed to report on. This gave help on what the legislation said. It also suggested practical steps which companies in the seafood sector should take to consider what risks there may be and what action they should take. This applied to both their supply chain and their direct operations. A guidance note was produced with specific information to help seafood companies decide what to include in their statement. The presentation and guidance note can be downloaded below.

For a registry of Transparency in Supply Chain modern slavery statements see:

• tiscreport.org
• UK Modern Slavery Act registry

Contacts

For further information contact Karen Green