Modern Slavery FAQs

167 countries still practice slavery in some form with the top five offenders being India, China, North Korea, Nigeria and Iran.

• Debt bondage;
• Child slavery;
• Forced marriage;
• Domestic servitude;
• Forced labour;
• Human trafficking;
• Sexual exploitation; and
• Criminal exploitation.

Usually, modern slavery takes the appearance of forced labour, domestic servitude, and sexual exploitation. There are an estimated 10,000-13,000 slaves in the UK currently, while nowhere near the numbers of other countries, it is considered an issue.

The act was developed by the UK Government to tackle modern slavery within commercial organisations.

For more information please refer to our guide here.

Any company with a turnover of £36 million or higher must produce an annual modern slavery and human trafficking statement. The statement must include the steps that the company took to identify and remove any slavery, or mitigate the risks of it, within their business or supply chains. It must be easily accessible via their website. There are no formatting or layout requirements.

If you require assistance with developing a Modern Slavery Statement then this is well within our expertise and we would advise you to reach out to us today to discuss the next steps.

As mentioned, in the UK, forced labour is one of the most common types of Modern Slavery. Telltale signs for this could be the following:

• A workplace that is being lived in and used as accommodation;
• Employees taking a dislike and distrusting authorities;
• Malnourished workers;
• Employees showing signs of mental trauma;
• Employees and workers having a number of different injuries often left untreated;
• Common substance misuse among workers; and
• Workers being unaware of both their home or work address.

Companies should say, within their statements, the detail and extent they have gone to in order to eradicate modern slavery within their supply chain. They could say that they have done nothing to combat it within their supply chain, but this can bring negative publicity.

The Act doesn’t legislate for any specific steps on how to combat it within the supply chain. Neither does it demand a guarantee that the supply chain is completely slave free. The issue of policing the supply chain can come at an additional cost and effort at the company’s expense.