Modern Slavery Compliance
From April 2016 all businesses with an annual turnover above £36m were obliged by the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA) to publish Slavery and Human Trafficking statements, setting out the steps that they have taken to combat modern slavery within their businesses and supply chains (including the recruitment agencies they use).
businesses supplying labour are under increasing scrutiny
As a result, recruiters supplying labour are finding their businesses under increasing scrutiny from larger hirers, who need to demonstrate the steps that they have taken to minimise the risk of modern slavery occurring within their supply chains.
The Modern Slavery (Transparency in Supply Chains) Bill, had intended to force every public sector organisation to exclude from its supply chain any business without a published Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement. The Bill was stalled due to proroguing if Parliament in 2019 and has yet to be resurrected.
it makes commercial sense for all recruitment businesses in the supply chain to comply
However, irrespective of legislation, contractual requirements and client expectations often mean that although small and medium-sized recruitment businesses will still be under no legal obligation to publish Statements, those recruitment agencies that do not publish one may be affected detrimentally.
It is always a possibility that a recruitment businesses that fails to comply with the legislation may find itself ‘named and shamed’, whilst those going above and beyond their obligations are likely to attract praise. For all these reasons it makes commercial sense that all recruitment businesses in the supply chain, whether public sector or otherwise, regard the legislation as applying to them and set out to demonstrate compliance.
Ensuring modern slavery compliance
- Lawspeed can help recruitment businesses of all sizes to ensure compliance and avoid criticism
- Recruitment-specific advice and guidance
- Comprehensive SHTs, tailored to recruitment
- MSA compliant policies
- Checklists for registering candidates
- Training for employees
- MSA supplier compliance audits