Within Section 54 of The Modern Slavery Act 2015, the UK government made it compulsory for all organisations with a global annual turnover of £36m or more to publish a slavery and human trafficking statement every financial year.
6 steps to writing a modern slavery statement
The statement must detail the company's steps in that year to identify and eradicate modern slavery in both its own business and its supply chains.
But how do you know exactly what to include and how much information to disclose when writing your company's modern slavery statement?
1. Highlight your company commitment
Highlight your company's commitment to tackling modern-day slavery - reiterate your understanding of the risks associated with modern slavery and the measures you are taking to prevent it.
2. Organisational structure
Describe the organisational structure of your business and all of its supply chains. Provide details of your company's business activities and the countries or regions you operate directly with.
3. Assign responsibilities & training
Who has the responsibility for anti-slavery initiatives within your company? Do you offer any training to increase your employees' understanding of modern slavery?
4. Detail policies & procedures
Provide details of the policies and procedures you have to identify modern slavery risks and any prevention measures you have enforced. How do you investigate and manage these risks?
5. Supplier due diligence
Be sure to tackle supplier due diligence - What actions do you take when considering new suppliers? How do you review existing customers? How effective have you been in eradicating modern slavery and human trafficking in your supply chain when measured against appropriate performance indicators?
6. Overview of modern slavery training
Many organisations have implemented training courses for all of their employees since the passing of this bill. Therefore, your statement should provide a clear overview of the training your company has put forward, including any awareness-raising programmes, including posters, flyers, and emails.
Next steps
Following these simple steps will help ensure that you publish a competent modern slavery statement that is in line with the purpose of this legislation.
Whilst there is no definitive structure to the layout of the statement, the points we have highlighted above must be outlined succinctly and with transparency.
The statement can be published anywhere on your company website, but a link to your anti-slavery statement needs to be on your homepage.
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