What is the modern day slavery act? And what does it mean for businesses in the UK

MSA seems to be the hot topic at the moment but do you really know the impacts on your business from both the act itself and how the media can damage your brand?

So what is the act and what will it do, below is a brief taken from www.gov.uk/government/collections/modern-slavery-bill website.

The Modern Slavery Act will give law enforcement the tools to fight modern slavery, ensure perpetrators can receive suitably severe punishments for these appalling crimes and enhance support and protection for victims. It received Royal Assent on Thursday 26 March 2015.

The act will:

Ensure that perpetrators receive suitably severe punishments for modern slavery crimes (including life sentences)

Require businesses over a certain size to disclose each year what action they have taken to ensure there is no modern slavery in their business or supply chains.

What does this mean for both large and small businesses in the UK?

You need to publish an annual “Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement” if your business has a global turnover of ￡36 Million or more and you supply goods or services in the UK. If you fail to do so you could be liable for court action.

 BUT will this statement be enough in regards to the act at the moment yes but as this act will change, we are already seeing more and more companies’ validating there statements by undertaking Corporate Social Responsibility Audits both on their premises and asking their supply chain to do the same. Intertek can provide Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audits (SMETA) and Workplace Condition Assessments (WCA) that meet the requirements of the act.

 Even if you have your statement in place and as a business you believe that you trading as an ethical company part of your supply chain may not be and as we have seen on TV and in the news it’s the large brands that have their name pulled thought the mud, so large or small businesses why not tell your story before someone else dose and contact me on [email protected] to see how Intertek can help you.