Meeting the Transparency Requirements of the UK Modern Slavery Act
The UK Modern Slavery Act was enacted in 2015 to create more transparency throughout organisational supply chains to uncover modern slavery abuses and human trafficking. Companies that do business in the United Kingdom with an annual global turnover of £36 million or more are subject to the act and its Transparency in Supply Chain (TISC) clause. To comply, organisations are required to develop and publish a modern slavery act statement in the form of an annual report outlining the steps taken to combat human trafficking and modern slavery throughout its entire supply chain.
Modern slavery act statement examples include information on refinements to organizational structures, policies and procedures, and supply chain management that aim to eliminate all forms of modern slavery and human trafficking. These statements are to be published annually and available on the company’s website. If an organization has taken no specific steps to ensure slavery and human trafficking free business practices, they must explicitly state so in their statement. Modern slavery act compliance program requirements are unique in that they are designed to encourage better business practices through transparency. Enforcement therefore is driven by informing public, consumer, employee and investor groups that demand more from the businesses they work with.