What Businesses Should Know About Modern Slavery, Part 4: Prevention and Remediation Tools for Businesses

This is the last of a series of four articles examining recent trends of modern slavery, the political risks associated with this phenomenon, and the tools available for companies to prevent and address it.

Requirements and reporting standards for the private sector

• Global-level requirements

As detailed in the first article of this series, the two foundational texts on modern slavery within the UN corpus are the League of Nations’ 1926 Slavery Convention and the 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery. Since, various international legal documents have targeted specific forms of modern slavery (e.g., the 1949 Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others; the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families).
The most well-equipped UN agency to tackle forced labour as a whole is arguably the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The phenomenon is addressed in two of its core conventions: the 1930 Forced Labour Convention - supplemented by a 2014 Protocol - and the 1957 Abolition of Forced Labour Convention. More recently, the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (or MNE Declaration), adopted in 1977 and last amended in 2017, is described by the ILO as the only global-scale instrument to provide direct guidance to enterprises on social policy and inclusive, responsible and sustainable workplace practices. Its Article 25 states that “multinational as well as national enterprises should take immediate and effective measures within their own competence to secure the prohibition and elimination of forced or compulsory labour in their operations”.

• National-level requirements

States throughout the world are taking action to eradicate modern slavery through closer scrutiny of public procurement networks, but also tighter monitoring of supply chains within the private sector. The 2018 Global Slavery Index noted a sudden increase in government engagement with modern slavery, including through the passing of stricter laws on due diligence and the banning of imports potentially linked with forced labour. However, by 2021, only 20% of those countries had taken concrete action (including the US, UK, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, China, and Brazil), while the other governments merely established the bare minimum of reporting requirements. The most oft-cited measure is the UK’s 2015 Modern Slavery Act, which sets constraints for companies following certain criteria (e.g., UK-based commercial organisations with an annual turnover exceeding £36 million must publish an annual modern slavery statement). In a similar vein, one could also cite Australia’s 2018 Modern Slavery Act.

No other countries seem to have passed significant legislation since. One might blame Covid-19 for curbing progress in this field; however, by exacerbating preexisting dynamics of exploitation, the pandemic has heightened the need for relevant legal action.

• Assessment and reporting standards

In some cases, governments impose their own format and standards to companies that are compelled to report on labour practices within their supply chains; for example, UK-based firms affected by the 2015 Modern Slavery Act must follow a set of guidelines issued by the Home Office. There are also region-specific sets of standards, such as the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) that accompany the sustainability reporting guidelines for EU companies recently introduced by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (2022/2464). Companies wishing to evaluate their potential involvement with modern slavery can also report according to other global sustainability reporting frameworks (GRI, SASB, etc.). 

However, as observed by the Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland, indicators pertaining to modern slavery are underweighted within ESG reporting frameworks, thereby resulting in a lack of incentives for stakeholders to invest resources in tackling the issue.

Specialised organisations and resources

In addition to the work of the ILO, a number of internationally-operating organisations are dedicated to combating modern slavery, such as Walk Free, Free the Slaves, Anti-Slavery International, Hope for Justice, and many others.

Two essential and all-encompassing sources - heavily referenced in this article series - are the 2021 Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, published by the ILO and IOM in collaboration with Walk Free, and the latter’s 2018 Global Slavery Index. One can also access reports on dimensions of modern slavery that are specific to certain social groups (e.g. migrants), sectors (e.g. the garment industry), or geographical areas (e.g. Thailand).

Other useful resources include a guide for companies to spot the signs of forced labour in their supply chains, and a comprehensive toolkit to help businesses and investors tackle the issue.