The U.K. Home Office has issued a call to action for businesses to address modern slavery in their supply chains, pushing them to move beyond compliance and embrace transparency as a fundamental principle.
A March 27 regulatory update emphasized that forced labor and exploitation remain rife in global supply chains and that businesses operating in the U.K. must—under the Modern Slavery Act of 2015—take meaningful steps to identify, prevent and mitigate those practices. And they must go further in those efforts than ever before.
It all aligns the U.K. with a growing push in Europe and elsewhere.
The details: The U.K.’s guidance to businesses regarding modern slavery prioritizes transparency, investigating their supply chains and taking corrective action. It therefore encourages organizations to:
The risks: The U.K.’s approach is much more “carrot” than “stick.” But the potential legal and financial consequences for violations include fines, procurement exclusions, shareholder impacts and operational disruptions that can arise from supply chain instability due to modern slavery violations.
A structured mapping approach, the Home Office guidance said, will help businesses pinpoint vulnerabilities, strengthen their due-diligence efforts and ensure compliance with the U.K.’s evolving regulatory expectations.
For context: Countries such as Australia and Canada have introduced their own modern slavery reporting requirements in recent years, while the U.S. has strengthened its enforcement mechanisms, particularly through the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which imposes restrictions on goods linked to forced labor in China.
The EU, meanwhile, has adopted two major pieces of legislation to combat forced labor practices:
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A March 27 regulatory update emphasized that forced labor and exploitation remain rife in global supply chains and that businesses operating in the U.K. must—under the Modern Slavery Act of 2015—take meaningful steps to identify, prevent and mitigate those practices. And they must go further in those efforts than ever before.
It all aligns the U.K. with a growing push in Europe and elsewhere.
The details: The U.K.’s guidance to businesses regarding modern slavery prioritizes transparency, investigating their supply chains and taking corrective action. It therefore encourages organizations to:
- Engage in proactive risk identification, recognizing that if no risks are found, businesses may not be looking hard enough.
- Conduct robust due diligence to ensure visibility into labor practices throughout the supply chain, from direct suppliers to materials production.
- Publicly disclose findings and challenges, to contribute to industry-wide learning.
- Detail “continuous improvement” efforts in their modern slavery statements, a new point of emphasis.
- Collaborate to drive meaningful change across industries.
- Engage directly with workers, trade unions, suppliers, and stakeholders to uncover potential risks and address them collaboratively.
- Take a victim-centered approach when remedying abuses, understanding that simply cutting off suppliers can leave victims in even more precarious positions.
The risks: The U.K.’s approach is much more “carrot” than “stick.” But the potential legal and financial consequences for violations include fines, procurement exclusions, shareholder impacts and operational disruptions that can arise from supply chain instability due to modern slavery violations.
A structured mapping approach, the Home Office guidance said, will help businesses pinpoint vulnerabilities, strengthen their due-diligence efforts and ensure compliance with the U.K.’s evolving regulatory expectations.
For context: Countries such as Australia and Canada have introduced their own modern slavery reporting requirements in recent years, while the U.S. has strengthened its enforcement mechanisms, particularly through the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which imposes restrictions on goods linked to forced labor in China.
The EU, meanwhile, has adopted two major pieces of legislation to combat forced labor practices:
- The EU Forced Labour Regulation took effect in December 2024 and bans the sale, import and export of goods found to be made with forced labor. It empowers authorities to seize non-compliant goods, creating an enforcement-driven approach similar to the UFLPA.
- The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) took effect in July 2024, and EU member states have until July 2026 to transpose it into national law. The CSDDD will require large companies both in and outside the EU to identify and mitigate human rights and environmental risks, including forced labor, across their entire supply chains.
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