What should your employees do if an incident of modern slavery is identified within your organisation or its supply chains?
As we have outlined in our previous updates, section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA) came into force on 29 October 2015 and is designed to increase supply chain transparency and place greater accountability on organisations for the condition of their supply chains. We have previously outlined those organisations that are caught by section 54, and have recommended that staff are trained on the MSA.
But what should your employees do if an incident of modern slavery is identified within your organisation or its supply chains?
We recommend that employees are encouraged to report any concerns immediately to their employer in the first instance. Your organisation’s anti-slavery policy should make clear to employees the appropriate reporting method: this might be via their line manager, a named compliance officer or via a confidential helpline.
Once an incident of modern slavery is reported, your organisation should consider it carefully and if appropriate progress reporting of it as follows:
In the UK - If a specific case of modern slavery is identified it should be reported immediately to the police - on 101. However 999 should be called if potential victims are in immediate danger.
The Modern Slavery Helpline (0800 0121 700) also offers information and guidance on action to take where someone is either a victim themselves or suspects they have identified an instance of modern slavery.
Outside of the UK - The appropriate response to modern slavery identified or suspected abroad will depend on the local circumstances and consideration of what will produce the safest outcomes for the potential victims; it may involve liaison with local industry bodies, trade unions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or other support bodies, or contact with law enforcement bodies. This can present a challenge to a business which might consider it lacks the skills and expertise to influence suppliers or take appropriate steps to improve matters on the ground. You should always be mindful of the economic influence and control the organisation holds over those who may be committing those crimes.
Where local company’s appear to be failing to address concerns raised, then your organisation should seek to offer more guidance, training and even business incentives to tackle outstanding issues, and – if after such support progress is not made - should carefully consider their commercial relationship with that supplier going forward.
These considerations and any actions taken should be recorded in your organisation’s subsequent s54 statement.
The following guidance (produced by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)) may also be useful in more widely informing your organisation on principles and standards for responsible business conduct:
Partner
raymond.silverstein@brownejacobson.com
+44 (0)207 337 1021
Official statistics show that 15,336 claims which included a complaint of age discrimination were received at the Employment Tribunals between March 2020 and March 2021.
The outcome of the Employment Tribunal claim brought by Gulnaz Raja against Starling Bank Limited (1) (Starling), and Matthew Newman (2) was reported last month.
In the Autumn Statement delivered on 17 November, rises to the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates were announced, to take effect from 1 April 2023.
The World Cup kicks off in Qatar on Sunday 20 November 2022, with the final taking place on Sunday 18 December 2022. Undoubtedly, this is a huge sporting event, and many employees will be keen to show their support for their favourite teams. However, due to the time difference, start times for the matches are between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. UK time, which could have an impact on employers if employees who wish to watch the matches are scheduled to work.
Settlement agreements are commonplace in an employment context and are ordinarily used to provide the parties to the agreement with certainty following the conclusion of an employment relationship.
National law firm Browne Jacobson has advised long standing retail client, Wilko on the sale and leaseback of its Nottinghamshire distribution centre in Worksop to logistics specialist DHL for £48m.
Law firm Browne Jacobson is pleased to announce that Suzanne Harlow has been appointed Non-Executive Director of its Retail, Consumer & Logistics sector.
Earlier in the year a number of fashion retailers, boldly announced the introduction of a charging fee for returning any product purchased via their online store. Yet, despite this commercial, and perhaps somewhat controversial decision, at least one major fashion giant that adopted this approach has recorded ‘historic highs’ in its September profits. Browne Jacobson partner, Cat Driscoll who heads up the firm’s commercial team in Manchester and is also head of its Fashion & Beauty sector discusses whether this change has put the average consumer off and whether the days of free returns are long gone.
Every AI will have its own terms of use. DALL·E 2’s Terms of Use dated 3 November 2022 specify that as between a user and Open AI, a user owns their prompts and uploads. Open AI also assigns to the user all rights in any images generated by DALL·E 2 for that user (subject to the user complying with those Terms of Use, and to a licence to use inputs and output to develop and improve the services).
Logistics company Eddie Stobart has been fined £133,000, after a series of failures which took place whilst excavation work was carried out, exposing its staff to asbestos.
This article is the second in a series to help firms take a practical approach to complying with the ‘cross-cutting rules’ within the new ‘Consumer Duty’ (CD) framework. The article summarises what it seems the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is seeking to achieve from the applicable rules (section 2 below) and potential complications arising from legal considerations (section 3).
Where an employee appeals against their dismissal under a contractual appeal procedure and their appeal is successful, reinstatement to their previous role is automatic and does not require approval or agreement from the employee.
Two directors of a construction company were fined after failing to ensure the safe removal of asbestos from a plot of land. On 14 and 15 November 2021, Directors Anthony Sumner and Neil Brown, of Waterbarn Limited were involved in the uncontrolled removal of asbestos material from a plot of land in Grasscroft, Oldham.
An engineering company in Tyne and Wear was fined £20,000 after a worker fractured his pelvis and suffered internal injuries after falling through a petrol station forecourt canopy, whilst he was replacing the guttering.
Law firm Browne Jacobson has appointed former Vice President and Chief Planning Officer (CPO) of Aston Martin Lagonda, Nikki Rimmington as its first Non-Executive Director (NED) of its Manufacturing & Industrials sector strategy board.
Settlement agreements in an employment context are ordinarily used to provide both parties with certainty following the conclusion of an employment relationship – but what happens when there is alleged discrimination after entering into a settlement agreement?
The Digital Services Act (the “DSA”) has today (27 October) been given the go-ahead by the EU Council and will enter into force by early 2024.
The fashion industry has a mountain to climb when it comes to sustainability. More than 8% of greenhouse gas emissions come from the apparel and footwear industries, and approaching three-fifths of all clothing ends up in incinerators or landfill within a year of being made.
Created at the end of the Brexit transition period, Retained EU Law is a category of domestic law that consists of EU-derived legislation retained in our domestic legal framework by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. This was never intended to be a permanent arrangement as parliament promised to deal with retained EU law through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (the “Bill”).
A few weeks ago we brought you news that following the Government’s mini-budget it was confirmed that the off-payroll working rules (known as “IR35”) put in place for public and private sector businesses from 2017 and 2021 would be scrapped from April 2023.