The Modern Slavery Act 2015

04 February 2026

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires in scope organisations to produce and normally publish a Modern Slavery Statement to show the steps it took and is planning to take to tackle Modern Slavery internally and in its supply chains every year within six months of the financial year end.

This guide outlines the essential information you need to know to establish if your organisation is required to produce a Modern Slavery Statement and how to approach doing so.

Introduction: What is the Modern Slavery Act?

Modern slavery is the term used to encapsulate the crimes of:

slavery
servitude
forced or compulsory labour; and
human trafficking regardless of whether the person knew they were trafficked.

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires every organisation in any sector which supplies goods or services, carries on a business or part of a business in the UK, and had an annual turnover of £36m or more in the relevant financial year, to produce and generally publish on its homepage, a Modern Slavery Statement within six months of the end of each financial year.

Turnover includes the turnover of any of the organisation’s subsidiaries (including those operating wholly outside the UK).

The requirement to produce a Modern Slavery Statement applies regardless of where the organisation is based.

What content is included in a Modern Slavery Statement?

A Modern Slavery Statement must set out the steps an organisation takes during its previous financial year to ensure that modern slavery is not occurring in its supply chains and in any part of its business.

The legislation sets out the content that may be included in a Modern Slavery Statement:

the organisation’s structure, its business and its supply chains
organisational policies
assessing and managing risk
due diligence in relation to Modern Slavery (including approach to remediation)
training
monitoring and evaluation (understanding and demonstrating effectiveness)

Key steps to publish a Modern Slavery Statement

High-level approval process

The Modern Slavery Statement must be approved as follows:

Companies: The board of directors must approve the Modern Slavery Statement, and it must be signed by a director.
Limited liability partnerships (LLPs): The LLP members must approve the Modern Slavery Statement, and it must be signed by a designated member.
Limited partnerships registered under the Limited Partnerships Act 1907: A general partner must sign the Modern Slavery Statement.
Other types of partnership: A partner must sign the statement.

Publication

If the organisation has a website, it must:

publish the Modern Slavery Statement on that website, and
include a link to it in a prominent place on the website’s homepage.

If your organisation does not have a website, it must provide a copy of the Modern Slavery Statement to anyone who makes a written request within 30 days beginning with the day on which the request is received.

Does this apply to a group of companies?

Where a parent organisation and one or more subsidiaries in the same group are required to produce a Modern Slavery Statement, the parent organisation may produce one statement that its subsidiaries can use to meet this requirement (provided that the Modern Slavery Statement fully covers the steps that each of the organisations required to produce a statement have taken in the relevant financial year).

What happens if organisations don't comply?

If your organisation fails to comply, the Secretary of State may bring proceedings in the High Court for an injunction requiring it to comply.

Our specialist lawyers can assist with assessing your obligations, drafting compliant statements, reviewing supply chain processes, and establishing appropriate governance frameworks to meet your reporting requirements and avoid potential enforcement action.