The UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires commercial organisations with a turnover of £36 million or more to publish an annual Modern Slavery Statement describing the steps taken to prevent slavery and human trafficking in their operations and supply chains.
The Act does not mandate specific actions — it mandates transparency. But the quality of statements varies enormously. The best companies describe their risk assessment processes, due diligence findings, remediation actions, and training programmes. The worst provide boilerplate language with no evidence of genuine engagement.
For Indian suppliers to UK companies, modern slavery compliance is becoming a condition of doing business. Buyers are increasingly requiring suppliers to demonstrate labour standards beyond local legal minimums: no child labour, no debt bondage, fair wages, and safe working conditions.
RSustain helps both UK buyers and their supply chain partners address modern slavery risk. For buyers, we design risk assessment frameworks and supplier audit programmes. For suppliers, we help build the management systems and documentation needed to demonstrate compliance.
Modern slavery is not a distant problem — it exists in every supply chain that has not been actively assessed. Companies that take the Modern Slavery Act seriously will protect both their workers and their reputation.