Many employers are shocked to find out that the Modern Slavery Act may be relevant to them. But if you are a business that employs casual labour in some areas of fresh food warehousing or agriculture, or work in the supply chain for these industries, you need to be aware of the regulations.



‘Modern Slavery’ is a form of human trafficking, where people are forced to work through physical or mental threat; are controlled by an employer through actual or threatened mental and physical abuse or have restrictions placed on their freedom of movement, for example by having their passports taken away.

Writing a Modern Slavery Statement



Any businesses in the UK with a turnover of £36m or more per annum is now legally obliged to write a statement outlining their anti-slavery policy and publish it.

Whilst it is currently only mandatory for large companies to have a Modern Slavery Statement, smaller organisations which have contracts with eligible companies are likely to be asked to supply a statement as they form part of the supply chain. Depending on your business, it may also be worth preparing a policy or statement even if you don’t currently supply large companies as it means you will be ready to go through due diligence if you tender for a new piece of business from an organisation that requires its suppliers to have one.

As a small employer, Priority Appointments is not obliged to have a Modern Slavery Statement. However, we have published our policy which explains to our clients and candidates our commitment to being vigilant in looking out for abusive labour practices and training our team so that they can look out for and report any inappropriate policies. 

Gangmasters Licensing Authority

Licenses issued by the Gangmasters & Labour Abuse Authority (GLA), a public body that answers to the Home Office, are a key part of preventing modern slavery and other immoral labour practices. In addition to its licensing and regulatory function, the GLA also has a broader role to investigate and enforce suspected cases of modern slavery across the labour market.

There is a useful guide about who needs a license on the GLA website.

The onus is on companies to show that they are aware of Modern Slavery legislation and to show that they only source labour from legitimate sources. They also need to show that they have taken reasonable steps to ensure that it doesn’t take place in any of their supplier organisations.

You can read our Modern Slavery Policy here.