Written by Jade Oliver-Morris, HR & Shared Services Director

Anti-Slavery Day sees the announcement of a new slogan at Smart Solutions – ‘I Stand Against Slavery’.

But this is much more than a slogan printed on a t-shirt.

Our employees are integral to our fight against Modern Slavery. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to operate the rigorous process and procedures in place to prevent and detect criminal activity. Putting their voice at the heart of our messaging, we’re sending a clear indicator to those who need it most, be that victims or perpetrators, that Modern Slavery will not be tolerated at Smart Solutions.

In addition to this new campaign, our ongoing commitment to tackling this heinous crime encompasses a refresh of our marketing material as well as a full external review of our supplier mapping, auditing and associated procedures.

Earlier this year, we also played a key role in the launch of the Indirect Procurement Human Rights (IPHR)’s Modern Slavery Protocol and were naturally, amongst the first to sign up.

Our continued efforts to fight against slavery are reflected in the proactive stance of our people. As a responsible and ethical employer, we are dedicated to taking decisive actions to eradicate the violation of innocent victims.

We do this by continually evolving and building upon a foundation of good practices; a subsequent overview follows below.

We adopt a proactive approach to reporting any suspicions of hidden labour exploitation to the relevant authorities. Since October 2015 we have worked in partnership with Police forces across the UK to support their investigations. These relationships are still active, and we continue to work closely with the police to stamp out Modern Day Slavery and Human Trafficking.

Smart complies with the Modern Slavery Act 2015, producing an annual statement detailing our continuous improvement mechanisms and the steps we commit to undertake. We recognise that forced labour can occur in any industry, however, the proactive steps and prevention methods we have in place ensure that we’re tackling human trafficking at the highest level within our business and supply chains.

In 2016 we formed a corporate partnership with Hope for Justice and became one of the first members of Slave Free Alliance.

We work together to conduct on-site surgeries, welfare interviews, rescues and to provide a reliable National Referral Mechanism pathway.

In 2018 we also began working with various charities to help reinforce our rehabilitation programme, relocating and placing victims of Modern Day Slavery back into work. We are licenced by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and are members of Stronger Together.

SSR believe that every role in the business can contribute to ensuring that slavery does not exist.

The Company, led by an experienced HR support function, ensures that every member of staff attend Hidden Labour Exploitation training and get regular updates and guidance on our robust policies and procedures. An internal escalation pathway exists within SSR to enable our employees to report any concerns surrounding human trafficking.

Our IT department have developed several expert reports to ensure the highest level of compliance and due diligence across our systems including duplicate bank account and address reports, block-list bank account and address reports and suspect names reports.

Over the last 8 years, SSR has provided our workforce with further information on tackling modern slavery via posters and leaflets which are utilised in all our locations. A ‘Speak up with Confidence’ 24/7 confidential helpline and email address is also available to all staff and encourages employees to report any suspicious activity or concerns.

We have developed incident packs to support our on-site teams in the eventuality they feel they have identified a victim as well as supplier guides to educate those in our supply chain.

Additional internal initiatives include: –

• Pre-employment checks
• Annual Marketing Material – Providing continued awareness to employees and tools to allow them to recognise modern slavery signs in themselves or their peers
• Internal auditing
• Internal undercover team
• ‘Probation review’ – a wellbeing check-in with employees to identify areas of concern
• Regional Modern Slavery Champions
• Supplier Audits

Since we were first made aware that our workforce had been infiltrated, we have worked tirelessly to ensure that we are continuously developing in our approach to hidden labour exploitation.

We work to educate our clients, supply chains and external businesses so, as a collective, we can try and put an end to Modern Day Slavery and Human Trafficking. We are proud to be seen as a source of help in local communities where, on numerous occasions, either our workforce or members of the public have approached us to ask for rescue.

A recent gap analysis has been conducted to identify areas of development in our anti-slavery practices and we are looking to form a working group to focus on continuous improvement and further rehabilitation programmes.

We are committed to stamp out slavery and continue to do all we can.