workers

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) is attempting to join leading business bodies and national supermarkets in the fight against modern day slavery by becoming a supporting partner of the Stronger Together network.

The REC joins the Association of Labour Providers (ALP), the British Retail Consortium, the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) and some of the UK’s largest supermarket chains, including The Co-operative Food, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose, in a cross-sector effort to reduce human trafficking and forced labour in the UK.

The Stronger Together initiative is about equipping UK employers with the knowledge and resources to recognise the signs of exploitation and to tackle it in the food and agriculture industries.

In the UK, trafficking for labour exploitation largely impacts on sectors with a predominance of migrant workers in their supply chain such as , food processing and agriculture.

The REC is promoting the online resources available to recruiters and UK employers to help them identify, tackle and deter hidden third party worker exploitation in their supply chains. Recruiters and employers can access:

· best practice guidance
· multi-language workplace posters
· worker leaflets
· template procedures
· an anti-trafficking video
· a series of workshops across the UK

REC chief executive Kevin Green, said: 'We strongly endorse the Stronger Together network’s aim to eradicate hidden labour exploitation in supply chains. We’re working hard on behalf of our members to raise employer awareness of what good recruitment looks like, but we can’t lose sight of the importance of combatting the criminal at the same time.

'Knowing the risks is essential if compliant agencies are to help identify and eradicate hidden exploitation. That’s why we want all REC members to get informed, access the materials available and attend the workshops. Working together with responsible employers and recruitment businesses, we can make a real difference in stopping these terrible crimes.”

Stronger Together programme coordinator and ALP director, David Camp, said: “We warmly welcome the REC as a supporting partner to the Stronger Together network. Tackling human trafficking for labour exploitation requires a collaborative approach to raise awareness and support employers and recruitment businesses in dealing with this growing scourge in supply chains.”

The REC is the professional body for the recruitment industry, and represents 3,506 corporate members who have branches across all regions of the UK.

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