Modern Slavery Act 2015
Background
Modern supply chains are often extremely long, complex and international. The goods that are bought and sold in the UK are produced all over the world. Companies sourcing their products overseas must be confident that those they do business with are not using forced or trafficked labour, so that consumers in the UK can be equally confident that the goods and services they buy are free from slave labour. Under the Companies Act 2006 large, listed companies are required to report on human rights issues, and these reporting requirements have been strengthened further in 2015. From 1st April 2016, under the Modern Slavery Act, the Government has committed to introducing measures that specifically address modern slavery. It has introduced a legal duty on all businesses with a turnover of more than £36m to report annually on the steps they have taken to ensure modern slavery is not taking place within their business or supply chains anywhere in the world.
Reporting on these issues allows the public, consumers, employees and investors to know what steps an organisation is taking to tackle modern slavery, and have greater confidence in the goods and services they buy.
Introduction to the Act
Article 4 of the Human Rights Act is the right to be free from slavery or forced labour. The Government, in introducing the Modern Slavery Act 2015, is recognising the unique and strong position that organisations with significant resources and purchasing power have to influence global supply chains. The Transparency in Supply Chains provision contained within the Modern Slavery Act seeks to address the role of businesses in preventing modern slavery from occurring in their supply chains and organisations.
Modern Slavery is a term used to encapsulate the two offences in the Modern Slavery Act 2015: slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour; and human trafficking.
Forced labour and human trafficking can occur in business operations in a variety of ways:
Directly – by employing a trafficked or exploited person within the business or through a subcontractor or recruitment agency;
Indirectly – through illegal subcontracting occurring within the supply chain or through use of products or materials which have been produced by people under conditions of forced labour;
By association – where trafficking occurs within the local area as the result of a company’s operations, or as a secondary consequence of a company’s actions.
Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires that any commercial organisation in any sector, which supplies goods or services, and carries on business in the UK, with a turnover threshold of £36m, must produce a slavery and human trafficking statement for each financial year. The provision requires an organisation to be transparent about what is happening within its business. This means that if an organisation has taken no steps to ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place, they must still publish a statement stating this to be the case.
The Government encourages all businesses to develop an appropriate and effective response to modern slavery. Businesses may choose to take further action over and above what is prescribed by the Act but this will be a decision for individual businesses themselves. The provision seeks to create a race to the top by encouraging transparency and increasing competition to drive up standards.
As a recruitment company, Altrix processes personal data in relation to its own staff, work-seekers and individual client contacts. It is vitally important that we abide by the principles of the Data Protection Act 1998 set out below.
Altrix holds data on individuals for the following general purposes:
The Data Protection Act 1998 requires Altrix as data controller to process data in accordance with the principles of data protection. These require that data shall be: –
Personal data means data which relates to a living individual who can be identified from the data or from the data together with other information, which is in the possession of or is likely to come into possession of, Altrix.
Processing means obtaining, recording or holding the data or carrying out any operation or set of operations on the data. It includes organising, adapting and amending the data, retrieval, consultation and use of the data, disclosing and erasure or destruction of the data. It is difficult to envisage any activity involving data which does not amount to processing. It applies to any processing that is carried out on computer including any type of computer however described, main frame, desktop, laptop, palm top etc.
Data should be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that it is accurate, relevant and up to date and those people listed in the appendix shall be responsible for doing this.
Data may only be processed with the consent of the person whose data is held. Therefore, if they have not consented to their personal details being passed to a third party this may constitute a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998. By instructing Altrix to look for work and providing us with personal data contained in a CV, work-seekers will be giving their consent to processing their details for work-finding purposes. If you intend to use their data for any other purpose you must obtain their specific consent.
However, caution should be exercised before forwarding personal details of any of the individuals on which data is held to any third party such as past, current or prospective employers; suppliers; customers and clients; persons making an enquiry or complaint and any other third party.
Data in respect of the following is “sensitive personal data” and any information held on any of these matters MUST not be passed on to any third party without the express written consent of the individual:
From a security point of view, only those staff listed in the appendix should be permitted to add, amend or delete data from the database. However all staff are responsible for notifying those listed where information is known to be old, inaccurate or out of date. In addition, all employees should ensure that adequate security measures are in place. For example:
It should be remembered that the incorrect processing of personal data, e.g. sending an individual’s details to the wrong person, allowing unauthorised persons access to personal data, or sending information out for purposes for which the individual did not give their consent, may give rise to a breach of contract and/or negligence leading to a claim against Altrix for damages from an employee, work-seeker or client contact. A failure to observe the contents of this policy will be treated as a disciplinary offence.
Data subjects, i.e. those on whom personal data is held, are entitled to obtain access to their data on request and after payment of a fee. All requests to access data by data subjects, i.e. staff, members, customers or clients, suppliers, students etc, should be referred to James Lock, CEO, or Nousheen Bangee, Operations Manager, whose details are also listed on the appendix to this policy.
Any requests for access to a reference given by a third party must be referred to James Lock, CEO, and Nousheen Bangee, Operations Manager, and should be treated with caution even if the reference was given in relation to the individual making the request. This is because the person writing the reference also has a right to have their personal details handled in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and not disclosed without their consent. Therefore, when taking up references, an individual should always be asked to give their consent to the disclosure of the reference to a third party and/or the individual who is the subject of the reference if they make a subject access request. However, if they do not consent then consideration should be given as to whether the details of the individual giving the reference can be deleted so that they cannot be identified from the content of the letter. If so the reference may be disclosed in an anonymised form.
Finally, it should be remembered that all individuals have the following rights under the Human Rights Act 1998 and in dealing with personal data these should be respected at all times:
You shall:
These terms shall apply to each and every occasion on which You use the Platform. Each Assignment shall constitute a separate and divisible contract.
The Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) was established to give agency workers the right to the same basic employment and working conditions as if they had been recruited directly by a company.
From Day 1 of a placement you are automatically entitled to have access to collective amenities and facilities, such as a staff canteen or car parking (unless there are particular circumstances where these cannot be made available). The organisation is also required to give you access to information for relevant job vacancies within the company. If you have any queries relating to what is available, please contact your recruitment consultant.
After you have worked in the same role with the same client for 12 weeks, you will qualify for equal treatment in respect of pay and basic working conditions, including annual leave, as if you were directly employed by the client. You can accumulate these weeks even if you only work a few hours a week. However, if you start a new assignment with the same employer which is substantially different or there is a break of six calendar weeks in the same job then the ‘qualifying clock’ is reset. If your role substantially changes, your recruitment consultant will inform you of your new duties.
Whenever you are booked in to a job, we will ask you about any previous shifts you have worked with the client in order for us to monitor the 12 week qualifying period for you and to help establish when you are entitled to equal treatment.
There is more detailed information available on the direct.gov web site:
www.gov.uk/agency-workers-your-rights/overview
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