The report Seeing Through Transparency: Tackling Labour Exploitation Through Transparency Legislation by Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX) and funded by the Freedom Fund evaluates the United Kingdom’s Modern Slavery Act (MSA), highlighting significant shortcomings, particularly the lack of enforcement and corporate accountability. It finds that transparency legislation often fails to improve conditions for workers, as companies focus on compliance rather than genuine efforts to prevent exploitation, resulting in minimal impact on the ground.
Key conclusions include the lack of enforcement and accountability, with many companies not meeting the MSA’s minimum requirements, and a tendency towards superficial compliance over substantive action. The report recommends enhanced enforcement mechanisms, including penalties for non-compliance, and a comprehensive prevention framework focusing on corporate accountability and mandatory due diligence to protect workers’ rights. Additionally, it calls for alignment with international standards to ensure consistency and effectiveness in addressing labour exploitation across global supply chains.
Click here or on the image below to access the report.
