Eliminating modern slavery

Need to know

New legislation for modern slavery and worker exploitation in supply chains is under consideration. This assessment is designed to support businesses that want to take action now to prepare for new laws or align themselves with international best practice.

Make sure you are meeting current obligations to workers within your organisation simply by completing the Upholding workers' rights Q&A.

How it works

Scroll down and answer the questions to review how you identify and manage modern slavery risks in your business.

This will help you identify areas where you are doing well or need to improve. Plus there’s helpful advice on making changes and promoting your successes.

Keep a handy record of your answers by downloading and completing the checklist. Your answers are not saved in Docket.

Step 1: Identify

Do you identify where there are risks of modern slavery in your supply chain?

YES

Great! Here’s an example of how you could communicate this when bidding for new work or reporting on your sustainability actions.

"We take every effort to identify modern slavery risks in our supply chain. We identify and record all the businesses, employers, contractors and suppliers we work with. We then use the Risk Factors to Manage table (Employment New Zealand) to identify those that have a higher risk of modern slavery. For those we identify as higher risk we seek more data through monitoring, audits and third-party verification, where necessary."

Want to learn more about best practice or how you could do more?
Click ‘No / Unsure’ below for more information and resources.
NO / UNSURE
It is important to identify the risk of modern slavery in your supply chain. Start by considering whether there is an increased risk of employment standards not being met. Best practice usually involves mapping all businesses, employers, contractors and suppliers across your entire supply chain and assessing the risks to workers within each.

Ask for evidence that shows how they are meeting employment standards. Check as far down your supply chain as possible. Conducting a risk assessment is a good way to focus efforts and prioritise the highest risk suppliers or areas. They can include:
- Sectors that have a history of human and employment rights issues
- Industries that use migrant workers
- Industries that use many young or older workers
- High dependence on human labour services where over 75% of the contract value reflects the cost of labour
- Industries that use unskilled, temporary and/or seasonal workers
Take action

Risk factors for procurers to manage - Employment New Zealand

Learn more

Identifying and minimising labour rights issues - Employment New Zealand

Assuring ethical and sustainable work practices through procurement - Employment New Zealand

Responsible Sourcing Tool

Step 2: Mitigate

Are you taking action to eliminate risks of modern slavery?

YES

Nice work! Here’s an example of how you could communicate this when bidding for new work or reporting on your sustainability actions.

"We mitigate our modern slavery risk by buying products and services only from businesses that can assure us their workers have New Zealand minimum Employment Standards, or equivalent if offshore. For businesses that we identify as high-risk, we require higher levels of assurance. For example, where possible, we complete audits by visiting their worksite and speaking to their employees directly. If that is not possible, we use an independent third-party to conduct a visit for us. In high-risk areas, we ask businesses to run the same checks with their suppliers.”

Want to learn more about best practice or how you could do more?
Click ‘No / Unsure’ below for more information and resources.
NO / UNSURE

The best way to mitigate modern slavery risks in your supply chain is to buy products and services only from businesses that can show evidence their workers and suppliers have New Zealand minimum Employment Standards, or the equivalent if offshore.

Learn what commitments the businesses you buy from are making to eliminate modern slavery. Speak to them directly. If that’s not possible, check their websites and research them online to see if there have been any breaches or legal cases where employment rights have not been met.

If you purchase a lot from a business, make an extra effort to ensure its workers are treated well. Depending on your size and resources you may want to get the businesses you buy from to sign a supplier declaration, a code of conduct and / or establish an annual reporting and management system.

Learn more

Mitigations for procurers to reduce risks in supply chains - Employment New Zealand

Identifying and minimising labour rights issues - Employment New Zealand

Assuring ethical and sustainable work practices through procurement - Employment New Zealand

Do you have channels for workers to report issues?

YES

Great! Here’s an example of how you could communicate this when bidding for new work or reporting on your sustainability actions.

"We have channels for workers to report issues which is one of the best ways we can identify and deal with modern slavery risks in our supply chain. We provide a free, anonymous, 'whistleblower' text and phone line service where anyone (staff, contractors, subcontractors, staff from suppliers, public) can report concerns about breaches of employment rights or worker mistreatment of any kind. We take any reports seriously. This helps provide an additional layer of assurance to our customers."

Want to learn more about best practice or how you could do more?
Click ‘No / Unsure’ below for more information and resources.
NO / UNSURE

Some businesses successfully identify and eliminate modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chain by provide a whistleblowing service for reporting employment issues. This can be done anonymously by phone text, web form or app.

While this can be done in-house, best practice is to use an external agency. This helps protect the identity of whistleblowers. Making this service accessible to everyone including staff, contractors, subcontractors, staff from your suppliers and the public can help to identify breaches.

Take action

SpeakUp, whistleblowing service

Ask Your Team, anonymous feedback

Do you have a statement in place to eliminate modern slavery?

YES

Awesome! Here’s an example of how a business could communicate this when bidding for new work or reporting on its sustainability actions.

"We are committed to eliminating modern slavery from our supply chains. By [date] we will have a fully transparent and regularly audited supply chain both in Aotearoa New Zealand and offshore. We can trace every product and service we buy back to its source. We question suppliers to make sure they are not participating in modern slavery practices. We are committed to buying only from businesses that can show evidence their workers receive at least New Zealand minimum employment rights and the equivalent offshore. We have a whistleblower tool available for everyone in our supply chain and the public to report issues and risks anonymously."

Want to learn more about best practice or how you could do more?
Click ‘No / Unsure’ below for more information and resources.
NO / UNSURE

Having a statement in place to eliminate modern slavery from your supply chain shows you are serious about your responsibility. Include a detailed plan on how you will meet your commitment. Setting time frames can help, i.e. achieving a target by a certain year. If you are unsure of what you should be aiming for, join a collective commitment that is nationally or internationally recognised.

Learn more

Modern slavery toolkits - Mekong Club

Modern slavery statement - Grant Thornton International

Modern slavery statement - Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand