Modern Slavery Policy
Last updated: March 08, 2023
This statement is made as part of Huntress’ commitment to eliminating the exploitation of people under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the Act) and ensuring that our staff and any workers we supply are not subject to threats that may amount to modern slavery, human trafficking, forced labour, and similar human rights abuses.
This statement is published in accordance with section 54 of the Act, and relates to the financial year January 2022 to December 2022. It was approved by the board of directors on 23rd May 2023.
Avtar Kang
Finance Director
Board of Directors
Huntress’ policies are approved by the board of directors and ensure that there is transparency in our business and demonstrate our commitment to ensuring modern slavery does not form part of our supply chain.
Our Business
Huntress is a long-established recruitment company in England supplying both temporary and permanent workers. We recruit for a diverse range of clients and manage relationships at various levels of the recruitment chain. We operate from 5 physical offices across the country specialising in Office Support, Legal, Accounting & Finance and IT.
Our Policy
We have a Modern Slavery Policy which outlines our position. We have also seen an increase in clients introducing their own code of conduct and we have adapted our terms of business to include a commitment to tackle this issue. This allows us to ensure that standards are being met and legislation is being complied with in our supply chain.
Our Training
We have developed and adopted a proactive approach to tackling hidden exploitation. Within our own business, we have introduced appropriate training and awareness information to all our staff. In particular, our leadership team and senior managers receive training in identifying and resolving concerns around modern slavery and human trafficking. We have also introduced guidance around modern slavery, as well as other wider human rights issues, to our induction programme so that all staff can bring any concerns they have to the attention of management.
Managing Risk
We review the potential for risk at regular intervals, including the possibility of auditing a supplier or conducting spot checks.
As a recruitment business, we need to ensure that our workers are not forced to work, through mental or physical threats or subject to abuse while at work. After due consideration and having assessed the risk in the areas we operate, we have not identified any significant risks of modern slavery, forced labour, or human trafficking in our supply chain. We do not consider ourselves to operate in high risk sectors nor do we source workers from overseas however, we continue to be alert to the potential for problems.
Modern slavery is a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights. It takes various forms, including slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour and human trafficking, all of which have in common the deprivation of a person's liberty by another in order to exploit them for personal or commercial gain as defined in the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Huntress is committed to ensuring that forced, compulsory or trafficked labour, or anyone held in slavery or servitude, whether adults or children, does not form part of our business or supply chains and we expect that our clients, contractors, suppliers and other business partners will hold themselves and their own suppliers to the same high standards. This includes but is not limited to the avoidance of child labour and forced labour, either through mental or physical threats or subject to abuse while at work, compliance with applicable wage and working hour laws including minimum wage regulations.
This policy is part of our commitment to ensuring that our staff and any workers we supply (directly or indirectly) are not subject to behaviour or threats that may amount to modern slavery, human trafficking, forced labour, and similar human rights abuses. It applies to all persons and organisations who work for us or on our behalf in any capacity, including employees at all levels, directors, officers, agency workers, seconded workers, volunteers, interns, agents, contractors, external consultants, third-party representatives and business partners.
Huntress has a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and we are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships. We take steps to implement and enforce effective systems and controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our business or in any of our supply chains.
Within our own business, we have introduced appropriate training and awareness information to all our staff. In particular, our leadership team and senior managers receive training in identifying and resolving concerns around modern slavery and human trafficking. We have also introduced guidance around modern slavery, as well as other wider human rights issues, to our induction programme so that all staff can bring any concerns they have to the attention of management.
The prevention, detection and reporting of modern slavery in any part of our business or supply chain is the responsibility of all those who form part of this business and our supply chains. Employees must notify their manager or HR of any suspected breach, whether in our business or in our supply chain so that it can be investigated.
Reports surrounding these issues will be taken seriously by our board of directors, who are committed to ensuring that all investigations shall be prompt and effective. If any of our clients, contractors, suppliers and other business partners breach this policy we reserve the right to carry out an investigation which, if any issues are revealed, may lead us to take appropriate action. This may include working with the appropriate organisation to improve standards, removing that organisation from our preferred supplier list, passing details to appropriate law enforcement bodies or terminating our relationship with immediate effect without notice or incurring any penalty clauses.
As part of our efforts in this area, we publish a modern slavery statement on an annual basis on our website.
This policy can be amended at any time.