Modern slavery policy

Recruitment South East Ltd recognises that Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking could be potential risks to our business, and we are proud of our experience that has grown through the journey since we first started our campaign to join with other like-minded businesses to help victims of modern slavery and trafficking in the UK.

• There are an estimated 10-13,000 victims of Modern-Day Slavery within the UK costing the UK economy about £4.3bn per year.
• For each and every Modern Slavery crime discovered in the UK, the estimated cost is over £330,000 including support for lost earnings and enforcement.

RSE is committed to working with all organisations that take the issue as seriously as we do and who share our goal to reduce and eliminate this threat in the UK. Integrity is one of our core values. We have strict policies and procedures in place to ensure the consistent monitoring of our workforce for the signs of human trafficking and labour exploitation. These checks are not only paramount to allowing us to investigate and identify exploitation at the earliest possible stage but are embedded into our policies and daily procedures throughout our business, both through our front-line staff and centrally from the back office.

We are confident that we have the right checks in place to minimise the risk of modern slavery, human trafficking and labour exploitation taking place within our supply chain. However, should our business be infiltrated, we are able to react quickly and efficiently to resolve cases. This response is due to the knowledge and experience held within the RSE Compliance team, the awareness levels of the wider team members, and the relationships we hold with the relevant government authorities.

RSE provides flexible blue-collar workers, to clients, across a wide range of industries including agriculture, drinks, driving, food processing, logistics and manufacturing and engineering.

Its Customer Experience platform provides optimised customer-based staffing management solutions whilst providing market-leading levels of job satisfaction for workers.

Due Diligence, Processes and Action Taken

Throughout our working relationship with every worker, our commitment is to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of that individual. We have processes and policies in place to ensure all our trained staff conduct the correct and regular checks, required by the business, to enable us to spot any issues at a very early stage. We invest heavily in Compliance via a dedicated team of highly experienced individuals trained in assessing risk and capable of dealing with any problems confidently, competently and timeously Through GLAA Guidelines and Recruitment Employment Confederation legal team.

From the moment a potential worker chooses to join RSE the checks begin. Checks continue all throughout the worker’s time with us. This ensures that the worker has control of their own documentation and that their job expectations are managed effectively. All interviews are completed face-to-face with the individual to make sure that they have freely chosen to attend. In addition, throughout the registration and interview process, all application forms are checked and verified as being the applicant’s own information. We also ask where they found out about RSE and the role.

All information is uploaded onto our central CRB platform allowing us to have full visibility and run checks through our system remotely to spot anything that may look suspicious with shared details, such as the same bank accounts or multiple occupancy housing alerts. In the event of any of our staff spotting anything suspicious it is Red flagged and details of how this must then be escalated and dealt with.

Worker education begins at the induction stage, giving an insight into Modern Slavery. It explains why it is illegal in the UK and what the worker should do if they suspect it is happening to a colleague or they are a victim themselves.

During their employment, regular checks are conducted on workers’ welfare in the form of surveys, worker interviews and our Compliance manager also undertakes regular site audits. Every day, we conduct background checks on all workers’ details through our central payroll system.

We are licensed by the Gangmasters Labour and Abuse Authority and remain compliant against the GLAA’s standards. Number RECR0049

We are totally committed to Compliance and Ethical Standards and strive to operate best practices at all times. Everyone in the Company is introduced to and trained to comply with our company compliance standards and operating procedures at the start of their employment.

Everyone is given the tools to identify the indicators of human trafficking and forced labour, and the reporting channels are very clear for any points of concern. As soon as an exploitation issue arises, it is urgently flagged to the appropriate authorities to investigate with the full co-operation of RSE supporting throughout the case.

Effectiveness & Commitment

At RSE we are fully aware and accept that with Modern Slavery it can happen anywhere, at any time, and in any part of our business.

The steps we have taken and continue to take will we hope, ENSURE we never knowingly partake in Modern Slavery in any form but we continue, as in previous years to be vigilant, keep all of our staff fully up to date with any new developments, and constantly strive to monitor the effectiveness of our processes and policies.

As we have eluded to previously if an issue is found (TO DATE IT NEVER HAS BEEN) we are confident it can be correctly identified and that our staff are sufficiently trained to know what to do and when without placing any of our workers at any further risk.Modern Slavery and Trafficking is an international problem, and with the links to many criminal organisations, it remains a high risk to any supply chain or businesses.

RSE will continue its investment in the identification & prevention of Modern Slavery, it remains a high priority for the business and that of our valued clients.

Mandy Purdie – MD