Forced Labour and Modern Slavery
Forced labour is one of the most severe human rights violations companies encounter in their supply chains. The International Labour Organization estimates that approximately 50 million people were in situations of forced labour globally as of 2021 - a figure that increased by 10 million over the previous five-year period. Of these, around 28 million are in forced labour in the private economy, and 22 million are trapped in forced marriages. Understanding how to identify, prevent, and address forced labour is a core competency for any practitioner conducting human rights due diligence.
The ILO Definition and Its 11 Indicators
The ILO defines forced labour as "all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily" (Forced Labour Convention, 1930, No. 29). This definition has two essential elements: coercion (the menace of penalty) and involuntariness (absence of free consent).
In 2012, the ILO published a set of 11 operational indicators to help practitioners recognize forced labour situations. These indicators are organized into three clusters: recruitment, work and life conditions, and impossibility of leaving. The presence of even one indicator warrants investigation; multiple indicators together constitute strong evidence of a forced labour situation.
| Cluster | Indicator | What to Look For |
|---|---|---|
| Recruitment | Abuse of vulnerability | Workers recruited during personal crisis, in extreme poverty, or with limited alternatives |
| Recruitment | Deception | False promises about job type, location, wages, or living conditions |
| Recruitment | Restriction of movement | Workers cannot move freely between home and workplace or leave the accommodation |
| Recruitment | Debt bondage | Inflated recruitment fees, travel costs, or wage advances that take months or years to repay |
| Work and life conditions | Isolation | Workers housed in remote locations, denied communication with family or outside parties |
| Work and life conditions | Physical and sexual violence | Any physical or sexual abuse by employer, supervisor, or recruiter |
| Work and life conditions | Intimidation and threats | Threats of violence, arrest, deportation, or denunciation to authorities |
| Work and life conditions | Retention of identity documents | Passports, work permits, or national ID confiscated by employer or recruiter |
| Work and life conditions | Withholding of wages | Wages not paid, systematically delayed, or paid to a third party |
| Impossibility of leaving | Excessive overtime | Workers compelled to work hours well beyond legal limits with no right to refuse |
| Impossibility of leaving | Abusive working and living conditions | Accommodation, food, or conditions so poor they amount to a penalty for the worker |
Sectoral Hotspots
Forced labour is not randomly distributed across supply chains. Certain sectors and geographies carry dramatically higher risk. The ILO's 2022 global estimates identify agriculture, construction, manufacturing, domestic work, and fishing as the sectors with the highest absolute numbers of forced labour victims. Within these sectors, specific commodity supply chains have received particular regulatory attention.
- Xinjiang cotton and polysilicon: The US Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) of 2021 created a rebuttable presumption that goods produced in Xinjiang or by certain entities listed by the US government are made with forced labour. Companies must provide clear and convincing evidence to the contrary to import such goods into the United States.
- Cobalt mining in the DRC: Artisanal mining of cobalt - a key input for electric vehicle batteries - has been linked to exploitative conditions, child labour, and debt bondage in the Katanga region.
- Fishing and seafood: Workers on distant-water fishing vessels face particular risk due to the geographic isolation of their work, limited oversight, and documented practices such as document retention and debt bondage.
- Palm oil in Southeast Asia: Migrant workers from Indonesia, Myanmar, and Bangladesh working on Malaysian and Indonesian plantations have faced deceptive recruitment and debt bondage.
- Garments in South and Southeast Asia: Factory workers, particularly in the informal subcontracting tiers that are invisible to most buyers, face wage theft, illegal overtime, and intimidation.
Example: The Thai Fishing Industry
Investigative journalism and NGO research from 2014 to 2016 documented systematic forced labour aboard Thai fishing vessels supplying shrimp to global supermarkets. Workers - many of them Cambodian migrants - were deceived by recruiters about wages and working conditions, had documents confiscated when they boarded vessels, were confined at sea for months, and faced physical violence from boat captains. Some were sold between vessels without their consent. The revelations prompted responses from major retailers, the Thai government, and international brands. The EU issued a yellow card warning to Thailand under its Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing regulation, creating trade pressure. This case illustrates how forced labour can persist well beyond Tier 1 suppliers and how it emerges from the interaction of labour migration, geography, and weak enforcement.
Key Regulatory Frameworks
UK Modern Slavery Act (2015) was the first major transparency law requiring large companies with annual turnover above GBP 36 million and operating in the UK to publish an annual modern slavery statement. The statement must cover the company's supply chain structure, due diligence processes, risk assessment, training, and key performance indicators. While the original Act lacked strong enforcement teeth, proposed reforms and a Home Office reporting registry have increased pressure for meaningful disclosure.
US Tariff Act, Section 307 has prohibited the import of goods made with forced labour since 1930. Enforcement was historically weak but was substantially strengthened by the UFLPA (2021), which shifted the burden of proof and created a specific enforcement mechanism targeting Xinjiang. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can detain, exclude, or seize shipments, and companies must prove goods are not made with forced labour by clear and convincing evidence.
EU Forced Labour Regulation (2024) extends the ban on forced-labour goods to the EU single market. Unlike the UFLPA, it does not create a geographical presumption but instead establishes a risk-based investigation mechanism. National competent authorities and the European Commission can investigate products and ban those found to involve forced labour.
Analogy: The Contaminated Ingredient
Think of forced labour in supply chains like a contaminated ingredient in a food product. Even if a food manufacturer uses only a tiny amount of a contaminated ingredient - sourced from a distant supplier several tiers back - the entire end product can be recalled and the brand faces serious consequences. The contamination does not care how small or remote its source is. Similarly, even a small amount of forced labour in a distant supply chain tier can expose the entire brand to regulatory action, import bans, and reputational damage. The solution in both cases is to trace the ingredients and verify their safety, not to assume the problem does not exist.
Identifying and Responding to Forced Labour Risks
Companies conducting HRDD for forced labour should pursue a multi-layered approach. Document review and supplier questionnaires are a starting point but are insufficient on their own - no employer in a forced labour situation will voluntarily disclose it on a form. Effective practice combines:
- Worker interviews conducted confidentially, off-site, in the worker's own language, ideally by trusted civil society organizations rather than company staff
- Recruitment fee verification: understanding who paid what fees at each step of the recruitment chain, from the home country agent to the host country employer
- Document checks: confirming workers hold their own identity documents and are free to leave employment
- Wage verification: comparing payroll records with workers' actual experience, including deductions
- Third-party audits at higher-risk facilities, conducted with unannounced elements and worker interviews separated from management
Remediation Principle
When forced labour is discovered in a supply chain, the immediate priority is the safety of affected workers - not the commercial relationship with the supplier. Remediation may include paying unpaid wages, returning confiscated documents, ensuring safe repatriation for migrant workers, and connecting workers with support services. Cutting ties with a supplier as a first response, without providing remediation, can leave workers in an even more vulnerable situation. The UNGPs and OECD Guidance both emphasize that a company should use its leverage to drive remediation before disengaging.
Key Takeaways
- 1The ILO estimates 50 million people are in situations of forced labour globally, with the private economy accounting for 28 million cases
- 2The ILO's 11 indicators of forced labour - grouped around recruitment, work conditions, and inability to leave - provide practitioners with concrete red flags to look for during due diligence
- 3Regulatory pressure is intensifying through trade-based tools (US UFLPA, EU Forced Labour Regulation) that can result in import bans and require companies to prove goods are not tainted by forced labour
- 4Effective detection requires worker interviews in workers' own languages, recruitment fee auditing, and document verification - questionnaires alone are not sufficient
- 5When forced labour is found, worker safety and remediation take priority over commercial relationships with suppliers