Our modern slavery statement
Overview
This Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and relates to actions and activities during the financial year 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2019.
We recognise that modern slavery is a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights. The statement sets down our commitment to preventing slavery and human trafficking in our business activities at Granite BPO and the steps we have put in place with the aim of ensuring that there is no slavery or human trafficking in our own business and supply chains.
Organisation’s structure
We are a provider of temporary labour solutions and business process outsourcing in various sectors within the UK labour market. We are based in Kingston Upon Thames in the UK. Granite BPO employees are based and operate primarily in the UK, with some overseas travel being undertaken by our employees as and when required.
Our business
Our business entity is: GRANITE BPO LTD and our company number is 11708496. Our registered office and trading address is 2/2 Siddeley House 50 Canbury Park Road, Kingston Upon Thames, England, KT2 6LX.
Our policies on slavery & human trafficking
We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of our business. Our Modern Slavery Policy reflects our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place anywhere within our supply chains.
Our supply-chains
Our supply chains include the below who operate and specialise in various sectors within the UK and have a requirement for skilled labour, services and/or personnel:
Recruitment Businesses
Consultancy Companies
End-Clients
In more detail, we primarily work with recruitment agencies who enter into a written agreement with an end-client whereby it is agreed that the agency will source a worker to provide the required services. The worker consequently agrees to be employed by Granite BPO Ltd who in turn enters into a consultancy agreement with the agency to provide the services of the worker.
We also procure services and goods from third-party suppliers to assist with the operation of our business day to day.
Due diligence processes
We will not support or deal with any businesses knowingly involved in slavery or human trafficking. The agencies we use for the supply of labour are reputable agencies and we expect them to follow the same modern slavery policies as we do. We follow a strict agency/client on-boarding process which includes but is not limited to:
Completion of our New Agency/Client Form.
Check the Company is registered with Companies House, incorporation date, director names, company accounts filings.
Check the web domain.
Check the Company VAT number(s).
Credit check (if credit applicable)
We adhere to the payment of national minimum wage (NMW). Our systems restrict us from processing a payment below the NMW and our employment contract with the worker also iterates this point.
As part of our due diligence procedures we will introduce contractual provisions for our suppliers to confirm their adherence to this policy.
We will aim to incorporate the Modern Slavery Policy into the onboarding process, such that the employee will be asked to read and acknowledge understanding of the Policy. We want to encourage our employees to report any concerns related to the direct activities, or the supply chains of, the organisation. This includes any circumstances that may give rise to an enhanced risk of slavery or human trafficking. The whistleblowing procedure will be designed to make it easy for workers to make disclosures, without fear of retaliation.
We undertake ‘Right to Work Checks’ and maintain a heightened ‘Know Your Client’ process for all overseas nationals looking to secure work in the UK without discriminating against any workers on the basis of their race, nationality, caste, creed or colour.
We have in place processes to:
Mitigate the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring in our supply chains.
Monitor potential risk areas in our supply chains.
Report potential instances of modern slavery and human trafficking.
Protect whistle blowers.
Supplier adherence to our ethics
We have zero tolerance to slavery and human trafficking and we are keen to ensure that all those in our supply chain comply with our ethics.
The owners and directors of the business will field any queries or comments from suppliers, customers, employees or regulators in relation to our approach to combating slavery and human trafficking.
Training
To ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains and our business, we provide ongoing training to our staff and in particular to those who are responsible for purchasing and human resourcing. Training is also provided to all new employees to ensure they are aware of our stance on preventing slavery and human trafficking within the businesses and supply chains and how to identify if someone is being trafficked.