The Modern Slavery Act 2015

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 is the UK's key piece of legislation on slavery, servitude, forced labour, and human trafficking. It brought existing offences together into one Act and strengthened the tools available to investigate and prosecute them.

What the Act does

• Consolidates the offences of slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour, and human trafficking.
• Provides for tough sentences for the most serious offenders, up to and including life imprisonment.
• Created the role of the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner to encourage good practice in prevention, detection, and victim support.
• Introduced Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Orders and Risk Orders to restrict the activity of people who pose a risk.
• Includes a statutory defence for victims who were compelled to commit certain offences as a direct result of their exploitation, recognising that people forced into crime are victims first.
• Introduced section 54, the transparency in supply chains provision, which requires large commercial organisations to report annually on the steps they take to keep slavery out of their business and supply chains. Section 3 of this course covers it in detail.

What this means for you

You are not expected to know the Act in legal depth. What matters for this course is the principle behind it: modern slavery is a serious crime in the UK, businesses have a responsibility to look for it in their own operations and supply chains, and people who are exploited are victims to be protected, not offenders to be punished.

If your organisation publishes a modern slavery statement or has a modern slavery policy, this Act is the reason it exists. Knowing that the law takes this seriously should give you confidence to raise a concern when something does not look right.