Modern slavery is a serious human rights violation that occurs when individuals are exploited and controlled for personal or commercial gain. It includes forced labor, human trafficking, servitude, and other practices where people cannot refuse or leave work due to threats, coercion, or abuse. Modern slavery in global supply chains is a direct compliance risk that affects companies across industries.
As regulators expand enforcement, organizations are increasingly accountable for labor conditions deep within their supplier networks. Understanding modern slavery in supply chains is now essential for maintaining market access and regulatory credibility.
Modern slavery is an umbrella term. Forced labor is one of its most common and most regulated forms. A clear forced labor definition comes from the International Labor Organization (ILO): Forced labor is any work or service extracted under threat of penalty where the person has not offered themselves voluntarily.
In practice, forced labor may involve:For companies, understanding forced labor is critical because it is a primary focus of customs enforcement and trade regulations.
Modern slavery in global supply chains often occurs several tiers upstream, and many companies struggle to identify risk before enforcement action occurs.
Modern slavery often hides behind routine business practices, making it difficult to detect without clear indicators. In supply chains, it typically manifests through control, coercion, or restriction of worker freedom, rather than overt violence.
These examples of modern slavery in supply chains highlight what procurement, compliance, and sustainability teams should actively look for.
Suppliers or labor brokers withhold identity documents to restrict worker movement. This removes a worker’s ability to leave or change employment freely.
What it can look like:
Delayed or unpaid wages trap workers in unsafe or exploitative conditions. Without pay, workers often cannot afford to leave.
What it can look like:
When overtime is enforced through threats or discipline, it becomes coercive. This risk increases during peak production cycles.
What it can look like:
When employers control housing, food, and transportation, workers may become isolated and dependent. This can quickly escalate into exploitation.
What it can look like:
These conditions are not only ethical red flags—they also expose companies to growing legal and regulatory risk.
Human rights laws are increasingly designed to address modern slavery risks through transparency, due diligence, and enforcement. Rather than voluntary commitments, companies are now expected to demonstrate how they identify and mitigate labor risks across their supply chains.
Below are the major human rights laws shaping modern slavery accountability today.
The UK Modern Slavery Act requires businesses above a revenue threshold to publish an annual modern slavery statement describing actions taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.
Statements must be approved at the board level and published annually, typically aligned to the organization’s financial year. While the law does not mandate a single filing date, statements are expected to be updated once every 12 months and remain publicly accessible.
In practice, expectations around modern slavery act reporting have expanded. Regulators, investors, and customers increasingly look for:
For many organizations, the challenge is not publishing a statement on time. It is substantiating that statement with reliable supplier data year after year.
Canada’s Fighting Against Forced Labor and Child Labor in Supply Chains Act establishes a clear annual reporting deadline of May 31 for qualifying entities and certain government institutions.
Reports must describe steps taken during the previous financial year to prevent and reduce the risk of forced labor and child labor at any stage of production, whether goods are produced domestically or imported.
Required disclosures include:This structure exposes a common modern slavery challenge to supply chain management. If supplier data is fragmented or outdated, meeting the May 31 deadline becomes reactive. If data is structured and refreshed continuously, reporting becomes far more manageable.
Australia’s Modern Slavery Act applies to entities with consolidated annual revenue above AUD $100 million that are based in, or operate in, Australia.
Modern slavery statements must be submitted within six months after the end of the reporting entity’s financial year and are published in a public registry. Unlike some disclosure regimes, Australia places strong emphasis on describing how organizations assess the effectiveness of their actions.
This has practical implications for companies managing modern slavery in global supply chains. One-time supplier questionnaires or static risk assessments rarely provide enough evidence to support effective compliance over multiple reporting cycles.
As a result, many organizations are shifting toward repeatable processes that track risk and outcomes over time.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act demonstrates how modern slavery and forced labor risk translate directly into enforcement action.
Signed into law in December 2021, UFLPA enforcement began on June 21, 2022. Since then, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has actively detained shipments suspected of containing forced labor-linked inputs.
Under UFLPA:
In the first year of enforcement, CBP detained over $522 million in goods, with more than 10,000 shipments valued at $3.5 billion stopped to date. Apparel, footwear, and electronics supply chains have been especially affected.
Identifying and managing modern slavery risk is inherently complex. Several modern slavery challenges to supply chain management continue to undermine even well-intentioned compliance programs.
One challenge is scale. Global estimates show that 50 million people were living in modern slavery worldwide in 2021, with forced labor accounting for more than half of those cases. Much of this exploitation occurs within private-sector supply chains, often several tiers upstream.
Common operational challenges include:
These gaps create blind spots, particularly when multiple forced labor and modern slavery regulations apply at the same time. When enforcement actions occur, companies often discover that the data needed to respond is not available.
Regulators are signaling clearer and more consistent expectations for modern slavery compliance. Disclosure alone is no longer sufficient. Effective programs typically include:
The objective of modern slavery due diligence is not perfection. It is defensible, repeatable processes that support informed decision-making under real regulatory pressure.
Modern slavery risk cannot be managed in isolation. It intersects with forced labor enforcement, ESG reporting, and product compliance obligations. Supplier data is often fragmented, outdated, or limited to tier-one relationships. Risk assessments rely on self-reported information, manual processes, or one-time audits that fail to capture real exposure. Meanwhile, regulations continue to expand in scope, depth, and enforcement expectations.
Source Intelligence helps organizations better address modern slavery by:
This approach enables teams to move from reactive reporting to proactive risk management, while maintaining defensible records that stand up to audits, inquiries, and border enforcement.
Watch our on-demand webinar, How to Comply with Global Human Rights Regulations at Scale, for a practical breakdown of key requirements, non-compliance risks, and how to manage human rights compliance at scale with technology.
Tiahna is a Senior Sustainability Consultant at Source Intelligence, based in the UK. She brings over a decade of experience in compliance data analysis, including seven years specializing in environmental compliance. With deep expertise in Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), Tiahna serves as a trusted subject matter expert in global e-waste, packaging, and battery legislation. In her role, she supports organizations by evaluating EPR obligations and delivering outsourced reporting and compliance consultancy, helping companies navigate complex and evolving global regulations.