The GRI and the Responsible Labor Initiative have launched a comprehensive new toolkit for improving reporting on modern slavery​.

A toolkit to develop reporting around modern slavery has been published by GRI and the Responsible Labor Initiative, an Initiative of the Responsible Business Alliance. It offers guidance for increasing the effectiveness of corporate reporting, and underpins the transparency and accountability needed to support global efforts towards completely eradicating modern slavery in all its forms.

Worker exploitation across global value chains remains a prominent human rights issue. These days, governments, international organizations, investors, customers, and industry stakeholders expect companies to take proactive steps to ensuring they contribute to the eradication of modern slavery, as well as to communicate how they address their impacts in accordance with globally recognized frameworks.

The Modern Slavery Reporting Toolkit helps companies to prepare their reporting so it meets these expectations. It comprises...

• Information about key legislation for modern slavery reporting requirements.
• Support for going beyond legal compliance, both in terms of due diligence reporting and company disclosure of how they evaluate their actions across the value chain.
• Examples of current reporting practice, as well as several others tools and guidance that businesses can access.

GRI chief executive Tim Mohin said:

“There are growing expectations on companies to identify any incidence of modern slavery in their operations and value chains and report on the steps they take as a result. This toolkit will help businesses to increase their efforts to address these serious human rights concerns, safeguard the wellbeing of workers and manage financial, legal and reputational risks.”

Rob Lederer, executive director of the Responsible Business Alliance, added:

“The business community is tirelessly working to address modern slavery in global supply chains. Providing transparency on these efforts is crucial, to drive continual improvement and share progress with key stakeholders.”

The toolkit is the sum of an RMI-GRI initiated taskforce for reporting on modern slavery, involving 14 organizations, and including information from international frameworks and regulatory requirements. Many stakeholders have offered their input, including civil society organizations and socially-responsible investors.

The Responsible Labor Initiative is a multi-industry, multi-stakeholder initiative aiming to respect and promote the rights of workers who are vulnerable to forced labor in global supply chains.

Source: GRI