Modern slavery
and human
trafficking
statement
Modern slavery
and human
trafficking
statement
The Modern Slavery Act 2015 (“act”) was introduced to help eradicate slavery, forced labour
and human trafficking in the operations and supply chains of companies.
Responsibility
are proud of our Business Ethics and Anti-Bribery Policy which has been expanded to
incorporate the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act. We are committed to preventing and mitigating exploitation, corruption and bribery. We take this responsibility seriously. We will not accept bribery, modern slavery, forced labour and human trafficking anywhere within our operations or supply chain.
The production of an annual statement is not the entirety of Certsure LLP’s corporate
responsibility. All employees have a duty to be vigilant to any behaviour which suggests a
breach of the Modern Slavery Act.
This statement has been reviewed and agreed by the Strategic Leadership Team.
Certsure LLP Structure
industries, and was born out of partnership between the charity, Electrical Safety Council
(t/a Electrical Safety First) and the trade association, Electrical Contractors Association.
Certsure LLP Business Activities
Certsure LLP run the largest competent persons scheme in the building services industry,
and a range of other approval schemes under our NICEIC and ELECSA brands. We have
been assessing the electrical competence of electricians for over sixty years. We have
37,000 registrants across our schemes completing over a million domestic electrical
installation jobs per year.
These activities are complimented by bespoke training courses delivered at a variety of
venues across the U.K. In addition, our online shop, ‘Direct’, supplies a range of essential
products for tradespeople including certificates, publications, workwear, test equipment and tools.
Our Technical Helpline offers free advice to both consumers and electrical contractors.
Certsure LLP Operations
free of modern slavery, forced labour and human trafficking. Colleagues across the Certsure LLP work under comparable terms and conditions that are in accordance with U.K. employment law.
We have a range of employment policies in place which ensure that our employees are fairly treated, supported, remunerated and understand the behaviour expected by the
organisation. These policies include, but are not limited to, equality and diversity, pay and reward, annual leave, health safety and wellbeing including Mental Health First Aiders, prevention of harassment and bullying, anti-bribery and corruption, and whistleblowing. All these policies are available on request.
Certsure LLP Supply Chains and Risk Areas
We also create, negotiate and have access to a series of agreements put in place with a
variety of suppliers. We contract with a range of suppliers, from IT companies to local cleaning and catering companies. It is believed that companies providing manual or lower skilled workers to provide services are more likely to be at greater risk of exploitation. For example, this could include the cleaning companies engaged to work at Certsure LLP’s offices in the U.K., or the workers producing technology components or NICEIC or ELECSA branded goods overseas.
Raising awareness amongst our employees is key to ensuring that these risk areas
are recognised, and that employees know what to do if they become aware of any concerns associated with exploitation.
Due Diligence
Training and Awareness
during induction training, and the employee handbook and policy documents are available on the company’s intranet. Employees are expected to familiarise themselves with the key requirements of the Act and their responsibility as individuals to report behaviour, to designated Certsure LLP employees, which they believe suggests a breach of the Act.
The company’s Whistleblowing Policy includes appropriate guidance for employees regarding reporting any suspicion of inappropriate or illegal behaviours. The processes within the policy are reviewed to ensure that they are appropriate for behaviours reported in the context of the Act.
Actions in the Last Reporting Year
In the last reporting year, we continue to:
-
- Raise awareness of the Act within Certsure LLP during employee inductions, the employee handbook and policy documents. This is an ongoing activity to ensure that colleagues are well informed.
- Commit to raise awareness of the Act through online business compliance training.
- Embed the requirements of the Act into all procurement processes and policies.
- Review and amend our contract terms to respond to the provisions of the Act, including reserving our rights to terminate contracts with suppliers in the event that there is evidence of non-compliance with the Act.
- Introduce a requirement for all suppliers to provide a link to their slavery and human trafficking statements.
Future Plans
This statement is available on our public website. It will, in addition, be provided on request to all those organisations in receipt of Certsure LLP services. This statement will also be referenced in the Certsure LLP trustees’ report and financial statements for 2020-21 and 2021-22.