Modern slavery training: ETI teams up with Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply

Since January 2016, ETI has run 13 training sessions for businesses that want to get to grips with the UK’s Modern Slavery Act 2015. Now we’re joining up with the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) to reach even more companies.

ETI's new Base Code Guidance: Modern slavery - practical guidance for brands and retailers.

Regular ETI blog readers will have noticed that we frequently stress the importance of the UK’s Modern Slavery Act and its implications for businesses with a UK presence.

We make no apologies for that.

We firmly believe that the Act has the potential to be a game changer for abused workers in global supply chains as we have written here, here and here.

But don't just take our word for it. Watch this short Home Office film too.

And to quote our Executive Director, Peter McAllister:

“Companies and brands are facing ever increasing public and legislative pressure to clean up their supply chains to the benefit of workers, in addition to living up to ethical and business imperatives.”

It's why we are excited to be teaming up with CIPS.

Why CIPS is important

CIPS is the leading voice of the procurement and supply profession with a global community of over 115,000 in 150 countries. So this will be a ground breaking partnership that will expand our reach to new audiences.

The partnership will enable us to reach important business audiences outside of London, as well as international companies and suppliers.

The course will cover what companies need to do to ensure compliance with UK law and to protect workers in global supply chains.

It also includes sessions on the legal requirements and approach to writing a modern slavery statement, what should be included in due diligence and how it works, remediation issues and the importance of collaboration.

Because all companies that do business in the UK must understand the Act.

What the Modern Slavery Act means to companies

It’s important that all companies – whatever their size – understand what the Act means for them.

That’s not just companies with an annual turnover of over £36 million – the cut off figure in the Act.

Big brands have to show how they are trying to root out slavery wherever it occurs in their supply chains.

Consequently, suppliers to the 12,000 UK based companies over the £36 million threshold will eventually be asked by those companies to say what they are doing to mitigate the presence of slavery in their own businesses.

Finally, let some of the participants of past courses talk for themselves:

“The course was well balanced and covered all important aspects.”

“It was a good day and the packs to take away are very very helpful.”

“I really enjoyed the interactive ‘workshop’ format of the session and the opportunity to speak openly with others about difficult and complex issues.”

The first two ETI/CIPS courses are on 4 October in Manchester and 8 December in Birmingham