Slavery and Anti-Trafficking Statement
This is a statement of the steps this organisation, Careers Collective has taken during this financial year to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any of our supply chains and in any part of our own business.
We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of our own business. This Anti-Slavery & Human Trafficking statement reflects our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place anywhere in our organisation or supply chains.
Please see Appendix 1 for definitions of Slavery and Trafficking.
Our organisation
Careers Collective operates exclusively online and engages freelance service providers (who we refer to as Collaborators) in all aspects of the business; we do not have members of staff. We create our own content in-house and do not supply goods other than downloadable resources. Our model is a blended coaching and teaching approach. We work with adults and children.
Our activities
We make clear our own ethics and expectations in our engagement with all elements of our supply chain and share our Code of Conduct, Safeguarding Policy and Health and Safety Policy with all new suppliers
We have in place systems to encourage the reporting of concerns and the protection of whistleblowers as reflected in our Safeguarding Policy. We have a separate confidential email address to which concerns can be addressed.
We have zero tolerance of slavery and human trafficking and we expect all those in our supply chain and contractors to comply with our values.
This policy is on our website, along with our Safeguarding Policy
We confirm the identities of all new freelance Collaborators through DBS and insurance identification and their right to work in the United Kingdom and pay all our employees above the National Living Wage for their age group
We build, direct and maintain a friendly, professional and open relationship with all of our Collaborators, who are under no obligation to provide services or accept work from us.
Our Collaborators operate according to the conditions in our Collaborator’s Agreement, a legal document that meets the standard for this type of working arrangement. Collaborators agree on an hourly rate appropriate to their experience and qualifications and provide us with their availability. Collaborators can choose to withdraw their services or engagement at any time.
Our Risk
We have assessed our risk of having slavery or trafficking in our supply chain to be low. This is because we:
● Raise awareness through our policy and conversations
● Hire mainly from our network
● Check identification and qualifications via referencing and requesting documentation
● Make payment by bank transfer
● Operate under a legal document called the Collaborator’s Agreement
● Hire mainly single traders who do not have employees
● Are providing a virtual teaching and coaching service delivered by professionals. Please see Appendix 2 for information about sources of help
Appendix 1
Taken from
Modern slavery is a complex crime that covers all forms of slavery, trafficking and exploitation. Trafficking includes transporting, recruiting or harbouring an individual with a view to them being exploited. Modern slavery crimes may involve, or take place alongside, a wide range of abuses and other criminal offences such as grievous bodily harm, assault, rape or child sexual abuse.
Victims of modern slavery can be men, women and children of any age worldwide. There is an assumption that victims of modern slavery are often trafficked to the UK from other countries, but residents of the UK are also among the victims that are exploited in the UK and other countries. The crime is often hidden from the authorities and the general public. Victims may struggle to leave their situation because of threats, punishment, violence, coercion and deception, and some may believe that they are not in a situation of exploitation.
The Palermo Protocol, the internationally recognised process for defining human trafficking, includes three aspects:
● the action: recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons ● the means: threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability, or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person
● the purpose: the definition of exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the
exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual
exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude, or the removal of organs.
All these aspects must be present for a trafficking crime to have been committed. However, for those under 18 years, only the “action” and “purpose” are required, as children cannot consent to being exploited regardless of whether they are aware and agree. Victims of modern slavery may be trafficked, but this is not always the case because the “action” may simply involve recruitment.
There are five main types of exploitation that victims of modern slavery may experience:
● labour exploitation: victims are forced to work for nothing, low wages or a wage that is kept by their owner; work is involuntary, forced and/or under the threat of a penalty, and the working conditions can be poor
● sexual exploitation: victims are exploited through non-consensual abuse or another person’s sexuality for the purpose of sexual gratification, financial gain, personal benefit or advantage, or any other non-legitimate purpose
● domestic servitude: victims are domestic workers who perform a range of household tasks (for example, cooking and cleaning); some live with their employers and have low pay, if any at all
● criminal exploitation: victims are forced to work under the control of criminals in activities such as forced begging, shoplifting, pickpocketing, cannabis cultivation, drug dealing and financial exploitation
● organ harvesting: living or deceased victims are recruited, transported or transferred, by threat or force for money, for their organs
The Home Office has published a typology of modern slavery offences, which breaks these exploitation types down further. Because of the nature of the crime, a victim can suffer from multiple exploitation types at the same time or throughout their lifetime. Some data sources included in this article use slightly different definitions of exploitation types.
To combat modern slavery in the UK, legislation was introduced in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland:
● the Modern Slavery Act 2015 for England and Wales, which received Royal Assent on 26 March 2015
● the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 for Scotland, which received Royal Assent on 4 November 2015
● the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 for Northern Ireland, which received Royal Assent on 13 January 2015
Link to: A Typology of Modern Slavery Offences UK
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attach ment_data/file/652652/typology-modern-slavery-offences-horr93.pdf
Finding help
If you or someone you know is being or has been exploited or you are unsure if someone is in need of help, assistance and advice is available:
● for life-threatening emergencies, call 999, or for non-emergencies, call 101 for the police
● Modern Slavery Helpline can be called on 08000 121 700 or contacted via an online form
● Victim Support can be called on 0808 16 89 111 or contacted via an online form ● Crimestoppers can be called on 0800 555 111 or contacted via an online form ●
Migrant Help can be called on 01304 203977
● The Salvation Army have a 24/7 confidential referral helpline, they can be called on 0800 808 3733
Written December 2021 by Tina Harrigan-James Co-founder Careers Collective
Reviewed May 2025