Managing construction and property includes managing the risk of exploitation

In 2024 we extended our Construction Programme to become the UK Construction and Property Programme, as often the same workers can be in both sectors. Whether it’s maintenance staff like engineers, joiners, plumbers or facilities staff involved in waste management, security, catering or cleaning.

According to global research, around a third of victims of forced labour are to be found in the services sector, which covers a range of activities. The UK Modern Slavery Helpline in 2024 states that services ranked third in terms of the number of reported cases and the number of potential victims, after the Care and Construction sectors.

Considering the risk of forced labour means considering the factors that may increase workers’ vulnerability to exploitation, such as:

• Migration: Migrant workers face a higher risk of forced labour where prevalence for adult migrant workers is more than three times higher than that of adult non-migrant workers. Migrant workers may have accrued high migration costs or may expect to pay for work, both of which can increase the risks of debt bondage. The situation is then exacerbated by unfamiliarity with their legal rights and routes to raise concerns. 
• Workers without the legal ability to work may find themselves in circumstances that can be used by exploiters to threaten and coerce them.
• Displaced workers whoareforced to migrate because of war or persecution may be forced into situations out of desperation.
• Young workers may have limited awareness of their rights, or low expectations.
• Workers with pre-existing challenges such as homelessness, poverty, ex-prisoners, those with a dependency or history of substance misuse, a difficult family background or who face systematic discrimination or lack of social support may find themselves exploited if they believe they have a lack of other options

Such workers are less likely to be found in stable, highly paid, professional-level roles and are more likely to be found in:

• Informal, precarious, seasonal or temporary work where it is easier to exploit a worker who has limited contact time in the workplace.
• Lower paid work which is generally labour intensive involving manual labour.

In many organisations, these roles are subcontracted to contractors providing construction trades or facilities management services such as waste management, cleaning, catering or security. High profile prosecutions have highlighted the ways in which criminal gangs operate and infiltrate these supply chains, and insightful case studies have been published to promote awareness and understanding (read these here and here)

For further help, Stronger Together’s Construction and Property Programme supports effective due diligence through the provision of open and bespoke workshops, and a range of sector-specific free-to-download resources including our Good Practice Checklist

Tags: modern slavery, Construction, exploitation, construction and property, services, migration

Categorised in: Construction, Insights