Labour exploitation is most prevalent in the construction, agriculture and car wash sectors. It is the second most common form of modern slavery in the UK after coerced criminality.
How can we tackle labour exploitation?
Following the launch of the Safe Car Wash App in 2018 to help identify victims of modern slavery in the car wash sector, we've now develop the Farm Work Welfare app. The app is aimed at modern slavery in the rural and fresh produce supply chain sectors where both businesses and workers can fall victim to traffickers, organised criminals within the community and illegal or unlicensed labour providers.
Every year, vulnerable and migrant seasonal workers are targeted and exploited. It is hard to get exact numbers on the scale of the problem in this sector. However, we believe it is growing in line with the overall increase in modern slavery and, like other types of exploitation and modern slavery, it can go unnoticed.
The App
The Farm Work Welfare App is easy to download and use and is designed to support both employers and workers.
Like the Safe Car Wash App, the FWWA app contains a reporting tool. Fresh produce businesses, workers or local people can use it to flag up concerns, suspicions or seek help.
To help support migrant workers the content is available in eight languages (Albanian, Bulgarian, English, Lithuanian, Romanian, Polish, Chinese/Mandarin and Vietnamese).
It will:
- provide farmers and growers with information, signposting and tools to help avoid criminal organisations and promote worker welfare. It contains essential support on licensed labour providers, document verification and the rights of workers such as freedom of movement and right to work
- support workers and help them understand their rights and what to do if they are being exploited
- raise awareness amongst members of the public who live or work in rural areas about modern slavery and how to spot potential cases of exploitation.
Most of all, we hope it will become a key source of helpful information for both workers and seasonal employers and that it will help everyone understand what 'good' looks like.
Reports made through the app are processed by the Modern Slavery Helpline and help identify hot spots, enable criminal investigations and most importantly, support victims.
