Society's approach to combatting Modern Slavery
Following the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act of 2015 (the 'Act'), Society is taking steps to address the problems of modern slavery.
Although Society is not legally obliged to follow the Act's requirements of submitting an annual modern slavery statement, as a company, we take our obligations regarding ethical labour, modern slavery, and workforce practises very seriously.
Introduction
This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the “MSA”) and constitutes the slavery and human trafficking statement of Society Limited.
We are committed to improving our practices to combat slavery and human trafficking and are committed to ensuring that slavery and human trafficking are not taking place in our supply chains or in any parts of our business.
Our Structure
Society is a limited company, registered in England and Wales (No. 6917936). We have a wholly-owned subsidiary in the United States called Society US Inc, and another wholly-owned subsidiary in New Zealand called Society APAC Limited. All three businesses trade jointly as ‘Society’ and exclusively provide executive search services.
Our Supply Chains
Our main supply chains are:
- finance and accountancy;
- Information Technology equipment and services;
- telephony;
- legal support;
- freelance research or data entry services;
- managed offices.
Within these categories we believe the highest risks in relation to modern slavery and human trafficking comes through the third parties those suppliers may then contract with – for example, the choice of cleaning firms by our managed offices, or the choice of any outsourced provision from our IT or data entry providers.
Our Policy on Slavery and Human Trafficking
We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of our business.
We have a detailed Responsible Procurement Policy that is reviewed and updated on an annual basis. That policy reflects our commitment to act with integrity and ethically in all our business relationships and to implement and enforce effective systems and controls, including in relation to combatting modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains.
We have a detailed Whistleblowing Policy that is also reviewed and updated on an annual basis. That policy is intended to provide a process for, and protection to, colleagues who wish to raise genuine concerns regarding, amongst other things, our business practices.
Commitments
We are fully committed to:
- continuing to identify and assess potential risk areas in our supply chains;
- continuing to establish how to mitigate the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring in our supply chains;
- continuing to monitor potential risk areas in our supply chains and consider proportionate ways to ensure compliance by our suppliers;
- continuing to commit to the protection of whistleblowers and to encourage the reporting of genuine concerns, including in respect of modern slavery and human trafficking;
- considering appropriate, effective and proportionate ways of raising staff awareness;
- providing input on the above referred to policies which are in development.