Modern Slavery Statement & Policy

Introduction

This statement sets out the steps that Solutions Through Knowledge Contracts Limited (“STK”) has taken & is continuing to take to ensure that modern slavery or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or supply chain.

Modern slavery can take many forms including the trafficking of people, forced labour, servitude & slavery. This statement focuses specifically on STK’s compliance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 & highlights the steps we take to ensure there is no slavery or human trafficking occurring within the organisation or its supply chains.

As recruitment experts, we take our responsibility for supplying staff extremely seriously & are aware of the potential for being targeted by traffickers & unlicensed gangmasters. Our own processes around candidate engagement ensure our employees are alert to the signs of exploitation, so that we can take the necessary action promptly & effectively should it be identified.

We are committed to acting ethically, injecting integrity & transparency in all business dealings & putting effective systems & controls in place to safeguard against any form of modern slavery taking place within the business or our supply chain.

Our Business

We provide permanent & contract recruitment services across the following specialisms:

• Information Technology
• Telecoms
• Executive Search
• Administration

Our processes around candidate engagement ensure that our employees are alert to the signs of exploitation, so that we can take the necessary action promptly & effectively should it be identified.

We qualify all of our candidates thoroughly. This can include reference checks, right to work checks, obtaining passports, DBS checks, NI number, home address, next of kin. For every individual we engage with, we first establish suitability, skills match, candidate motivation & happiness, & finally their consent in writing, prior to submitting their CV. We mostly provide highly skilled workers, but still exercise due diligence at every juncture.

Our Policies

We operate a number of internal policies to ensure that we are conducting business in an ethical & transparent manner. These include:

1. Anti-slavery policy. This policy sets out STK’s stance on modern slavery & explains how employees can identify any instances of this & where they can go for help.
2. Whistleblowing policy. We operate a whistleblowing policy so that all employees know that they can raise concerns about how colleagues are being treated, or practices within our business or supply chain, without fear of reprisals.
3. Code of business ethics. This code explains the way we behave as an organisation & how we expect our employees & suppliers to act.
4. These policies are clearly documented within our employee’s Staff Handbook & highlighted during induction to the company.

Our Supply Chains

We work with a variety of top-tier suppliers to the recruitment industry, offering STK access to the very best recruitment tools in the market. This includes candidate attraction software, CRM recruitment system, online timesheet system, advertising accounts, website services & recruitment databases.

We conduct due diligence on all of our suppliers before engaging with them. This due diligence includes online searches to ensure that the particular organisation has never been convicted of offenses relating to modern slavery, requesting Modern Slavery Statements (where applicable), working with UK suppliers mostly & asking for Anti-Bribery & Corruption policies where applicable & having regular discussions with supplier employees to assess their well-being & happiness.

In addition to the above, we require that our suppliers confirm:

1. they have taken steps to eradicate modern slavery within their business
2. they hold their own suppliers to account over modern slavery
3. they pay their employees at least the national minimum wage / national living wage (as appropriate)
4. we reserve the right to terminate the contract at any time should any instances of modern slavery come to light

Training

All staff within STK are expected to act with integrity & honesty, complying with all laws & operating in accordance with local guidelines & regulations. We have undertaken to review our policies & procedures to ensure our colleagues have access to any additional information & support they may require with regard to human trafficking, forced labour, servitude & slavery. A training module on modern slavery & human trafficking is also available to all employees.

Our Performance Indicators

The effectiveness of the steps that we are taking to ensure that slavery & human trafficking is not taking place within our business or supply chain, is if no reports are received from employees, the public, or law enforcement agencies to indicate that modern slavery practices have been identified.

Approval for this statement

We are committed to ensuring that slavery & human trafficking have no place in our business or in our supply chain. This statement is made pursuant to Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 & constitutes STK’s slavery & human trafficking statement.

This was approved by the Directors of STK & will be reviewed annually.