Modern slavery statement

At Avid Personnel Ltd, we consider working to prevent Modern Slavery happening as one of our highest priorities. We continue to work with other businesses that take it as seriously as we do, embedding the standard checks through the business model and doing whatever it takes to protect our workforce and those of others to help eradicate this terrible crime.

Our recruitment experience grows year after year, working closely with the GLAA, the police forces across the country, and collaborating with anti-slavery networks in all regions. We will do whatever we can to help identity and protect victims of trafficking.

This year, we will work with more businesses to implement the checks through their business models, do what we can to raise this subject higher on ethical agendas, learn more from the SMEs, and undoubtedly provide work for more survivors to help them get  their lives back on track.

In our view, the key to raising awareness on Modern Slavery is to keep the subject alive, offer regular bite size refresher training, headlines from case studies to encourage development in the education piece. Talk about the subject freely amongst all shareholders through the organisation, and within our supply chain, and those of others. Sharing best practice helps all the people involved learn more about it and implement new preventative measure.

Our front and back office staff are fully aware of how Labour exploitation can affect our business and those of our clients. Everyone is aware of the red flags, which demonstrate the common indicators of Modern Slavery and report in any concerns which are investigated by the compliance team.

All cases or suspicions of Modern Slavery are fed into the GLAA in the first instance, and we link up with other enforcement authorities and charities along the way to help the victims identified and help the police find the perpetrators.

In Avid, throughout a worker’s journey, the checks to identify potential signs of Modern slavery are conducted. From the details that they provide on the application forms when they interview with us, through their induction training, and then throughout their employment with us. We check for any patterns with other workers details to look for signs of sharing, watch out for anomalies and investigate any areas of concern as soon as something jumps out at us. Working well with the local councils, we do what we can to link up with them to investigate further any houses of multiple occupancy and any overcrowding issues that arise from these alerts, as we recognise that this is a common symptom of potential Modern Slavery. All our policies reflect the principles of protecting the welfare of our workers, looking after their wellbeing is at the core of our business and reflected in our company values. We will constantly improve our processes to strengthen them and implement new checks as soon as we hear how the traffickers are evolving and learning new ways to infiltrate businesses like ours and those around us.

Modern Slavery and Trafficking is an international problem, and with the links to many criminal organisations it remains a high risk to any supply chain or business. Avid will continue its investment in the identification & prevention of Modern Slavery, it remains a high priority for the business and that of our valued clients.