19 October 2026: Businesses globally are failing to truly scrutinize their supply chains and at risk of overestimating the impact of the action they are taking to stamp out modern slavery risk, despite good intentions and a desire to act.
New research commissioned by BSI with a report co-created with CIPS finds that almost all (96%) business leaders out of the 600 surveyed in six countries said their organizations had identified modern slavery violations within the last 12 months. Yet while the vast majority carry out modern slavery risk assessments, only 36% can evidence the impact of them. As the research makes clear, identifying issues is only the start; what is key is whether that ultimately leads to meaningful change for workers.
Globally, 50 million people are estimated to live in modern slavery, much of it related to forced labour in global supply chains, with most industries affected. Behind the data and figures are real people, experiencing withheld wages, excessive working hours, coercion, debt bondage and restrictions on their freedom. The report brings this out in stark detail, highlighting two case studies of forced labour in the hospitality sector, and noting that businesses are uniquely positioned to help prevent this harm to people.
After more than a decade of legislative efforts to prompt business action, 78% of leaders say they are genuinely committed to eliminating modern slavery from their supply chains, and the research suggests progress in specific pockets of activity. Most also express confidence that their compliance and due diligence programmes meet requirements, with 75% of European leaders extremely or very confident their practices meet the EU CSDDD / seven in ten extremely or very confident their practices would comply with anticipated future legislation (67%).
Yet compliance appears at risk of being a ‘tick box exercise’ rather than comprehensive or driving meaningful change, with most having at best a partial view of their supply chain and unable to conclusively say their efforts are improving outcomes for workers or tackling wider social or human rights risks. For example:
- More than three quarters (77%) believe they have sufficient evidence to demonstrate their supply chains are free from modern slavery, but only 18% report having comprehensive visibility of third-party suppliers
- 57% of firms carrying out supplier training on labour rights say they can’t evidence impact (49%) or haven’t sought to measure it (8%).
- Three in five firms (61%) that carry out unannounced supplier audits can’t evidence impact (53%) or don’t measure it (8%).
- More than a quarter (27%) do not require sub-tier disclosure in their contracts (28%) and 27% lack the resources to conduct assessments beyond Tier 1.
- Only 39% can evidence impact from their social auditing of suppliers
- 57% of those undertaking corrective action plans following audit findings can’t evidence impact or haven’t sought to measure it.
- Less than one in three (31%) has terminated a contract with a supplier in response to identifying modern slavery
Part of the challenge is the increasing complexity of supply chains, which may span multiple countries. Three fifths (62%) describe their visibility of social risks at tier 1 of their supply chain as partial or minimal, but this rises to 68% for Tier 2 and 72% for Tier 3 and beyond. More than one in four say their sub-ter suppliers are unknown to them (26%).
Low visibility is down to regular change in supply chains (28%), suppliers providing unreliable or incomplete information (28%) or being unwilling to share information (26%), although a fifth admit it is simply not a priority (21%). Business leaders also indicated they weren’t always sure what to prioritize to drive meaningful change, with many citing challenges across audit consistency, internal resources, data quality, technology and regulation. And 57% said they lacked clear internal ownership of modern slavery as an issue. The report makes clear that knowing what to prioritize can be a challenge, with business struggling to identify where effort can be directed.
The findings also highlight the complexity of what happens after issues are identified. Having identified modern slavery instances, 54% chose to work with suppliers to address issues rather than terminate contracts immediately, reflecting a focus on long-term improvement but stopping short of fully resolving the issue, while one in ten (11%) say their response to identifying an issue was limited.
Despite the gaps around demonstrating or measuring impact, there is arguably misplaced confidence that action would stand up to scrutiny. More than three quarters (74%) are extremely or very confident their evidence base would satisfy a regulatory inspection or enforcement action, or that their approach would withstand scrutiny from litigation funders or legal challenge (75%) or withstand scrutiny from investigative media (73%). And despite having admitted to poor visibility, 73% were extremely or very confident their data accurately reflected conditions across their supply chain.
At present, modern slavery requirements tend to vary by jurisdiction, although an international standard based on a British Standard is due to publish before the end of the year, bringing much needed clarity.
Harold Pradal, President, Assurance Services at BSI said: "These findings clearly demonstrate that organizations are proactively looking for modern slavery risks and finding some of them. The challenge is then being able to demonstrate impact and show that these interventions are improving outcomes for workers. Addressing modern slavery risk is about driving meaningful change”
“As regulatory expectations continue to evolve, organizations need to move beyond compliance-led approaches and focus on measuring outcomes, strengthening supplier visibility and building greater transparency and trust. The challenge is no longer whether businesses are taking action, but whether they can demonstrate that their action is driving real improvements for vulnerable workers."
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