Slavery

Modern Slavery Policy

Introduction

Pardoes Solicitors LLP (The Firm) is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and is committed to complying with the SRA Standards and Regulations 2019. In particular, for this policy, we recognise the importance of Principle 1 (acting in a way that upholds the constitutional principle of the rule of law, and the proper administration of justice), Principle 2 (acting in a way that upholds public trust and confidence in the solicitors’ profession and in legal service provided by authorised persons), Principle 4 (acting with honesty), and Principle 5 (acting with integrity). We also ensure that we comply with Rule 1.2 and Rule 7.1 of the SRA Code of Conduct 2019 for Solicitors and that the Firm complies with Rule 1.2, Rule 2.1 and Rule 3.1 of the SRA Code of Conduct 2019 for Firms.

The Firm does not tolerate the use of modern slavery or human trafficking anywhere within our organisation or in any of our supply chains.

Aim

The pupose of this document is to outline the firm’s policy in relation to anti-slavery. This ensures that we comply with our legal obligations and that we continue to protect our integrity and reputation.

Scope

This policy applies to all employees and members, locums and consultants of the Firm and covers both our internal operations and our engagement with third parties including, but not limited to, suppliers.

Definitions

“MSA” means Modern Slavery Act.

“Business Partners” means suppliers and any other third parties we engage as a business.

A “supplier” is any individual or company which provides goods or services.

Statement

Pardoes Solicitors LLP (The Firm) is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and is committed to complying with the SRA Standards and Regulations 2019. In particular, for this policy, we recognise the importance of Principle 1 (acting in a way that upholds the constitutional principle of the rule of law, and the proper administration of justice), Principle 2 (acting in a way that upholds public trust and confidence in the solicitors’ profession and in legal service provided by authorised persons), Principle 4 (acting with honesty), and Principle 5 (acting with integrity). We also ensure that we comply with Rule 1.2 and Rule 7.1 of the SRA Code of Conduct 2019 for Solicitors and that the Firm complies with Rule 1.2, Rule 2.1 and Rule 3.1 of the SRA Code of Conduct 2019 for Firms.

The Firm does not tolerate the use of modern slavery or human trafficking anywhere within our organisation or in any of our supply chains.

Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking

Modern slavery is a crime resulting in despicable abuse of human rights. The Modern Slavery Act (MSA) 2015 consolidates slavery and trafficking offences. It covers four activities:

• Slavery – exercising powers of ownership over a person.

• Servitude – where the obligation to provide services is imposed by the use of coercion.

• Forced or compulsory labour – where work or services are exacted from a person under the menace of any penalty and for which the person has not offered themselves voluntarily.

• Human trafficking – arranging or facilitating the travel of another person with a view to their exploitation.

The MSA 2015 ensures that offences are subject to the toughest asset recovery regime under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The National Crime Agency, the police and other law enforcement agencies have the power to bring to justice those engaged in human trafficking and slavery. Modern slavery is a complex and multi-faceted crime and tackling it requires all partners and staff to play a part. Protecting our workforce and reputation is vital. The MSA 2015 highlights the important need for businesses, and therefore the firm, to play a part in tackling slavery.

Identifying Slavery or Human Trafficking

There is no typical victim of slavery or human trafficking and some victims do not understand that they have been exploited and are entitled to help and support. The following list of indicators, which is not exhaustive, could trigger suspicions that someone may be a slavery or trafficking victim:

• The person may not be in possession of their own passport, identification or travel documents;

• The person allowing others to speak for them even when spoken to directly;

• The person is withdrawn or appears frightened;

• The person does not seem to be able to freely contact friends or family;

• The person has limited social interaction or contact with people outside their immediate environment.

A person may display a number of the indicators as set out above but they may not necessarily be a victim of slavery or trafficking.

Responsibilities and Commitments

All employees and members of the Firm have a responsibility to ensure all colleagues and Business Partners are safeguarded, treated fairly and with dignity. the Firm will:

• Maintain clear policies and procedures preventing exploitation and human trafficking, protecting our colleagues, Business Partners and our reputation;

• Be clear about our recruitment;

• Check our supply chains;

• Make appropriate checks on all employees, recruitment agencies, suppliers etc;

• Have an open and transparent grievance procedure in place for all staff;

• Make a clear statement which will:

• Show a summary of the steps we have taken to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any part of the business or our supply chains.
• Be set out in this policy and contained in the Office Manual
• Be built on and show improvements can be and have been made;

Heads of Department, Team Leaders and line managers will:

• Listen and be approachable to colleagues;

• Respond appropriately if they are told something that might indicate a colleague is in an exploitive situation;

• Remain alert to indicators of slavery;

• Raise awareness by discussing issues and providing training;

• Use their experience and professional judgement to gauge situations.

Colleagues will:

• Follow the reporting procedure (see Reporting below) if there is any suspicion of a colleague or someone in our supply chain being controlled or forced by someone else to work or provide services;

• Follow the reporting procedure (see Reporting below) if a colleague tells them something that may indicate they are or someone else is being exploited or ill-treated.

Risk

The principal areas of risk we face, related to slavery and human trafficking, include, but are not limited to, the following Business Partners:

• Supply chains

• Outsourced activities

• Cleaning and catering supplies

• Corporate hospitality

• Recruitment through agencies

• General recruitment

• Breaches of money laundering and counter terrorist financing legislation

We need to pay particularly close attention to these Business Partners.  The firm will manage these risk through the steps outlined in this policy.

Supply Chains

Supply chains will be thoroughly checked to ensure the potential for slavery and human trafficking is significantly reduced. This should be done by ensuring each step of the supply process is accounted for. We should expect to know who is providing goods and services to us and we will have mechanisms and processes in place to check, including:

• Risk assessing suppliers; and

• Auditing suppliers

Companies with which we do business will be informed that the Firm will not accept any form of exploitation.
Risk assessments will include a) identifying suppliers by total spend/goods or services/location, b) Employment, c) Sector and d) Relationship.

Recruitment using Agencies

The Firm will only use agreed and specified reputable recruitment agencies. To ensure the potential for slavery and human trafficking is reduced as much as possible, we will thoroughly check recruitment agencies before adding them to our list of approved agencies. This includes:

• Conducting background checks

• Investigating reputation

• Ensuring the staff an agency provides have the appropriate paperwork e.g. work visas

• Regularly reviewing the list of agents

General Recruitment

The Firm ensures that all staff have a written contract of employment and that they have not had to pay any direct or indirect fees to obtain work. We will ensure that all staff are legally able to work in the UK and we will check the names and addresses of our staff (a number of people listed at the same address may indicate high shared occupancy which is often related with those being exploited). We will provide all new recruits with information on their statutory rights, including sick pay, holiday pay and any other benefits they may be entitled to.

If, through the recruitment process, there is suspicion that someone is being exploited, the HR department will report their suspicions  to the COLP.

Reporting

Any concerns should be reported to the COLP.

Training

We will continue to ensure that those people who are involved in procurement and recruitment roles receive training on a risk based basis, or as the need is identified. All employees are encouraged to identify and report any potential breaches of this policy.

Responsibility for monitoring this Policy

The Firm will monitor our procedures and review this Anti-Slavery: Policy annually. We will provide information and training, if necessary, on any changes which are made.

Responsibility for reviewing this Policy