The United Kingdom Modern Slavery Act: Are we making progress? A look at organizational commitment to eradicating modern slavery

This study examines the effect of regulatory outreach actions on modern slavery statements by the United Kingdom. More than 30,000 policy entries in the United Kingdom Modern Slavery Compliance Registry from 2020 to 2022 were reviewed using analysis of variance and multiple regression to determine predictors of policy statement robustness. The results reveal that policies have become more robust following regulatory efforts. Private conglomerate groups, which can include multinational corporations, are the largest publishers to the registry. However, the role of the chief executive officer as the authority approving the statements has diminished in impact, while company turnover has emerged as a more reliable predictor of impact. Furthermore, the presence of International Labour Organization indicators in the policy statement shows that concern for child-related issues can vary depending on the geographical focus of risk, but that it does not predict a focus on women. The steady improvement in the robustness of modern slavery policies signals some progress following regulator outreach.