Unilever NL : What’s the human price paid for the goods we consume?

Based on the UN Guiding Principles approach, we held an internal workshop and sought external expert input to help identify the salient human rights issues for Unilever, one of which was forced labour.

To tackle this, working together with industry peers at the Consumer Goods Forum, we have driven the creation of the Three Priority Industry Principles which state that:

1. Every worker should have freedom of movement. The ability of workers to move freely should not be inhibited by their employer.
2. No workers should pay for a job. Fees and costs associated with recruitment and employment should be paid by the employer.
3. No worker should be indebted or coerced to work. Workers should work freely, aware of terms and conditions of their work and be paid regularly as agreed.

Suppliers in various geographies including Malaysia, India, Dubai and China have attended workshops that include a focus on forced labour.

We are working with our suppliers to identify and address existing and emerging issues through impact assessments, capacity building and stronger engagement with workers.

In September and October 2017, we held a series of internal webinars on forced labour.

The first series helped employees recognise forced labour, understand how and where workers are vulnerable to it and what to do if it is identified.

The second series focused on temporary and migrant labour including the use of ethical recruitment agencies and the abolition of worker fees.

We also raised awareness of our own internal confidential helplines where staff can report any issues that they feel may be a cause for concern.

As part of the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment, we have created an enhanced vetting process for our employment agencies and are rolling out a new policy on temporary workers.

We have also made our position of zero tolerance loud and clear to industry and consumers alike through our UK Modern Slavery Act (PDF | 3MB) statement which outlines the steps we have taken to detect, respond and prevent forced labour and human trafficking within our business and throughout our supply chains. We also detail this progress further in our second Human rights report (PDF | 10MB), which offers insight on the work we've done and the work we plan to do.