"The UK, "modern slavery," & the elephant in the room: prevention," 19 October 2017

...Over the past decade the UK has made some major advances in its response to human trafficking...[y]et, when it comes to preventing labour exploitation, the UK’s response has been left behind by the progress made in other countries... In our [FLEX's] new report Risky business: tackling exploitation in the UK labour market, launched today, we set out an action plan for the UK to make giant strides towards preventing labour exploitation...

Many of these risks are well documented: precarious working arrangements; one-sided flexibility in the workplace; or what the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority is now calling ‘wage theft’...

Theresa May recognised the importance of tackling precarious employment relationships when she launched the Taylor Review on Modern Employment Practices in October 2016, with the promise of reform to the UK labour market. Unfortunately, the Taylor Review process was flawed... [and] [i]nterestingly the Taylor review almost completely ignored the role of the UK labour inspectorates in enforcing labour law...