Modern slavery is the fastest growing organised crime in the world. Every day it robs an estimated 50 million people of their dignity, safety, security, and, in too many cases, their lives. 

Legal systems have criminalised modern slavery almost everywhere – as has public international law – yet the various elements of what is now called modern slavery (human trafficking, forced labour, and child labour, among other abuses) continue to flourish around the globe. This is a catastrophic failure of the international legal system. The slave masters are kicking our asses.

Enter the international employment lawyer

The author AE Von Vogt created the word “nexialist” to describe a fictional character who is skilled at connecting seemingly disparate pieces of information to solve complex problems. 

International employment lawyers are the nexialists of the legal profession. We focus on the behaviour of people across a wide range of business activities, with the result that our practices constantly intersect with other fields of law that we also apply to problem solve. 

Consider for a moment the other fields of law you probably deal with, to a greater or lesser extent, on a regular basis. 

Employment and labour, immigration, company, health and safety regulations, financial services regulations, white-collar crime, directors duties, securities, benefits, pensions, tax, competition, criminal, contract, and existing modern slavery laws.

No doubt there are others. 

Despite many of our employment rights being enshrined in the public international law instruments of the ILO or the UN, many employment lawyers often forget that they are also human rights lawyers.

Moreover, in addition to navigating multiple legal fields (and the obvious time challenges and organizational objectives of your client), the complexity of your practice expands by the number of jurisdictions you are dealing with on a matter.

Why should you care about modern slavery?

As an international employment lawyer, you are an incredibly skilled, complex problem-solving machine. You can use that skillset to fight the types of modern slavery that threaten your clients. It is, after all, the ultimate international employment law crime. You should fight it because:

• Your clients are not interested in profiting off the back of modern slavery either in their operations or in their wider supply chains. It could collapse their brand if an operational human rights breach comes to light, or company officers may get seriously fined or even be sent to prison.
   
• If you act for ethical companies, they will always face unfair competition from unethical ones, who may deliberately look away from human rights abuses that depress material or services costs within their supply chains. An ethical company cannot compete on price with an unethical one. 
   
• Your clients are increasingly looking at their global sustainability footprint and being judged for it. Some research suggests that if modern slavery was a country, it would be the third-highest carbon emitter in the world because of the destructive industries it empowers. So anything you can do to protect clients from inadvertently supporting this global crime protects everyone, including your own family.
   
• The link between employment/human rights compliance and trade laws has become much more direct. There is a very good chance that goods made by companies whose operations or supply chains are infected with human rights abuses will not be allowed to sell into other jurisdictions – like the US or the EU, which both have tough laws in force or in prospect to prevent this. 
  
  If you practice in a jurisdiction where labour laws are not enforced – or human rights abuses are a big issue – your country may also face increasing difficulties in exporting goods and services. So, you can aid your country, clients, and fellow citizens by helping to implement preventative measures and by lobbying for either stronger laws or amendments to existing legislation that can be designed to disrupt modern slavery (see below). No country can afford to be seen as unwilling to deal with this issue. 
   
• Because of your skills, there is nobody better placed than you to be able to understand how to align your legal system against modern slavery in the commercial sector.
   
• Modern slavery is one of the important issues of our lives and times. We are actually in the midst of the second great slave trade, with more people working in modern slavery conditions than at any time in human history.  

What should you do?

First, research what modern slavery is and the relevant laws in your jurisdiction that apply to your clients. 

Second, tell your clients that you want to help them address this issue. Encourage their commitment to do so. You may find they also want to see a level human rights playing field. None will support this horrible global crime.

Third, look at your clients’ document suite to see if it can be enhanced to better protect them from inadvertently supporting modern slavery. For employment lawyers that means supply contracts, employment contracts, handbooks, procurement procedures and documents, intake and hiring systems, directors’ appointment letters, due diligence processes, public statements (required or otherwise), avoidance plans, staff training, and reporting mechanisms. These are all within your employment law experience.

Finally, why not lobby with your clients and other lawyers to tune your legal system against modern slavery. It is in everyone’s interest. Use your nexialist ability to work to amend or realign current laws to address this issue. You may not need to draft a law from scratch; adding a sentence to an existing law may do the job. Consider:

• Why not provide that company shareholder reporting laws should include a binding statement on human rights?
   
• If you have a modern slavery law in your county, is it fit for purpose? For example, in the UK, we have section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act that has no real penalty for breach. This is absolutely shameful. We need to fix that.
   
• Why not provide that deliberate use of tainted supply chains is a breach of competition law?
   
• Why not clearly set out that modern slavery is a breach of health and safety, immigration, planning use or employment law and provide for clear restitution in the event of legal breaches?
   
• Why not provide that securities documents include statements about human rights in the company and its supply chain? This can be qualified in a sensible way in high-litigation-risk jurisdictions.
   
• Why not amend tax laws to encourage revenue authorities looking to levy tax on the vast undeclared profits of modern slavery? 
   
• Why not make reasonable assurances of human rights propriety a precondition of doing business with any third party?

There are evils in the world that employment lawyers cannot change by ourselves. But modern slavery in the international business economy is an evil we have the skillset to fix. Every legal system has a host of levers that can be pulled to make it more resilient against this crime. Nobody can be better at finding these than you. I dare you to try.

Pete Talibart is a partner at Seyfarth Shaw in London and a global trustee of Stop The Traffik.