People. Care. Communities.

Modern Slavery Statement

Our approach to preventing exploitation and protecting dignity throughout our work.

Girocare representative meeting a care professional — **Work should always be free, safe and dignified.**

Our commitment

Our Commitment

At Girocare, we believe that everyone has the right to work freely, safely and with dignity.

Modern slavery, human trafficking, forced labour and exploitation have no place within our business or within the relationships we develop with workers, care providers, suppliers and other organisations.

As a care staffing agency, people are at the centre of what we do. We recognise that this brings a responsibility to conduct our business ethically, to remain alert to signs of exploitation and to take concerns seriously when they arise.

This statement explains Girocare's approach to helping prevent modern slavery and human trafficking within our operations and business relationships.

About Girocare

Girocare provides flexible staffing support to organisations operating within the care and support sector.

We work with care providers that require additional professionals to support their existing teams, including planned staffing, temporary cover, short-notice requirements and recurring agency support.

Because recruitment and employment are central to our business, we recognise the importance of responsible working practices and of ensuring that individuals seeking work through Girocare are treated fairly and respectfully.

Our approach is based on a simple principle:

Nobody should be forced, threatened, deceived or exploited in order to work.

Our Approach to Modern Slavery

Modern slavery can take many forms and is not always immediately visible.

It can include forced or compulsory labour, human trafficking, servitude and other forms of exploitation where an individual is controlled or prevented from exercising genuine freedom over their work.

Girocare does not knowingly engage with or support practices involving modern slavery or human trafficking.

We aim to operate in a way that promotes fair treatment, responsible recruitment and respect for the rights of the people who work with us.

Where we identify information that gives us genuine reason to suspect exploitation, we will take the matter seriously and consider the appropriate action.

Responsible employment

Recruitment that protects people

Responsible Recruitment

As a staffing agency, recruitment is one of the areas in which we can make the greatest practical contribution to reducing the risk of worker exploitation.

Our aim is to maintain a recruitment process in which individuals understand who they are working with, the nature of the work being offered and the arrangements associated with accepting assignments through Girocare.

We do not support recruitment practices designed to trap individuals in employment or make them dependent on an agency through inappropriate pressure.

Workers should be able to make informed decisions about the work they undertake.

No Recruitment Fees for Work

Girocare does not believe people should have to purchase access to employment.

We will not charge workers a fee simply for finding them work through our agency.

We are particularly alert to situations where somebody may have paid another person or organisation significant sums of money in return for promises of employment.

Unusual recruitment arrangements can sometimes be an indication of exploitation and will be treated seriously where identified.

Workers Keep Control of Their Documents

Workers should retain control of their own personal identification documents.

Girocare may need to inspect and appropriately record information from passports, immigration documents, right-to-work evidence or other identification as part of legitimate recruitment and employment processes.

However, we do not retain an individual's original passport or identification document as a condition of providing work.

A person's identity documents belong to them.

Right to Work

Appropriate right-to-work checks form part of our recruitment arrangements.

These checks are important for legal compliance, but they can also provide an opportunity to identify circumstances that appear unusual or concerning.

Where information relating to a person's right to work, identity or employment arrangements raises legitimate concerns, those concerns may be reviewed before work is offered or continued.

We aim to conduct these processes respectfully and consistently.

Freedom to Work

People working through Girocare should be able to accept or decline assignments in accordance with the terms of their relationship with us.

We do not support coercion, threats or intimidation as a means of making somebody accept work.

Agency work should provide legitimate employment opportunities — not create a situation in which somebody feels trapped.

Fair Treatment

Every person working with Girocare deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.

We expect the same principle to apply when our workers attend assignments within client organisations.

Discrimination, harassment, intimidation, violence, exploitation and degrading treatment are inconsistent with the standards we want associated with Girocare.

If a worker raises a serious concern about the way they have been treated during an assignment, we will listen and consider the matter appropriately.

Likewise, concerns raised by our care-provider clients about potential exploitation or inappropriate conduct will be taken seriously.

Stay alert

Recognising Potential Warning Signs

Modern slavery can be difficult to identify.

Potential warning signs may include circumstances where a person:

appears frightened, controlled or unable to speak freely;
has another person consistently speaking on their behalf;
does not appear to control their own identification documents;
appears unable to access or control their own earnings;
reports owing substantial money to somebody who arranged their employment;
appears to have been threatened regarding their employment;
gives information suggesting they are being forced to work;
appears to have been deceived about the nature of their employment;
shows signs that their movement or freedom may be controlled; or
provides information that otherwise gives reasonable cause for concern.

The presence of one unusual circumstance does not automatically establish that modern slavery is occurring.

However, genuine concerns should not simply be ignored.

Speaking up

Concerns deserve a serious response

Raising a Concern

Anyone working with Girocare should feel able to raise a genuine concern about suspected exploitation.

This includes workers, members of our team, care providers and other organisations with whom we work.

If you believe somebody connected with Girocare may be experiencing exploitation, forced labour or human trafficking, please contact us.

Concerns will be considered seriously and handled as appropriately and sensitively as circumstances allow.

Where there is reason to believe somebody is in immediate danger, the appropriate emergency or statutory authorities should be contacted.

Working With Care Providers

Our care-provider clients are important partners in maintaining good working standards.

Agency workers spend much of their working time within client services, which means providers may sometimes become aware of circumstances that are not immediately visible to the agency.

We encourage our clients to contact Girocare if they have a genuine concern about the welfare or circumstances of a worker supplied by us.

Likewise, where a worker raises a serious concern relating to an assignment, we may need to communicate appropriately with the provider involved.

Good communication helps protect everyone.

Reporting Concerns Without Fear

People should not be discouraged from reporting genuine concerns because they fear that doing so will automatically cost them their work.

Girocare wants concerns to be raised responsibly and in good faith.

Where somebody reports a genuine concern about suspected modern slavery or exploitation, the fact that they raised that concern should not itself be used as a reason to treat them unfairly.

Creating an environment in which people feel able to speak is an important part of identifying problems that might otherwise remain hidden.

Our Suppliers and Business Relationships

Girocare expects the organisations with which we conduct business to operate lawfully and responsibly.

As the company develops, we will continue to consider modern-slavery risks when establishing significant supplier and business relationships.

Where credible information indicates that a supplier or business partner may be involved in serious exploitation, we will consider the circumstances and determine what action is appropriate.

We do not knowingly maintain business relationships that depend upon forced labour, human trafficking or modern slavery.

Continuous Improvement

Preventing exploitation is not achieved simply by publishing a statement on a website.

As Girocare develops, we will continue to review our working practices and consider whether additional measures are appropriate to the size, nature and activities of our business.

This may include improving internal procedures, increasing awareness among relevant staff, reviewing recruitment practices and responding to lessons learned from concerns or incidents.

Our approach will develop alongside the company.

What will not change is the underlying principle:

people should be able to work freely, safely and with dignity.

Our promise

Our Commitment

Girocare is committed to conducting its business responsibly.

We will seek to:

promote responsible and transparent recruitment;
treat workers fairly and respectfully;
remain alert to indicators of exploitation;
take genuine concerns seriously;
maintain appropriate employment and recruitment practices;
work constructively with our care-provider clients;
respond appropriately when concerns are identified; and
continue improving our approach as the business grows.

Modern slavery is a serious issue.

Every responsible organisation has a part to play in recognising risks, treating people properly and speaking up when something does not look right.

At Girocare, that responsibility forms part of our wider commitment to people, care and communities.