“Wales has
the opportunity
to lead the way
on fair work”

Report on the Fair Work Commission 2019
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The increasing complexity of global trade brings many new Business challenges, particularly in the case of protecting Workers and ensuring their human rights.

Good employment practices can empower and reward workers, helping to improve the quality of life for people living in Wales and those involved in supply chains further afield.  Poor employment practices such bonded labour, the unfair use of self-employment, zero hours contracts or blacklisting can lead to exploitation, poor morale, high staff turnover and, in some cases endanger the lives of the workers.

In Wales, high-risk sectors account for 29.3% of the country’s employment. No industry is immune but sectors considered to be high risk include: Agriculture, forestry, fishing, production, construction, labour provision, catering, and hospitality.

Wales is looking to develop and embed the Code into their organisations to tackle the risks of modern slavery and unethical employment practices. And those who have programmes in place are looking to demonstrate their sound risk management and differentiate themselves from their competitors.

Ethical Rating Cymru® is a multi-stakeholder business-led (supported by the Welsh Government) programme that supports organisations to take action on the specific challenges presented by ethical labour standards management.

The benefits of the Ethical Rating Cymru® scheme are:
  • A framework to assist organisations in developing and maintaining an effective ethical employment standards management system through which ethical labour standards can be controlled and improved
  • Compliance to established international ethical labour standards
  • An emphasis on a collaborative approach. The scheme works together with the organisation, fully involving them in the process
  • Offers a detailed insight into an organisation’s progress both within its direct activities and that of its supply chain
  • A mechanism for defining ethical employment standard responsibilities for all staff, helping them to understand the impact of their activities and individual actions in relation to modern slavery and ethical labour standards
  • Reviews grievance mechanisms and worker experience to ensure the views and voices of workers, especially vulnerable workers, are effectively captured and to inform the continual improvement and direction of the modern slavery programme
  • Progress towards formal ethical labour certification