15 October 2026: Businesses globally are failing to truly scrutinize their supply chains and are at risk of overestimating the impact of the action they are taking to stamp out modern slavery risks, despite good intentions and a desire to act.
New research commissioned by BSI, with a report co-created with CIPS, finds that almost all (95%) of the 900 business leaders surveyed across eight countries said their organizations had identified modern slavery violations within the last 12 months, yet less than one in three (31%) has terminated a supplier contract in response. While the vast majority carry out modern slavery risk assessments, only 39% can provide evidence of their impact.
Globally, 50 million people are estimated to live in modern slavery, much of it related to forced labor in global supply chains, with most industries affected. After more than a decade of legislative efforts to prompt business action, 81% of leaders say they are genuinely committed to eliminating modern slavery from their supply chains, and the research suggests progress in specific pockets of activity. Most also express confidence that their compliance and due diligence programs meet requirements, with 75% of European leaders saying they are extremely or very confident that their practices meet the requirements of the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). Seven in ten leaders (71%) are very confident that their practices would comply with anticipated future legislation.
Yet compliance appears at risk of being a ‘tick box exercise’ rather than comprehensive or driving meaningful change, with most having at best a partial view of their supply chain and unable to conclusively say their efforts are improving outcomes for workers or tackling wider social or human rights risks. For example:
- Four-fifths (80%) believe they have sufficient evidence to demonstrate their supply chains are free from modern slavery, but only 22% report having comprehensive visibility of third-party suppliers
- More than half (56%) of firms that provide supplier training on labor rights cannot demonstrate its impact (49%) or have not sought to measure it (8%)
- Three in five firms (61%) that carry out unannounced supplier audits cannot demonstrate their impact (52%) or do not measure it (9%)
- More than a quarter (28%) do not require sub-tier disclosure in their contracts (28%) and 28% lack the resources to conduct assessments beyond Tier 1
- Less than half (42%) can demonstrate the impact of social audits of their suppliers
- More than half (55%) of businesses that implement corrective action plans following audit findings cannot demonstrate their impact or have not sought to measure it
Part of the challenge is the increasing complexity of supply chains, which may span multiple countries. Three fifths (62%) describe their visibility of social risks at Tier 1 of their supply chain as partial or minimal, but this rises to 73% for Tier 2 and 76% for Tier 3 and beyond. More than one in four say their sub-tier suppliers are unknown to them (26%).
Limited visibility is attributed to regular change in supply chains (29%), suppliers providing unreliable or incomplete information (28%) or being unwilling to share information (28%). A fifth admit supply chain visibility is simply not a priority. Business leaders also indicated they weren’t always sure what to prioritize to drive meaningful change, with many citing challenges across audit consistency, internal resources, data quality, technology and regulation. And 57% said they lacked clear internal ownership of modern slavery as an issue.
The findings also highlight the complexity of what happens after issues are identified. When modern slavery instances were identified, 53% chose to work with suppliers to address the issues rather than terminate contracts immediately, reflecting a focus on long-term improvement, but stopping short of fully resolving the issue. Meanwhile, one in ten (11%) said their response to identifying an issue was limited.
Despite the gaps in demonstrating or measuring impact, there is arguably misplaced confidence that businesses’ actions would stand up to scrutiny. More than three-quarters (77%) are extremely or very confident that their evidence base would satisfy a regulatory inspection or enforcement action. The same proportion (77%) are confident that their approach would withstand scrutiny from litigation funders, legal challenges or investigative media. Despite acknowledging gaps in supply-chain visibility, 75% were extremely or very confident that their data accurately reflected conditions across their supply chains.
At present, modern slavery requirements tend to vary by jurisdiction, although an international standard is due to be published before the end of the year, bringing much-needed clarity in this space.
Harold Pradal, President, Assurance Services at BSI said: "These findings clearly demonstrate that organizations are proactively looking for modern slavery risks and finding some of them. The challenge is then being able to demonstrate impact and show that these interventions are improving outcomes for workers. Addressing modern slavery risk is about driving meaningful change”
“As regulatory expectations continue to evolve, organizations need to move beyond compliance-led approaches and focus on measuring outcomes, strengthening supplier visibility and building greater transparency and trust. The challenge is no longer whether businesses are taking action, but whether they can demonstrate that their action is driving real improvements for vulnerable workers."
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