This
statement is made pursuant to section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and
sets out the steps that Astar Homecare Ltd has taken and is continuing to take
to ensure that modern slavery or human trafficking is not taking place within
our business or supply chain.
Modern
slavery encompasses slavery, servitude, human trafficking and forced labour. Astar
Homecare Ltd has a zero-tolerance approach to any form of modern slavery. We
are committed to acting ethically and with integrity and transparency in all
business dealings and to putting effective systems and controls in place to
safeguard against any form of modern slavery taking place within the business
or our supply chain.
Our business
Astar
Homecare Ltd is a care provider who supplies care and support to individuals
living in their own homes in Essex, England.
Our policies
We
operate several internal policies to ensure that we are conducting business in
an ethical and transparent manner. These include:
·
Anti-slavery policy. This policy sets out the
organisation’s stance on modern slavery and explains how employees can identify
any instances of this and where they can go for help.
·
Recruitment policy. We operate a robust recruitment
policy, including conducting eligibility to work in the UK, checks for all
employees to safeguard against human trafficking or individuals being forced to
work against their will.
·
Whistleblowing policy. We operate a whistleblowing
policy so that all employees know that they can raise concerns about how
colleagues are being treated, or practices within our business, without fear of
reprisals.
·
Code of conduct. This code explains the way
we behave as an organisation and how we expect our employees and suppliers to
act.
Our suppliers
Astar
Homecare Ltd operates a supplier policy and maintains a preferred supplier
list. We conduct due diligence on all suppliers before allowing them to
become a preferred supplier. This due diligence includes an online search
to ensure that organisation has never been convicted of offenses relating to
modern slavery.
In
addition to the above, as part of our contract with suppliers, we require that
they confirm to us that:
·
They have taken steps to eradicate modern slavery
within their business
·
They pay their employees at least the national
minimum wage / national living wage.
·
We may terminate the contract at any time should
any instances of modern slavery come to light
Training
We
regularly conduct training for our team so that they understand the signs of
modern slavery and what to do if they suspect that it is taking place within
our supply chain.
Our performance indicators
We
will know the effectiveness of the steps that we are taking to ensure that
slavery and/or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or
supply chain if:
– No reports are received from employees,
the public, or law enforcement agencies to indicate that modern slavery
practices have been identified.
Approval for this statement
This
statement was approved by the Director:
Name: Zandra
Brandon
Managing
Director
Date: 14/04/2021