Key Topic: Gather Assessment Information on Child and Forced Labor Risks

Multinational companies and SMEs should engage relevant stakeholders to gather information about risks. The company should seek input from a range of groups when putting processes in place that allow for communication across languages, accommodate for barriers such as location and cultural differences, and address practical considerations such as internet connectivity, safety concerns, and travel challenges. Some companies take the approach of outsourcing the information-gathering function to an expert, such as a consulting firm, civil society group, or academic institution. If companies already have well-established relationships with their suppliers and are seeking to assess their existing risks, audits conducted on these suppliers by other companies or groups afford a very useful source of data. When audit reports are not available, there are other ways to gather information on current suppliers to determine which ones to target for further compliance efforts. Key among these options is leveraging the experiences of workers themselves.

Note that if a company or its suppliers employ migrant workers, it should undertake additional due diligence to ensure that migrant workers are not at elevated risk for forced labor and trafficking in persons. For more information, see ILAB’s Migrant Worker Tools and Resources.