This report grades 56 companies from A to F on the strength of their labour rights management systems to mitigate the risk of forced labour, child labour and exploitation in the supply chain.

Encouragingly, 64% of the companies that were researched across both reports showed some improvement and 9% showed significant improvement, including Dick Smith, Blackberry and Garmin. Despite progress, it is clear that overall, the industry still has a long way to go. No company was awarded a grade in the A range and the median grade for companies was a low C-.

Grades are awarded to companies based on 61 assessment criteria, across four broad categories: Policies, Traceability and Transparency, Monitoring and Training, and Worker Rights. These four pieces of the system when brought together and implemented well, should enable improvements in working conditions and reduce the risk and incidence of modern slavery.

One of the biggest concerns contributing to the industry’s poor performance is that no company is actively ensuring that workers across its supply chain are receiving a living wage (a point covered in more detail on page 6). And while the majority of companies had a code of conduct that included the right to collective bargaining, only 7% could actually demonstrate manufacturing facilities with collective bargaining agreements in place.