Tackling unfair labour practices

Buying goods and commodities from around the world can present significant savings for our business. However, there are sometimes significant risks posed when trying to capture these opportunities. Tarmac is committed to the highest levels of legal, ethical and moral standards, which we set out in our Supplier Code of Conduct. The Global Direct Sourcing team support business and divisional teams to ensure that our corporate social responsibilities are managed with all of our suppliers.

In reviewing our supply chain for bulk bag supply we engaged with a potential Indian supplier of bulk bags, our on-site auditor established an issue that some workers were found to have wages lower than local minimum wage benchmark. This was identified as an area of concern as this can be an indicator of poor labour practices and even modern slavery.

Working together, our procurement team and third party service provider raised the issue with the supplier after the audit, clarifying our expectations and the requirements of our Code of Business Conduct and procurement standards. Orders were held pending the delivery of a corrective action plan.

Only when the supplier committed to the improvement, and evidence was submitted and assessed by our third party assessment team and procurement manager, was the contract approved and award.

This intervention helped to ensure that the minimum wage of all workers on site were increased to meet the required local benchmark. This example provides a good example of how Tarmac are working in partnership with its supply chain to ensure fair and ethical working conditions and we tackle issues relating to Modern Slavery.

You can read our Modern Slavery Statement here.

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