Forced labour: the signs, and who to ring
Driving, warehousing, food processing and construction are exactly where this turns up in this country. That makes it our business rather than somebody else's campaign.
If somebody is in danger right now, ring 999
Everything else on this page can wait ten minutes. That cannot.
The numbers
All free to ring. None of them goes back to an employer.
In immediate danger 999
Police · Always
Somebody is at risk right now. Ring this first and ring the rest afterwards.
Modern Slavery Helpline 08000 121 700
Unseen, an independent charity · 24 hours, every day
You think somebody is being forced to work, or you think you are. Free, confidential, and it does not go to your employer.
Hope for Justice 0300 008 8000
A registered charity · Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm
You want to report a concern to people who do this full time and can act on it.
Fair Work Agency 0800 432 0804
A government body. It took this work over from the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority on 7 April 2026, and the old number still reaches it · Office hours
Labour exploitation, or an unlicensed gangmaster supplying workers into farming, food processing, shellfish or packaging. The same body took over the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, so anything about how an agency behaved goes here too.
Salvation Army 0300 303 8151
Support for confirmed victims · 24 hours, every day
Somebody has come out of it and needs somewhere to go. They hold the government contract for this and most posters leave them off.
Migrant Help 07766 668781
A charity for migrants · See their website
Personal help and support, including where immigration status is part of what is being used against somebody.
A non-profit set up with the Metropolitan Police and run with the DWP, the National Crime Agency, City of London Police, National Trading Standards, Crimestoppers and the REC · Report online, any time
A job advert that turns out to be a scam, or unfair working practices. It is FREE, it is the national service for exactly this, and most people have never heard of it. jobsaware.co.uk. They resolve what they can themselves and pass the rest to the partner who can act on it, so one report reaches the right door without you having to work out which door that is.
ACAS 0300 123 1100
The public conciliation service · Monday to Friday
It is not slavery, it is a pay or treatment problem at work. Free, impartial, and nothing you say goes to your employer.
What it looks like
Rarely all at once, and rarely obvious. Two or three of these together is worth a phone call, and you will never be in trouble for making one that turns out to be nothing.
The work
- The job turned out to be nothing like what was promised
- Very long shifts, or shifts that never seem to end
- No proper equipment, and no protective kit
- No contract, no payslip, and no straight answer about either
The money
- Little or no pay, or pay that keeps getting reduced for reasons
- Somebody else controls the bank account it goes into
- Several people paid into ONE account
- A debt owed to whoever arranged the work, that never goes down
Documents
- No identity documents at all
- Somebody else is holding the passport or the licence
- Documents that were provided by whoever arranged the work
Getting there and living there
- Transported to and from work by whoever arranged it
- Travel to the UK arranged and paid for by somebody else
- Housing controlled by the same person who controls the work
- Too many people in one house, in bad condition
- The person does not know their own address
The person
- Frightened of somebody, or of what happens to their family
- Somebody else speaks for them, including at an interview
- Kept away from other people
- Injuries, or signs of being badly treated
If some of this describes you
You have not done anything wrong and you are not in trouble. Being brought here under a false promise, being in debt to whoever arranged the work, or having no papers because somebody took them, none of that makes you the one at fault.
The Modern Slavery Helpline on 08000 121 700 runs at any hour, it is confidential, and it does not tell your employer you rang. If you would rather speak to us first, you can, and we will ring one of these with you if you want.
We paid nothing to put this up
There are schemes that sell agencies a toolkit and a badge for the website. A badge is worth less than a number somebody can actually ring. Every helpline here is published by the organisation itself and free to pass on, and the signs are the standard framework written in our own words.
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