Modern Slavery & Ethical Sourcing
How Melius intends to keep forced, child and bonded labour out of the supply chain it manages for customers. This is a draft: the commitments are proposed and need approval and legal review. Effective [effectiveDate: to be confirmed].
Proposed commitments (pending approval)
- No forced, child or bonded labour, and no recruitment fees charged to workers, anywhere in the supply chain we manage.
- Every factory and subcontractor used for an order is disclosed to us by our sourcing agency.
- We check suppliers before they are approved, and again at least yearly or when something changes.
- If we find a problem, we work with the supplier to fix it and to put things right for affected workers. Ending a relationship is a last resort, done responsibly.
Where things stand today
- Audit, certification and membership details are pending verification; none are represented as verified in this prototype.
- A supplier due-diligence process (identity checks, a questionnaire, risk rating against recognised forced-labour indicators, a named reviewer for high-risk suppliers, and corrective action plans) is being built and tested with synthetic data. It is not yet in use with real suppliers.
- Contract terms for our sourcing agency and a supplier code of conduct are being drafted for legal review.
How the checks are planned to work
Before a supplier can be approved: its legal identity and licence are recorded; a questionnaire covers identity documents, recruitment fees, freedom to leave, wages, overtime, subcontracting and raw-material origin (an "unknown" answer counts as a risk); recognised forced-labour red flags are checked; and the supplier is rated low, medium or high risk. A high-risk supplier needs a named reviewer's decision and an action plan. The recorded answers produce a provisional risk rating; staff review it and make the approval decision. AI does not make approval decisions.
Reporting under the Modern Slavery Act
Whether the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) applies to [entity: to be confirmed], and any reporting obligations under it, need legal review. This draft page is not a statement under the Act.
Raising a concern
Contact for concerns about labour practices in our supply chain: [ethicsEmail: to be confirmed]. Confidentiality and non-retaliation wording is being prepared for legal review.