Modern Slavery Policy
Our business
ICC Belfast | Waterfront Hall | Ulster Hall Limited (BWUH Ltd.), is a private company founded in 2016, that is wholly owned by Belfast City Council.
BWUH Ltd. is committed to the principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the abolition of modern slavery and human trafficking.
Our supply chain
We hold ourselves, our suppliers, and supply chain accountable and are confident that as a responsible corporate business we are fully compliant with the provisions of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The BWUH Ltd. Executive Leadership Team supports and embraces the 10 Principles of the UN Global Compact 2014, these serve as a foundation for the company’s Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Involvement Plan.
An internal risk assessment of our organisation has deemed us to be at low risk of modern slavery in our business and supply chains. Our supply chains are limited, and we procure goods and services from a restricted range of suppliers, operating mainly throughout Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and United Kingdom. All BWUH Ltd. suppliers embrace vigorous, fair and ethical trading principles with the aim of minimising the risk of any activities that may be linked to slavery or human trafficking. As part of BWUH Ltd. internal audits, we are committed to continually improving our ways of working and engagement with suppliers to manage our supply chain risks.
Our employment and training policies
As an equal opportunities employer, we're committed to creating and ensuring a non-discriminatory and respectful working environment for our staff, suppliers and partners. We want each of our stakeholders to feel confident that they can expose wrongdoing without any risk to themselves.
We are committed to ensuring that all BWUH Ltd. team members are not exploited and that our work environment is as safe as possible and abides by all employment, health and safety and human right laws. BWUH Ltd. company values promote a positive ethos amongst its people which curates a positive work culture underpinned by our core principles. An overview of our eight core values is detailed here.
Key members of the BWUH Ltd. Management team, Shareholders’ Committee and Board have responsibilities devolved to them to monitor policies, assess risk, conduct investigations and enforce due diligence in an environment that is transparent and openly addresses any breaches or lack of compliance in an appropriate manner.
We believe BWUH Ltd. must play its part in upholding the basic human right to freedom and respect by raising awareness across our teams using a range of internal communication initiatives. One of our core initiatives is to provide training to all permanent employees regarding the modern slavery policy and general compliance with labour exploitation obligations. Employees involved in buying or procurement and the recruitment and deployment of workers receive training on modern slavery and ethical employment practices.
We currently provide employee counselling services and occupational health services for all employees and workers. The company’s grievance policy is contained in the employee handbook and all employees are expected to read the policy and sign this off as part of the induction process and when there are updates to policies or procedures contained within the handbook.
Our recruitment process
Our recruitment and people management processes are designed to ensure that all prospective employees are legally entitled to work in the UK and to safeguard employees from any wrongdoing, abuse or coercion.
We carry out a thorough vetting procedure with all of our suppliers and business partners and do not enter into business with any organisation which knowingly supports, or is found to be involved in any way, in slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour.
BWUH Ltd. carries out an annual employee engagement survey that all employees and casual workers are invited to complete. Managers are required to hold regular one-to-one meetings with individuals as well as wider team meetings. In addition to this, the company holds quarterly team meetings for the entire workforce where the Chief Executive and Executive Leadership Team engage with employees and casual workers on a range of matters including recruitment and working conditions.
All employees are issued with full terms and conditions of employment when their contract commences including details relating to their salary or hourly rate, annual leave and sick pay entitlements etc. Similarly, casual workers are issued with terms of engagement. Information in relation to employees’ rights are contained within the company handbook which is signed off by all employees. BWUH is a real living wage employer, and we brief employees on the real living wage rate every year.
This statement applies to BWUH Ltd. (trading as ICC Belfast | Waterfront Hall | Ulster Hall) having been approved and published by the Executive Leadership Team, Belfast City Council and Board and is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes our slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending 31 March 2023. This statement is reviewed annually.