Forced labour

“Coercion does not require chains. It requires a credible penalty and no genuine freedom to refuse or leave. ”

Forced labour is often imagined as physical captivity. That image captures some severe cases and misses many others. A worker may appear free to move while debt, withheld wages, confiscated documents, threats, deception, recruitment fees, immigration status or isolation make refusal impossible in practice.

The central issue is whether work is voluntary and whether the person can leave without facing a menace of penalty. ILO Convention No. 29 defines forced or compulsory labour as all work or service exacted under the menace of any penalty and for which the person has not offered voluntarily. The definition contains two linked elements: involuntariness and penalty.

The penalty may be physical violence, but it can also be dismissal without wages owed, denunciation to authorities, loss of housing, harm to family, debt escalation or another consequence serious enough to constrain choice.

Consent must be real and continuing. A worker may accept a job and later discover that the wage, location, employer or conditions were misrepresented. A migrant may sign a contract in a language they do not understand or pay a recruitment fee that creates unmanageable debt. Initial agreement does not legitimise later coercion, and a person can withdraw consent.

The ability to leave is as important as the decision to enter. The ILO's indicators of forced labour help investigators recognise patterns such as abuse of vulnerability, deception, restriction of movement, isolation, violence, intimidation, retention of identity documents, withholding of wages, debt bondage, abusive conditions and excessive overtime. An indicator is not automatically proof on its own.

The assessment considers the combination, severity and way in which the conditions constrain the worker. The scale is substantial.

Global estimates published by the ILO, Walk Free and the International Organization for Migration indicate that 27. 6 million people were in forced labour on any given day in 2021. A later ILO analysis estimated that forced labour in the private economy generates about 236 billion US dollars in illegal profits each year.

Exploitation persists because coercion can be profitable and hidden across recruitment, subcontracting and informal work. Recruitment is therefore a critical control point. Fees charged to workers, opaque brokers, contract substitution and employer-tied visas can create dependency before work begins. Repaying fees may require months of wages, making departure economically impossible.

Responsible recruitment follows the employer-pays principle, verifies contracts and fees across labour agents, gives workers accessible information and ensures that documents remain in their possession. Detection must be matched by remedy. Simply terminating a supplier or dismissing an undocumented worker can remove the case from the buyer's records while deepening debt and vulnerability.

Remedy may require repayment of fees and withheld wages, safe immigration support, restoration of documents, medical or psychosocial assistance, protection from retaliation and changes to recruitment and purchasing systems. Workers should help determine what safe remedy requires.

Forced labour can also be imposed or enabled by the state, including through compulsory programmes, detention systems or restrictions on movement and employment. Business due diligence becomes especially difficult where independent worker access is limited and official records cannot be safely challenged.

The absence of disclosed cases in such contexts is weak evidence; organisations need heightened analysis of sourcing, traceability, leverage and the limits of verification. The discipline is to look beyond visible freedom and contractual form. Organisations should ask whether workers can refuse overtime, change employer, retain their earnings and documents, understand their terms and leave without punishment.

A clean site visit cannot answer those questions if workers are interviewed under observation or fear. Forced-labour prevention depends on worker voice, responsible recruitment, commercial accountability and a willingness to address coercion wherever it enters the value chain.

Practical application

Map recruitment and employment relationships beyond the direct employer, including labour brokers, transporters, accommodation providers and subcontractors. Interview workers confidentially in languages they understand. Check recruitment fees, contracts, wage deductions, document retention, movement, overtime, debt and the practical ability to leave.

Adopt the employer-pays principle and require repayment of worker-paid fees. Create remedy protocols with specialist organisations and worker representatives before cases emerge. Review purchasing and production pressures, and avoid abrupt disengagement where it would expose workers to greater harm or remove access to remedy.

Why it matters

Forced labour is a severe violation of human freedom and dignity that can remain hidden inside apparently ordinary employment. Understanding coercion in its economic, legal and psychological forms allows organisations to identify risks that a narrow search for physical confinement would miss.

Common misconception

Forced labour is often assumed to require violence, locked premises or proof that a worker never consented to the job. Coercion can operate through debt, threats, withheld pay or documents, and consent can be undermined by deception or withdrawn after work begins.

Connections

Human rights due diligence provides the process for identifying and remedying forced-labour risk. Decent work and living wage address conditions that support genuine choice and dignity. Child labour becomes a worst form where slavery-like practices or coercion are present, while responsible purchasing and recruitment influence risk across the chain.

A question worth asking

Could every worker in your value chain leave today with their wages, documents and safety intact - and what evidence supports the answer?

Selected references

International Labour Organization. 1930. Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29). International Labour Organization. 2014. Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930. International Labour Organization. 2012. ILO Indicators of Forced Labour. International Labour Organization, Walk Free and International Organization for Migration. 2022. Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and Forced Marriage.

International Labour Organization. 2024. Profits and Poverty: The Economics of Forced Labour.