Modern slavery victims were forced to work at a McDonald’s branch and a pitta bread factory for years, a BBC investigation has revealed.
A gang forced 16 people to work at either a branch of McDonald’s in Caxton, Cambridgeshire, or a pitta bread factory which has since closed.
The investigation found that signs of modern slavery – such as the fact four men’s wages were paid into one bank account – were missed while they were exploited for more than four years.
Six members of the human trafficking network, based in the Czech Republic, have now been convicted in criminal trials. The exploitation ended in 2019 but criminal proceedings were held up by the pandemic.
BBC researchers found that victims earned at least the legal minimum wage, but almost all of their pay was taken by the gangmasters. They also had to live in cramped and leaking accommodation.
Modern slavery
The investigation found that further multiple signs were missed, such as job applications being completed by a gang member who spoke English, who would sit in job interviews as a translator.
Court records showed that victims worked extreme hours, up to 70 or 100 hours a week, including one victim working a 30-hour shift. They also showed that multiple employees shared the same registered address.
Dame Sara Thonrton, former independent anti-slavery commissioner, reviewed the investigation’s findings. She said: “It really concerns me that so many red flags were missed, and maybe the companies didn’t do enough to protect the vulnerable workers.”
One of the victims, Pavel, said he felt “partially exploited by McDonald’s because they didn’t act”. He thought the company would be “a little bit more cautious” and notice the red flags, he told the BBC.
In a statement, McDonald’s said its franchisee at the Caxton outlet had only understood the “full depth of these horrific, complex and sophisticated crimes” when he was helping the police with their enquiries.
McDonald’s commissioned an independent review into modern slavery in 2023 so it can detect and deter potential risks such as those identified in this case.
Supermarkets that used the bakery company, Speciality Flatbread, said they had not detected the slavery while the victims were working there between 2012 and 2019.
Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires businesses with a turnover of £36 million or more to write an annual modern slavery and human trafficking statement, setting out the steps that they are taking to address the risk of slavery in their operations and supply chains.
The Labour government has pledged to crack down on exploitation of workers through a new combined employment enforcement body, the Fair Work Agency.
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