Training, awareness building and engagement are key elements of our ethical trading strategy.
All internal colleagues undertaking key roles including Technical, Supply Chain and Own Brand Procurement are provided with training on our Ethical Trading policy and code. In addition, we have delivered modern slavery training workshops to over 10,000 colleagues in Morrisons Manufacturing, Procurement and HR using a a bespoke e-learning approach developed in collaboration with the GLAA. We also recognise that supporting, funding and delivering training to our suppliers and partners plays an essential role in building their capacity to take ownership for issues in their wider supply chains.
In 2018 we worked in collaboration with the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC), ETI and other retailers to develop training and guidance for UK farmers and processors on best practice standards of accommodation for temporary workers. This included funding an online webinar and training module that was hosted by Sedex but accessible to all suppliers regardless of whether they are members. All suppliers across our Pork, Chicken and Produce categories are now expected to comply with the FPC guidance for temporary worker accommodation and be working towards compliance.
In 2019 we became a Founding Sponsor of the Responsible Recruitment Toolkit (RRT), supporting labour providers and suppliers in our supply chain to embed ethical and professional recruitment and labour supply practices. All of our supply chain partners, at any tier of our supply chain, can benefit from free access to the Responsible Recruitment Toolkit online portal and training workshops delivered by leading experts in the field of responsible recruitment and the elimination of work related fees.In 2019 over 50 of our key suppliers and labour providers accessed either the “Introduction to Responsible Recruitment” or “Eliminating Worker-Paid Recruitment Fees” training and over 1000 businesses accessed the online toolkit.
In 2020 we worked with other supermarkets and external providers to host webinars to support all our suppliers during the covid pandemic. Topics ranged from managing impacts on employee mental health to furloughing staff responsibly. These webinars reached over 4,000 participants in 56 countries and were later supported by the establishment of the Food Farm Help website, which provided additional guidance for the UK food sector during the second and third waves of the crisis.
In 2021 We partnered with The Reassurance Network to deliver in-depth virtual training on communication enhancement to key suppliers. This training encourages the factory management to use multi directions of effective communication channels. Training was given to 24 suppliers/sites over 4 sessions.