Workplace scenarios

The situations below are fictional but realistic. As you read each one, decide what you would do before reading the answer, and notice how often the right response is to observe, record, and report rather than to intervene.

Scenario 1: The hand car wash

On your lunch break you use a hand car wash near the office. Six workers clean your car in minutes for a remarkably low price, wearing no protective clothing in freezing weather. They avoid eye contact, and one man who never touches a sponge takes every payment and watches the others constantly.

What good looks like: You do not confront anyone or start questioning the workers. You make a note of what you saw, including the date, time, and location, and you talk it through with the Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline on 08000 121 700, or report to the police on 101. If you believed anyone was in immediate danger, you would call 999 instead.

Scenario 2: The payroll pattern

You work in payroll and notice that four new warehouse operatives have their wages paid into the same bank account, which is not in any of their names. All four are registered at one small terraced house, and none of them has ever queried a payslip or booked a day of leave.

What good looks like: You do not quietly correct the records or email the workers about it. You treat the cluster of indicators as a potential sign of exploitation, keep a factual note of exactly what you found, and raise it promptly through your internal route, such as your manager, HR, or the safeguarding lead, so the organisation can involve the authorities in a coordinated way.

Scenario 3: The contractor's cleaner

A contractor's cleaning team arrives and leaves together in the same van at odd hours. One cleaner seems fearful and never speaks, and her supervisor answers every question on her behalf. When you say hello, she glances at the supervisor before mumbling that she is fine.

What good looks like: You recognise that "I'm fine" said in front of a possible controller is not reliable reassurance. You do not press her to disclose and you do not challenge the supervisor, which could lead to her being punished or moved. You record what you observed, keeping fact separate from opinion, and report the concern the same day through your organisation's channel.

Scenario 4: The bid that is too cheap

You are comparing quotes for a grounds maintenance contract. One bid comes in dramatically below every competitor, and the supplier gives vague answers when asked how the price covers legal wages and whether the work is subcontracted.

What good looks like: You treat the price and the evasive answers as findings, not bargains. You put the due diligence questions about agencies, recruitment fees, and subcontracting in writing, record the responses, and escalate to whoever owns the supplier decision. Choosing the cheapest bid without asking how the price is possible creates the demand that exploitation supplies.