Warings Furniture is located in a country setting with a lot of our staff living within the local community. For this reason we have always taken an interest in our surroundings and have supported the local community in a number of ways:

1. Warings Furniture and 864 (Watton) Squadron Air Training Corps formed an association in 2006 at our behest with the intention of benefitting both organisations. So far we have worked together on a couple of citizenship projects with the cadets offsetting their carbon footprint by gaining permission to plant 5 acres of native broadleaf trees. We also realised the importance of the Duke of Edinburgh Award in a young person's development, and have also made our land available for expedition and fieldcraft training. Prior to our offer of our land it had been a challenge for them to find suitable private property for this purpose. In addition to this, we have been pleased to offer job opportunities to cadets and staff and currently have 2 staff members in our employment.
2. Warings Furniture are official sponsors of the Norfolk Hospitality Industry Awards which recognise not only the best restaurants and hotels within our region, but also individuals from management down to "unsung heros" like cleaners and potwashers.
3. Warings Furniture have traditionally made an annual charitable donation during December with local charities being the beneficiaries. We request nominations from all our staff for local charities that they would like to be considered a worthy cause for a donation by the company. These suggestions are then shortlisted and a voting form along with information about each charity goes out to all our staff for them to select from. It gives us great pleasure to assist charities in this way, and we hope that our staff feel part of this.
4. Warings Furniture Policy on Modern Day Slavery & Human Trafficking

   Awareness of and Avoidance of Perpetuation and Participation

    

   Warings Furniture and the managing team that runs the business have always held themselves to highest moral and ethical codes of practice and the entire concept of slavery and human trafficking is abhorrent to our whole organisation and we obviously have a zero tolerance approach both internally and with our external supply chain.  We acknowledge its existence and the addition of this policy to our procedures will strengthen and formalise our historic approach preceding and since the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

    

   Modern slavery is a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights. It takes various forms, such as slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour and human trafficking, all of which have in common the deprivation of a person's liberty by another in order to exploit them for personal or commercial gain.

    

   As part of our contracting processes, we include specific prohibitions against the use of forced, compulsory or trafficked labour, or anyone held in slavery or servitude, whether adults or children, and we expect that our suppliers will hold their own suppliers to the same high standards.

    

   This policy applies to all persons working for Warings Furniture or on our behalf in any capacity, including employees at all levels, directors,  agency workers, interns, agents, contractors, external consultants, third-party representatives and business partners. This policy does not currently form part of any employee's contract of employment, however is included as additional documentation as an appendix to same for all new employees to the business.  All employees and all service providers and product suppliers have been provided with a copy with a particular highlight on the whistleblowing element to ensure that should any concerns exist these are immediately highlighted to the business (see COMPLIANCE WITH THIS POLICY and WHISTLE BLOWING below).  This procedure will be carried out annually to ensure all Warings Furniture employees and supply chain and service provider connections are reminded of the potential existence of slavery and trafficking and the urgency of intervention.

    

   WARNING SIGNS – General Indicators:

    

   PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

   • Shows signs of physical or psychological abuse, look malnourished or unkempt, anxious/agitated or appear withdrawn and neglected. They may have untreated injuries

    

    

    

   ISOLATION

   • Rarely be allowed to travel on their own, seem under the control, influence of others, rarely interact or appear unfamiliar with their neighbourhood or where they work
   • Relationships which don't seem right - for example a young teenager appearing to be the boyfriend/girlfriend of a much older adult

    

   POOR LIVING CONDITIONS

   • Be living in dirty, cramped or overcrowded accommodation, and/or living and working at the same address

    

   RESTRICTED FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT

   • Have no identification documents, have few personal possessions and always wear the same clothes day in and day out. What clothes they do wear may not be suitable for their work
   • Have little opportunity to move freely and may have had their travel documents retrained, e.g. passports

    

   UNUSUAL TRAVEL TIMES

   • Be dropped off/collected for work on a regular basis either very early or late at night
   • Unusual travel arrangements - children being dropped off/picked up in private cars/taxis at unusual times and in places where it isn't clear why they'd be there

    

    

   RELUCTANT TO SEEK HELP

   • Avoid eye contact, appear frightened or hesitant to talk to strangers and fear law enforcers for many reasons, such as not knowing who to trust or where to get help, fear of deportation, fear of violence to them or their family

   
   THE FOLLOWING SIGNS COULD INDICATE A SITUATION OF LABOUR EXPLOITATION:

   • Individuals may show signs of psychological or physical abuse. They might appear frightened, withdrawn or confused
   • Workers may not have free movement and may always be accompanied
   • Individuals often lack protective equipment or suitable clothing and have not been trained to safely fulfil the requirements of the role
   • The person may not have access to their own documents, such as ID or their passport, with the employer having confiscated them
   • Individuals may not have a contract and may not be paid National Minimum Wage or not paid at all
   • Workers are forced to stay in accommodation provided by the employer. This accommodation could be overcrowded
   • Individuals could live on site
   • Workers could be transported to and from work, potentially with multiple people in one vehicle
   • The person might not accept money or be afraid to accept payment
   • Workers may work particularly long hours

    

   Warings Furniture recognises UnseenUK as an organisation that successfully highlights the issues of modern day slavery as well as other abusive situations and recommend everyone visits their website and educates themselves on the more wicked side of society:

   Spot the Signs of Modern Slavery and Exploitation | Unseen (unseenuk.org)

    

   COMPLIANCE WITH THIS POLICY and WHISTLEBLOWING  - You (whether you are an employee, agent, supplier, contractor or service provider in any way) must ensure that you read, understand and comply with this policy. The prevention, detection and reporting of modern slavery in any part of our business or supply chains is the responsibility of all those working for us or under our control. You are required to avoid any activity that might lead to, or suggest, a breach of this policy. You must notify the management of Warings Furniture as soon as possible if you believe or suspect that a conflict with this policy has occurred, or may occur in the future.   For avoidance of any doubt your immediate line of communication should be directed to:

    

   Rachael Waring – Managing Director – Warings Furniture

   Rachael.waring@waringsfurniture.com

   00 44 1953 49949

    

   You are encouraged to raise concerns about any issue or suspicion of modern slavery in any parts of our business or supply chains of any supplier tier at the earliest possible stage. If you believe or suspect a breach of this policy has occurred or that it may occur you must raise your concerns immediately.

    

   If you have concerns over reporting your suspicions please remind yourself of our Whistleblowing Policy which has been previously distributed but available upon request or visible on our website:

    

   www.waringsfurniture.com

    

   We aim to encourage openness and will support anyone who raises genuine concerns in good faith under this policy, even if they turn out to be mistaken. Warings Furniture is committed to ensuring no one suffers any detrimental treatment as a result of reporting in good faith their suspicion that modern slavery of whatever form is or may be taking place in any part of our own business or in any of our supply chains. Detrimental treatment includes dismissal, disciplinary action, threats or other unfavourable treatment connected with raising a concern. If you believe that you have suffered any such treatment, you should inform the management of Warings Furniture immediately. If the matter is not remedied, and you are an employee, you should raise it formally using the Grievance Procedure which forms part of your contract and can be discussed with the HR department.

   Any employee who breaches this policy will face disciplinary action, which could result in dismissal for misconduct or gross misconduct. Any supplier or service provider who breaches this policy should understand that this will lead to an immediate termination of our relationship.

    

    

    

   Directors – WARINGS FURNITURE

   version July 2021 – distributed to all personnel, agents, service providers and supply chain