Exploitation of migrant workers in global supply chains is exposing investors to serious financial, legal and reputational risks, new analysis by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre shows.

High profile cases involving human rights abuses such as forced labour, child labour and health and safety breaches in factories supplying household names such as Armani, Dior, Panasonic and Sony have demonstrated the material consequences of corporate inaction.

Informed by insights from its 2025 Global Analysis of Migrant Worker Abuse, the Resource Centre has developed guidance to help investors use their leverage to effectively address real-world human rights risks in sectors including agri-food supply chains, construction and engineering, and manufacturing.

The guidance features prominent cases that demonstrate the repercussions of failing to act including:

• Armani and Dior being forced into judicial and court administration in Italy over migrant supply chain worker abuses.
• Panasonic and Sony facing an OECD complaint over alleged forced labour indicators in their Malaysian supply chains.
• Shares at HelloFresh reportedly falling as much as 8.2% after the US Department of Labor found child labour in its supply chain and it abruptly terminated a supplier relationship.

The new guidance for investors offers a roadmap to strengthen board-level standards on migrant workforce protections, engage with portfolio companies and ensure rights violations are addressed and remedied appropriately.

The briefing highlights examples where investors have used their leverage to effectively demand lasting change in corporate practice to improve the lives and livelihoods of migrant workers by:

• Adopting migrant-centred approaches to stewardship and investment using a range of means including voting guidelines.
• Implementing risk mitigation policies specific to migrant supply chain workers such as committing to the Employer Pays Principle to offset recruitment costs.
• Engaging with industries particularly dependent on migrant workforces to improve standards on workers’ rights.
• Engaging with portfolio companies linked to migrant worker abuse to ensure firms transparently investigate, address and remediate migrant worker abuses.

The need for action is urgent. Economic, climate, and conflict crises are driving migration while simultaneously worsening labour conditions. Investors who fail to acknowledge the link between risks to workers and risks to capital expose their portfolios to material financial and legal consequences.

Widespread and documented abuse in high-risk sectors is exposing investors to greater material risks and highlights the need for them to engage with portfolio companies to prevent, mitigate and remedy abuse for migrant supply chain workers.

Launching the guidance, Isobel Archer, Senior Researcher in Labour & Migrant Worker Rights, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre said: “Responsible investors have a clear role in upholding international human rights standards through their stewardship and investment decisions, including in ensuring remedy for abuse when it does occur.  Our database is an alarm call on the scale of abuse being perpetrated against migrant workers in every sector, globally, every single day.

“Migrant workers are the backbone of economies at home and in destination regions. They face increasing risks from climate, conflict and economic crises and are some of the most vulnerable supply chain workers. Investors who ignore these challenges expose themselves and their portfolio companies to severe financial, legal and reputational fallout, ranging from lawsuits to supply chain disruptions.

“The guidance shows they can do this by engaging with portfolio companies and driving robust human rights due diligence. Stewardship that prioritises ethical labour practices isn’t just a moral imperative - it’s a strategic necessity in today’s volatile market.”

The full guidance is available here.

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For more information or to arrange an interview please contact: Anil Dawar, media officer, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, +44 (0) 7766 317 434, [email protected]

Note to editors:
Running since 2022 and tracking headline numbers and overall trends alongside specific cases and sector deep dives, the Migrant Worker Allegations Database covers all sectors and all abuses across supply chains right across the world. All entries are based on publicly available sources from news outlets and civil society globally, the full methodology can be read here.

Companies linked to abuse in the database are featured in our Migrant Worker Allegations Tracker here.

Our 2025 Global Analysis: “Not just a number”: Tracking migrant worker abuse in global supply chains looks at a year’s worth of data from 1 January – 31 December 2024 to highlight trends.

The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is an international NGO that tracks the human rights impacts of companies across the globe.