A BBC investigation has uncovered a case of modern slavery involving 16 victims from the Czech Republic, who were forced to work at a UK McDonald’s branch and a factory supplying major supermarkets that went unnoticed for years, BBC reports.
Victims reported extreme working hours, often over 70 hours a week, with their wages being funneled into a single bank account controlled by a trafficking gang. They lived in poor conditions, with most of their earnings stolen, and were subjected to intimidation and violence from the gang, which confiscated their passports and monitored them closely. The exploitation ended in October 2019 after victims reached out to police in the Czech Republic, who alerted their UK counterparts. Several family members of the trafficking network have been convicted, but the case highlighted significant failures in detection.
The BBC highlighted numerous missed warning signs, including the use of shared bank accounts for wages and the presence of multiple workers at the same registered address.
McDonald’s UK stated it has since improved its systems for detecting such risks, while the British Retail Consortium emphasized the need for retailers to strengthen due diligence practices. Several major supermarkets involved have since ceased partnerships with the supplier but only after the trafficking was uncovered.