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Helios Policy Center
Modern Slavery, Forced Labor & Ethical Conduct Standard
Helios is committed to supporting lawful, ethical, and responsible activity across end-to-end manufacturing and related industries. Helios does not permit the Platform to be used to support, conceal, facilitate, normalize, or profit from modern slavery, forced labor, child labor, human trafficking, coercive labor practices, or other exploitative conduct.
This Standard explains the expectations Helios places on users regarding labor practices, ethical sourcing, worker treatment, truthful claims, and responsible conduct in connection with Platform use.
Who this applies to
This Standard applies to all users of Helios, including experts, companies, students, vendors, suppliers, associations, partners, customers, service providers, and any other person or entity using the Platform.
Related Helios policies
This Standard should be read together with the Helios Terms of Service, Trust & Safety Policy, Code of Conduct, Restricted Activities & Prohibited Transactions Policy, Marketplace Integrity & Anti-Fraud Policy, Privacy Policy, and any supplier, onboarding, or category-specific requirements published by Helios.
How to use this page
Expand each section to review the rule, examples, and practical guidance. Use this page when evaluating labor, sourcing, recruitment, subcontracting, ethical claims, or supplier-related activity connected to Helios.
Policy Overview
This user-friendly version organizes the Modern Slavery, Forced Labor & Ethical Conduct Standard into collapsible sections so users can quickly understand expectations, prohibited conduct, reporting options, and Helios review actions.
Modern Slavery Standard Sections
01PurposeWhy this standard exists and what it protects.+
The purpose of this Standard is to:
- Prohibit labor exploitation and abusive labor practices in connection with Helios use
- Support ethical conduct across manufacturing, sourcing, and service relationships
- Prevent deceptive claims regarding labor, sourcing, and workplace conditions
- Establish expectations for lawful and responsible business behavior
- Give Helios a basis to review, restrict, or remove activity connected to labor exploitation or unethical conduct.
Examples
- A supplier profile claims “certified ethical workforce” but cannot support the claim with any reasonable records when asked.
- A company uses Helios to find low-cost labor while knowingly ignoring credible reports that the labor source uses unlawful conditions.
Practical guidance
Keep documentation for labor practices, supplier standards, audits, and sourcing claims. Do not use Helios listings, messages, or transactions to promote work tied to exploitative labor practices.
02General RuleProhibited labor exploitation, trafficking, coercion, and related conduct.+
Users may not use Helios to request, offer, promote, facilitate, transact in, or profit from activity involving:
- Child labor
- Forced labor
- Bonded labor
- Debt servitude
- Human trafficking
- Coercive labor recruitment
- Involuntary prison labor where unlawful or exploitative
- Confiscation or retention of worker identity documents
- Unlawful recruitment fees imposed on workers
- Threats, coercion, intimidation, or deception used to control workers
- Exploitative subcontracting practices that violate applicable law or ethical obligations.
Users operating in Canada or facilitating supply chain activity involving Canada should also be aware of obligations under the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act (S.C. 2023, c.9), which may require annual public reporting to the Minister of Public Safety regarding measures taken to prevent and reduce the risk of forced labour and child labour in supply chains.
Helios may restrict, remove, or prohibit activity that appears to involve exploitative labor conditions even where the full facts are still under review.
Examples
- A vendor requests quotes for parts while instructing suppliers not to disclose that production uses workers who cannot freely leave the worksite.
- An account promotes a sourcing arrangement that relies on workers paying unlawful recruitment debts before receiving wages.
Practical guidance
Assess labor risks before listing services or sourcing through Helios. Avoid opaque sourcing chains where worker treatment, legal compliance, or recruitment practices cannot be reasonably verified.
03Child LaborRules against unlawful or exploitative work involving minors.+
Users may not use Helios in connection with unlawful child labor or activity that exploits minors in violation of applicable law.
This includes, without limitation:
- Employing or sourcing labor from children below the minimum legal working age
- Exposing minors to hazardous industrial, manufacturing, or technical work contrary to law
- Misrepresenting worker ages, apprenticeships, or lawful employment status
- Using subcontractors or suppliers in a way that conceals unlawful child labor
Where young workers are lawfully employed under applicable law, users remain responsible for ensuring legal protections, safety requirements, supervision requirements, and restrictions on hazardous work are fully observed.
Examples
- A manufacturer posts a Helios listing while using an unverified subcontractor known to employ underage workers for hazardous shop-floor tasks.
- A supplier describes workers as “apprentices” to conceal that they are below the minimum legal working age for the type of work being performed.
Practical guidance
Confirm age requirements, lawful apprenticeship rules, supervision obligations, and hazardous-work restrictions before engaging young workers or suppliers that use young workers.
04Forced Labor, Coercion, and Human TraffickingForced labor, trafficking, deception, document retention, and unlawful restrictions.+
Users may not use Helios in connection with forced labor, coercive labor practices, or human trafficking.
Prohibited conduct includes, without limitation:
- Compelling a person to work through force, threats, coercion, intimidation, deception, or abuse of vulnerability
- Retaining passports, work permits, identity cards, or other personal documents improperly
- Restricting a worker’s freedom of movement unlawfully
- Using debt bondage or unlawful financial dependency to compel labor
- Trafficking persons for labor or services
- Using misleading promises about wages, conditions, location, immigration status, or job type to induce labor
Examples
- A recruiter finds workers through a Helios-related lead, promises one wage, then uses threats of deportation or debt to force acceptance of lower pay.
- A company asks workers to surrender identity documents as a condition for completing work connected to a Helios transaction.
Practical guidance
Do not work with recruiters, labor brokers, or subcontractors that use document retention, threats, deception, debt pressure, or unlawful movement restrictions.
05Recruitment and Employment PracticesFair recruitment, lawful terms, worker concerns, and third-party labor intermediaries.+
Users are expected to use fair and lawful recruitment and labor practices.
Users may not:
- Charge workers unlawful recruitment fees
- Mislead candidates or workers about wages, hours, duties, location, housing, immigration support, or job conditions
- Use deceptive contracts or hidden deductions
- Retaliate against workers for raising safety, wage, labor, or legal concerns
- Knowingly use labor intermediaries or recruiters engaged in unlawful or exploitative conduct
Users are responsible for the labor practices of third parties they engage where those practices are connected to Helios activity.
Examples
- A staffing partner charges workers unlawful placement fees for roles sourced through a Helios business relationship.
- A company advertises clean, safe, full-time work but uses hidden deductions and retaliates when workers complain about unsafe conditions.
Practical guidance
Use clear contracts, lawful wage terms, transparent deductions, and reputable recruiters. Investigate credible worker complaints instead of retaliating against them.
06Wages, Working Conditions, and Workplace TreatmentUnlawful wages, unsafe conditions, abusive treatment, and coercive discipline.+
Users may not use Helios in connection with unlawful or exploitative working conditions.
This includes, without limitation:
- Unlawful withholding of wages
- Unlawful deductions or wage manipulation
- Unsafe or hazardous work conditions where legal protections are ignored
- Denial of legally required rest, safety protections, or lawful working conditions
- Abusive treatment, intimidation, or coercive discipline
- Knowingly misrepresenting workplace safety, labor protections, or compliance standards.
Helios may consider workplace safety and treatment concerns relevant where work arranged, promoted, or supported through Helios creates risk of labor exploitation or serious harm.
Examples
- A shop accepts Helios-sourced work while withholding wages until workers complete excessive unpaid overtime.
- A vendor claims strong safety protections while requiring workers to perform hazardous production work without legally required safeguards.
Practical guidance
Maintain lawful wage practices, safety protections, rest periods, and respectful treatment. Do not make compliance claims you cannot substantiate.
07Ethical Sourcing and Supply Chain IntegrityTruthful claims about sourcing, audits, certifications, and worker protections.+
Users may not make false, misleading, incomplete, or unsubstantiated claims about:
- Ethical sourcing
- Fair labor conditions
- Anti-trafficking compliance
- Supply chain due diligence
- Worker protections
- Social compliance certifications
- Audit results
- Origin or sourcing conditions
Users must not use Helios to conceal abusive sourcing relationships, exploitative subcontracting structures, or supply chain practices that violate law or this Standard.
Examples
- A seller markets components as “ethically sourced” but knows the upstream supplier failed a labor audit for forced-labor indicators.
- A company removes supplier names from documentation to hide that production is routed through a high-risk labor intermediary.
Practical guidance
Be precise with ethical sourcing claims. Keep supplier records, audit summaries, corrective-action plans, and origin data aligned with what you represent on Helios.
08Subcontractors, Suppliers, and Third-Party ResponsibilityResponsibility for labor risks in connected subcontracting and supply chains.+
If you use subcontractors, staffing agencies, suppliers, or service partners in connection with Helios activity, you are responsible for ensuring that their conduct does not violate this Standard.
Users may not:
- Knowingly use subcontractors engaged in child labor, forced labor, or trafficking
- Structure sourcing or contracting relationships to avoid accountability
- Shift work to opaque or high-risk intermediaries to hide unlawful labor conditions
- Ignore credible warning signs of exploitation in the labor or sourcing chain connected to your Helios activity
Helios may request information about sourcing, subcontracting, or labor practices where risk is reasonably suspected.
Examples
- A company repeatedly shifts urgent work to an unknown subcontractor after receiving credible reports of coerced labor in that facility.
- A vendor refuses to identify a subcontractor while claiming that the subcontractor is responsible for all labor compliance issues.
Practical guidance
Apply due diligence to suppliers and labor intermediaries. Contractual delegation does not remove responsibility for high-risk conduct connected to your Helios activity.
09False Certifications and Misleading Ethical ClaimsFraudulent labor records, audit reports, declarations, and ethical sourcing statements.+
Users may not forge, falsify, manipulate, or misuse:
- Labor compliance certifications
- Audit reports
- Supplier declarations
- Workplace safety records
- Social responsibility statements
- Anti-trafficking representations
- Ethical sourcing claims
Misleading statements about labor, sourcing, or workforce conditions may be treated as both an ethical conduct issue and a fraud or marketplace integrity issue.
Examples
- A supplier uploads an altered audit report to make a failed labor-compliance review appear passed.
- A vendor uses another company’s social responsibility certification to make its own listing appear compliant.
Practical guidance
Use only accurate, current, and authorized certifications or audit references. Correct outdated claims promptly.
10Reporting ConcernsWhat users should report and what information helps review.+
Users are encouraged to report conduct or listings that appear connected to:
- Child labor
- Forced labor
- Trafficking
- Coercive recruitment
- Unsafe or exploitative working conditions
- Deceptive ethical sourcing claims
- Abusive subcontracting or supply chain concealment
Reports should include as much detail as reasonably available, such as:
- The account, company, or listing involved
- Relevant communications or representations
- Supporting documents, screenshots, or links
- Dates, locations, or supplier relationships where known
- Explanation of why the conduct appears exploitative or deceptive
Helios encourages good-faith reporting and may review such matters under its broader Trust & Safety and enforcement processes.
Examples
- A user reports a listing that openly requests ultra-low-cost production while referencing a supplier alleged to use forced labor.
- A worker shares screenshots of messages showing deceptive recruitment terms tied to a Helios-connected project.
Practical guidance
Report with clear details. Preserve messages, listing URLs, screenshots, supplier names, and dates where available.
11Helios Review and ResponseHow Helios may review and respond to labor exploitation concerns.+
Where Helios becomes aware of possible labor exploitation, trafficking risk, forced labor concerns, or deceptive ethical conduct, Helios may:
- Request clarification or supporting documentation
- Review related listings, profiles, files, or transactions
- Require compliance-related representations or evidence
- Restrict visibility, category access, or transaction activity
- Delay or deny payouts where permitted by policy or law
- Suspend or terminate accounts
- Report concerns to appropriate authorities, payment providers, partners, or affected parties
Examples
- Helios may temporarily restrict a listing while reviewing allegations that the connected supplier uses coerced labor.
- Helios may request labor-compliance documentation before allowing a high-risk sourcing offer to remain visible.
Practical guidance
Respond promptly and truthfully to Helios review requests. Provide complete records where relevant and avoid continuing high-risk activity while concerns are under review.
12Related Policy ViolationsOther Helios policies that may also apply.+
Conduct that violates this Standard may also violate other Helios policies, including:
Examples
- A forced-labor sourcing concern may also create Trust & Safety, anti-fraud, restricted-activity, and enforcement issues.
- A false ethical sourcing certification may be reviewed as both a Modern Slavery Standard issue and a marketplace integrity issue.
Practical guidance
Review related policy obligations before posting high-risk sourcing, labor, supplier, or compliance claims on Helios.
13User Responsibility for ComplianceUser responsibility for labor, employment, anti-trafficking, and sourcing compliance.+
Users are solely responsible for complying with all laws and obligations applicable to labor, employment, anti-trafficking, supply chain, workplace safety, and ethical sourcing conduct connected to their use of Helios.
Helios does not provide labor, employment, or regulatory advice. Users are responsible for ensuring that their own operations, contracting, sourcing, and worker relationships comply with applicable law.
Examples
- A business cannot rely on Helios publication of a listing as proof that its labor model, staffing arrangement, or supplier chain is legally compliant.
- A vendor remains responsible for legal obligations even if its labor practices are managed by a third-party staffing provider.
Practical guidance
Consult qualified legal or compliance support when labor, employment, trade, or sourcing obligations are uncertain.
14Policy UpdatesHow Helios may update the standard over time.+
Helios may update this Standard from time to time to reflect changes in law, industry expectations, platform activity, operational needs, or evolving trust and safety risks.
When Helios updates this Standard, it will post the revised version on the Platform and update the “Last Updated” date above. Continued use of the Platform after the effective date of an updated version constitutes acceptance of the revised Standard, except where additional notice or consent is required by law.
Examples
- Helios may update this Standard after changes in labor-supply-chain laws or new platform risk patterns.
- Helios may revise categories or review requirements as new sourcing or compliance risks emerge.
Practical guidance
Check the live policy page periodically, especially before posting labor, sourcing, supplier, or compliance-related services.
15Contact and ReportingWhere users can direct questions or reports about this standard.+
For questions or reports relating to child labor, forced labor, trafficking, exploitative sourcing, deceptive ethical claims, or other concerns under this Standard, contact Helios through the applicable support or reporting channel on the Platform.
Examples
- A user reports suspected child labor connected to a supplier listing and includes the company name, listing URL, communications, and supporting documents.
- A company requests clarification before posting claims about anti-trafficking compliance or social compliance certifications.
Practical guidance
When reporting, include enough context for review: accounts, listings, dates, locations, supplier relationships, screenshots, communications, and why the concern appears connected to labor exploitation or deception.
