New provision against human trafficking

In recent months, the City of Hafnarfjörður has paid special attention to the threat of human trafficking, systematically reviewing its procurement processes and tender specifications with the aim of protecting those who are vulnerable to it. At a meeting of the Hafnarfjörður Environmental and Executive Council this week, a new clause on human trafficking was approved for the council's tendering conditions.    

New provisions on human trafficking will be added to all tender documents for the City of Hafnarfjörður, and the municipality wishes to contribute to the abolition of human trafficking in Iceland. In parallel, a portion of the council's staff and inspectors have received training on how to identify human trafficking, and this training will continue in the coming months. Representatives from the Capital Region Police gave a presentation to a large group of staff this spring and will be giving a presentation to all managers of Hafnarfjörður Municipality in mid-November.

New clause in the terms of the tender

A new provision means that by signing the tender, the bidder declares that they will ensure that all employees involved in the work, whether they are employees of the bidder or of a subcontractor, receive wages and working conditions in accordance with the applicable collective bargaining agreements at all times and that their working conditions comply with legislation on occupational safety and health. Furthermore, the contractor guarantees and is responsible for ensuring that all workers, whether employees of the contractor, subcontractors or from a labour hire company, receive wages, working conditions, health and accident insurance, and other rights in accordance with the contract, applicable collective agreements and the law at all times. In addition, the bidder is responsible for and shall maintain in force insurance against loss due to accidents, illness, disease, medical expenses or death sustained by the contractor's employees and attributable to the works. The bidder is responsible for ensuring that subcontractors, labour hire companies and their employees hold similar insurance. At any time during the contract period, the bidder must be able to demonstrate to the client that all rights and obligations in respect of these employees are met. The bidder agrees by signing that if they are unable to provide documentation or demonstrate to the project supervisor that contractual obligations are being met within 5 days of a request to do so from the client, the client may terminate the contract without further notice or decide to apply daily penalties amounting to 0,1% of the contract sum for each day the requested information is lacking.