Can a contractor transporting their workers, assuming the workers are not forced(Have complete free will to go or not), to a work site be charged with human trafficking?
By not forced I mean at gun point/family in danger type of force, not losing pay if not going.
Assuming reasonable people bring the charges.
Can a contractor transporting their workers, assuming the workers are not forced, to a work site be charged with human trafficking?
By not forced I mean at gun point/family in danger type of force, not losing pay if not going.
Yes. Your definition of force is very narrow. If you look up the definition of labor trafficking, you will see that other types of "force" are illegal, too:
The “acts” element of forced labor is met when the trafficker recruits, harbors, transports, provides, or obtains a person for labor or services.
Check.
The “means” element of forced labor includes a trafficker’s use of force, fraud, or coercion. The coercive scheme can include threats of force, debt manipulation, withholding of pay, confiscation of identity documents, psychological coercion, reputational harm, manipulation of the use of addictive substances, threats to other people, or other forms of coercion.
Check.
Although withholding of pay surely means pay already owed, not pay for work not yet done, something like "I won't pay you for last weeks work, if you don't get in the car to work this week" is force. Or "I will tell all other contractors you stole and I fired you, you won't find a job ever again". It doesn't need to be the proverbial gun to the head.
The “purpose” element focuses on the perpetrator’s goal to exploit a person’s labor or services. There is no limit on the location or type of industry. Traffickers can commit this crime in any sector or setting, whether legal or illicit, including but not limited to agricultural fields, factories, restaurants, hotels, massage parlors, retail stores, fishing vessels, mines, private homes, or drug trafficking operations.
Check.
All three elements are essential to constitute the crime of forced labor.
Yep. We may have a winner. Given that you gave no details other then "No gun to the head", we can say it is in the realm of possibility that the contractor committed a crime.
Did they though? We don't know. That depends on facts you decided not to share.
Since the elements of force, fraud and coercion are missing in your hypothetical situation, it would not be considered human trafficking.
For more information: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking
