In the latest move to restore order to the asylum and immigration system, the government will introduce tough new laws to clamp down on illegal working.
Companies hiring people in the gig economy will now be legally required to carry out checks confirming that anyone working in their name is eligible to work in the UK, bringing them in line with other employers. These vital checks, which take just minutes to complete, confirm someone's immigration status and allow them to legally work in the UK.
This means that for the very first time, employment checks will be extended to cover businesses hiring gig economy and zero-hours workers in sectors like construction, food delivery, beauty salons and courier services.
Currently, thousands of companies using these flexible arrangements are not legally required to check the status of these workers. This changes now.
Where businesses fail to carry out these checks, they will face hefty penalties already in place for those hiring illegal workers in traditional roles, including fines of up to £60,000 per worker, business closures, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to 5 years.
Expanding illegal working checks will help level the playing field for the majority of honest companies who do the right thing. For example, Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats already voluntarily carry out checks to ensure their delivery riders are eligible to work.
Clamping down on illegal working forms a critical part of the government's plan to strengthen the entire immigration system, restoring tough enforcement of the rules and undermine people smugglers using the false promise of jobs for migrants.
The announcement comes a day before the UK holds the first ever Organised Immigration Crime Summit, bringing together over 40 countries to agree unprecedented new international action to take down every aspect of criminal smuggling gangs' tactics.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said:
Under our Plan for Change, we are restoring order to the asylum and immigration system by introducing tougher laws and bolstering enforcement action to tackle illegal working and stopping rogue employers in their tracks.
Turning a blind eye to illegal working plays into the hands of callous people smugglers trying to sell spaces on flimsy, overcrowded boats with the promise of work and a life in the UK.
These exploitative practices are often an attempt to undercut competitors who are doing the right thing. But we are clear that the rules need to be respected and enforced.
These new laws build on significant efforts to stop organised immigration crime and protect the integrity of our borders, including increasing raids and arrests for illegal working and getting returns of people who have no right to be here to their highest rate in half a decade.
Claire Pointon, Managing Director, Just Eat UK and Ireland said:
Just Eat is committed to supporting high streets and communities by ensuring a fair and well-regulated rapid delivery sector. Preventing unauthorised work is key to this, which is why we're strengthening our measures by introducing biometric checks to swiftly remove those without the correct authorisation to work in the UK. We welcome this decision from the Home Office to expand these requirements to other sectors.
A Deliveroo spokesperson said:
Deliveroo has led the industry in taking action to secure our platform against illegal working, developing our approach in close collaboration with the Home Office. We were the first to roll out direct right to work checks, a registration process, daily identity verification and now additional device checks for riders, including substitutes. We take our responsibilities extremely seriously and will continue to strengthen our controls to prevent misuse of our platform. We welcome the government taking action to ensure all businesses and sectors adopt the same standards.
An Uber Eats spokesperson said:
Uber Eats is fully committed to fighting illegal work and the criminal networks who are often behind it, including by introducing state of the art identity and document video verification technology and mandatory substitute registration. We welcome efforts to enable and enforce further controls, and create a level playing field across the sector.
The checks take minutes to complete, and the Home Office provide this free of charge, with businesses able to utilise digital ID verification technology to support the process. There is also support in place for employers with enquiries about the process.
The new laws further build on measures announced in November to equip Immigration Enforcement teams with new technology. From May, body worn cameras will be rolled out to officers on the front line tackling illegal working and organised immigration crime. Backed by £5 milllion, this will help officers collect evidence to support prosecutions and make sure exploitative businesses undermining our immigration system are held to account.
The new measures go alongside a ramp-up of operational action by Immigration Enforcement teams, who since July have carried out 6,784 illegal working visits to premises and made 4,779 arrests - an increase of 40% and 42% compared to the same period 12 months ago. In that time, 1,508 civil penalty notices have been issued.
This also follows wider measures within the legislation announced earlier this month to impose tougher restrictions on foreign criminals whose removal we are pursuing but we are presently unable to deport. This includes the use of electronic tags, night time curfews and exclusion zones. Breaching these conditions would be grounds for arrest and the individual could face imprisonment.
The measures will help ensure the Home Office maintains close contact with individuals and makes it very clear that they should not become established in the UK, as the intention remains to remove them when possible.
Tomorrow (31 March 2025), the Home Secretary will convene key government and law enforcement leads at the UK's 2 day landmark international Organised Immigration Crime Summit.
This will include Immigration Enforcement, the Department for Business and Trade, the Gangmasters Labour Abuse Authority and the National Crime Agency, holding a roundtable to discuss the importance of shutting down illegal working and government's ongoing surge in operational activity.
The summit will bring together leaders from across the globe, with the aim of securing international commitments to intensify efforts against organised immigration crime gangs.
