Crackdown on illegal working
The government has pledged to end illegal working in the gig economy by forcing delivery and ride-hailing platforms to carry out tougher right-to-work checks on their self-employed contractors.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood will launch a public consultation on Wednesday to shape new laws requiring food delivery companies and gig platforms to verify that people working for them are legally entitled to do so.
The measures will be introduced through the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, now before the House of Lords.
The move follows media reports revealing widespread use of delivery apps by newly arrived migrants working illegally under borrowed accounts. Many of these workers, unable to pass employment checks, have been paying account holders with legal status to access work through their profiles.
Industry under pressure
“Those found to be illegally working in beauty salons, car washes and as delivery drivers will be arrested, detained and removed from this country,” Mahmood said.
“I will do whatever it takes to secure Britain’s borders.”
The consultation will gather views from companies on how best to verify self-employed workers and those operating as substitutes, something permitted under a 2017 Supreme Court ruling on Deliveroo’s employment model. The Home Office argues that stronger checks are vital to “break the business model” of illegal employment.
A year-long crackdown on illegal labour has already led to 11,000 raids and 8,000 arrests, with the Home Office promising further enforcement.
Delivery firms agree new checks
Companies including Uber Eats, Just Eat Takeaway and Deliveroo have already signed up to tougher safeguards following a government summit in July. The agreement includes sharing asylum accommodation addresses with firms so they can avoid allocating work to residents awaiting asylum decisions.
Employers who knowingly hire illegal workers face penalties of up to £60,000 per person or five years in prison.
Digital ID reforms ahead
The government also plans to roll out a digital ID system to make right-to-work verification easier and harder to falsify.
Mahmood said the goal was clear: “There must be no back door into Britain’s labour market.”
