Six-week consultation on new requirements to be brought in under Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill runs till 10 December 2025
After announcing a record number of arrests for illegal working, the Home Office today launched a consultation on expanding the range of employers and businesses required by law to carry out checks on workers to prevent illegal working.
Image credit: WikipediaYesterday, the Home Office said that more than 8,000 people were arrested for illegal working between October 2024 and September 2025 following 11,000 raids by Immigration Enforcement. Describing it as the "largest enforcement crackdown on illegal working since records began," the department noted that arrests were up 63% on the previous year.
Today, the Home Office launched a six-week consultation to extend the requirement to carry out right to work checks to businesses hiring gig economy and zero-hours workers in sectors such as construction, food delivery, beauty services, courier operations, and warehousing. The new requirements will be brought in under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.
Under existing legislation, all employers must carry out right to work checks before employing someone under a contract of employment. However, casual, self-employed, and gig economy workers are currently outside the right to work scheme's scope, which the Government says creates opportunities for unscrupulous employers to exploit individuals without lawful immigration status. As the Home Office announced in March, businesses that fail to conduct right to work checks will face severe penalties under the new rules, including fines of up to £60,000 per illegal worker, potential business closures, director disqualifications, and prison sentences of up to five years.
The consultation seeks views on how these new requirements should be applied and enforced, as well as ways to simplify the process for compliant businesses. You can access all materials related to the consultation and find out how to respond here on GOV.UK. Responses need to be submitted by the end of 10 December 2025.
Alex Norris, the Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum, provided the following details in a written statement to Parliament:
Statement
The Government's focus is on restoring order, control and fairness to the UK immigration and asylum system, bringing down net migration and promoting economic growth. The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill creates a range of new measures to strengthen UK border security. The Immigration White Paper, Restoring Control over the Immigration System, presented to Parliament in May, sets out the planned reforms to legal migration. A core principle behind our approach is that the rules must be respected and enforced.
I am launching a consultation on extending the employers and businesses within scope of the legal requirement to carry out checks on workers and prevent illegal working. A copy of the consultation will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and it will also be available on GOV.UK.
It remains a criminal offence for migrants to work illegally in the UK. However, modern labour market models are becoming more attractive to illegal workers due to the perceived lack of consequences for working without permission. Illegal working acts as a pull factor to the UK for irregular migration and is inextricably linked to low or no pay, as well as indicators of modern slavery such as inhumane working hours or conditions.
Legislation setting out employer responsibilities to prevent illegal working has been in place since 1997. Since 2008, employers have been required to carry out prescribed right to work checks on all employees regardless of a person's nationality prior to the start of employment: the Right to Work Scheme. However, this scheme only applies to individuals classified as an 'employee'.
The risks associated with this long-standing, narrow scope have been brought into sharp focus by developments in the modern labour market. There are whole sectors where businesses can engage workers without the legal responsibility to complete a right to work check, for example agency workers and casual contract arrangements in the gig economy.
Therefore, through changes being made by the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, the Government is extending the scope of employers and businesses required to carry out checks on their workers and prevent illegal working. This will ensure that those who engage individuals as casual or temporary workers under a worker's contract, individual sub-contractors and online matching services who provide details of service providers to customers will all be required to carry out right to work checks. This safeguard will ensure that businesses acting lawfully will not be undercut on labour costs by those who exploit the system.
The government is committed to supporting employers in preparing for this change and adapting their processes to ensure compliance.
The consultation seeks views on how the measure will be enforced, shaping the guidance and statutory codes of practice that will be published when the regulatory changes are commenced. The consultation provides an opportunity to further develop understanding of the recruitment and employment practices in the labour market.
The consultation will run for six weeks, closing at 11:59pm on Wednesday 10 December 2025. The Government will publish its response thereafter, will finalise the guidance and amend the statutory codes of practice through secondary legislation.
Meanwhile, new research has highlighted potential modern slavery risks in the UK housebuilding sector, suggesting that some forms of labour exploitation may be "hidden in plain sight." A report by King's Business School for the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre found that despite housebuilding accounting for around 40% of UK construction output, it is often underrepresented in existing research on labour exploitation. The study identified gaps in understanding how casual, subcontracted, and informal work arrangements can leave workers, particularly migrants, vulnerable to unpaid wages, unsafe working conditions, and more severe forms of exploitation such as forced labour and debt bondage.
The researchers noted that the sector's reliance on complex supply chains, labour intermediaries, and so-called 'bogus' self-employment creates barriers for enforcement and oversight. They called for improved data collection, stronger reporting pathways, and clearer enforcement protocols to address risks before they escalate.
You can download the full 51-page report here.
With regard to illegal working, the report noted: "The prevalence of illegal working in the construction sector is another recognized issue, leading to health and safety risks while increasing workers' vulnerability to exploitation and abuse. CCSCHEME (2024) conducted an industry survey involving over 550 participants, which revealed that 81% believed illegal working had risen over the last 15 years. Data obtained by Construction News through the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act showed that arrests for illegal working more than doubled from 82 in 2022 to 214 in 2023 (CN, 2024). During our interview with the [Home Office], they indicated that there is currently no established baseline to assess whether illegal working has increased."