Open consultation

Prevention of illegal working: Extending the Right to Work Scheme to other working arrangements

Published 29 October 2025

About this consultation

This consultation will support the implementation of right to work checks in a wider part of the labour market, confirming an employer’s responsibilities to comply with the legal requirement. Responses to the consultation will inform the preparation of guidance and the statutory code of practice that supports the scheme.

The consultation will support the evaluation of the impact of the changes on illegal working.

This consultation is for employers across the United Kingdom.

The consultation will be open for 6 weeks from 29 October 2025 to 11:59 pm on 10 December 2025.

Ministerial foreword

The ability to work illegally is a driver of irregular migration.  It encourages people to break our immigration laws and provides the practical means to remain in the UK without lawful immigration status.  It plays into the proposition sold by unscrupulous criminal gangs, that individuals can come to the UK and work, when in reality such work is illegal and puts individuals into a vulnerable position and at risk of exploitation. 

Under domestic legislation, access to work is reserved to those who are eligible and have lawful immigration status in the UK.  All employers have an existing responsibility to prevent illegal working, and since 2008 they have done this by conducting right to work checks before employing someone under a contract of employment to ensure the individual is not disqualified from carrying out the work in question by reason of their immigration status (the Right to Work Scheme).  

Under this government’s Plan for Change to restore order to the immigration system and ensure tougher enforcement of the rules, we are determined to clamp down on illegal working. Immigration Enforcement teams are intensifying operational activity across the UK to stop businesses hiring people to work illegally. There has been a 63% increase in illegal working arrests (8,000) and 51% increase in raids (11,000) in the last year (October 2024 to September 2025), with over 1,050 migrants encountered on raids returned or deported.

Through the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, the government is strengthening enforcement of the rules to clamp down on illegal working.  This means that for the first time, right to work checks will be extended to cover businesses hiring gig economy and zero-hours workers in sectors like construction, food delivery, beauty salons, courier services and warehousing.

This will ensure that companies which employ individuals under a worker’s contract, individual sub-contractors, and online matching services (that provide details of service providers to potential clients or customers for remuneration), are required to carry out right to work checks.  The associated civil and criminal sanctions for non-compliance will therefore be made applicable in these circumstances.

These legislative amendments will restrict the ability of rogue employers to take advantage of illegal workers and encourage businesses to provide work opportunities to those permitted to work in the UK.  It will provide parity across industries and will set a level playing field for businesses to uphold their responsibilities to prevent illegal working in the UK.  This safeguard will also ensure that businesses acting lawfully will not be undercut on labour costs by those who exploit the system.

Some of the businesses impacted by this change are already doing these checks, abiding by the spirit of the law.  This consultation seeks views on how this change should be operationalised and enforced and how we can simplify processes to make it easier for compliant employers to fulfil their responsibilities. It will provide businesses with an opportunity to shape Home Office guidance and statutory codes of practice that will underpin the prescribed right to work checks that businesses will be required to carry out to ensure that any individual working for them has the right to work in the UK.

In the future, digital ID cards will create a simpler, more consistent way for employers to check someone’s Right to Work – including these new employment checks in the gig economy. As everyone will need a digital ID to prove their right to work, it will make it harder for people to avoid checks or use forged documents as proof.

Alex Norris MP

Minister for Border Security and Asylum

Introduction

The Right to Work Scheme (‘the scheme’) ensures that only those who are legally entitled to work in the UK can access employment.  The scheme aims to tackle and deter irregular migration, to secure compliance with and help to enforce UK immigration laws and to support efforts to tackle those who exploit vulnerable migrants.  

The scheme requires all employers in the UK to carry out prescribed right to work checks prior to employing someone of any nationality.  It is underpinned by civil and criminal sanctions for non-compliance.

The existing scheme applies to individuals classified as an ‘employee’.  This means that employers who use ‘workers’ or ‘self-employed’ individuals do not have a legal responsibility to carry out right to work checks to ascertain if the individual is eligible to work in the UK.   

Developments in the modern labour market have brought changes to the working environment and introduced new risks to illegal working.  The common factor is the use of self-employment.  There is increased usage of agency workers and casual contract arrangements where employers exchange money for labour, commonly referred to as the gig economy. In other sectors such as construction, the lack of oversight takes the form of sub-contracting, while in areas like care or hospitality, it is linked to the use of intermediaries.  

This means there are sectors of the labour market where businesses can engage workers without the responsibility to ensure individuals are permitted to work in the UK and complete right to work checks.

The extension of the Right to Work Scheme will ensure those who engage individuals as casual or temporary workers under a worker’s contract, individual sub-contractors, and online matching services (that provide details of service providers to potential clients or customers for remuneration), are required to carry out right to work checks. The associated civil and criminal sanctions for non-compliance will be made applicable in these circumstances.

This will restrict the ability to take advantage of illegal workers and encourage businesses to provide work opportunities to only those permitted to work in the UK.  It will provide parity across industries and will set a level playing field for businesses to uphold their responsibilities to prevent illegal working in the UK.  

By so doing, the government aims to eliminate any financial gain or benefit from non-compliance; to tackle the harm caused by regulatory non-compliance, where appropriate; and to deter future non-compliance.

How to respond

You can complete the questionnaire online or return the downloadable version to: righttorentandrighttowork@homeoffice.gov.uk

Please respond by 11:59 pm on 10 December 2025.

Personal data

Do not provide personal data when responding to free-text survey questions.  Any personal data included will be removed prior to analysis of these responses and will not be considered in the consultation outcome.

Confidentiality and data protection information provided in response to the consultation, including personal information, may be disclosed in accordance with UK legislation (the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004).  

If you want the information provided to be treated as confidential, please tell us, but be aware that confidentiality cannot be guaranteed in all circumstances.  An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not be treated as a confidentiality request. Personal data will be processed in accordance with all applicable data protection laws.

Next steps

The government will publish a response to the consultation on GOV.UK.