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 arrangements are not legally required to check the status of these workers.
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.
For further information please select the following links: Crackdown on illegal working and rogue employers in ‘gig economy’ - GOV.UK and Right to work checks: an employer's guide - GOV.UK