Posted Date: 17th April 2025

Right to work checks could become a legal requirement for gig economy workers

On 30th March 2025, the Home Office announced plans to make right to work checks a legal requirement for gig economy workers and zero hour workers.

Currently, you only need to check the eligibility to work in the UK of those with an ‘employee’ status unless you are sponsoring a worker from abroad.

This change will have a big impact on sectors who regularly use these kind of workers, including construction, food delivery, couriers and beauty salons. A consultation process will be held with businesses within sectors such as these, which would be affected by the rules.

 

What is a gig economy worker?

There is no legal definition of a gig economy worker. The CIPD defines the gig economy as “arrangements where freelancers, or self-employed contractors, enter in to agreements with companies to provide services to the company’s clients and then receive compensation for the job or ‘gig’.”

To prevent significant confusion for businesses, a clear and legal definition will be required for the purpose of this legislation and a line drawn to state who is covered and who is not, as solely using the terms “workers and gig economy people” is unclear and unhelpful. For example, it is not currently clear if this would include a genuine self-employed person who works for a number of clients.

 

What are the current risks?

Alongside the reputational damage of being found to hire illegal workers, if you don’t carry out the correct right to work checks, or you don’t follow the process correctly, you may be required to pay a civil penalty fine of up to £60,000 for each illegal worker.

Other penalties could also include business closures and director disqualifications.

If you had ‘reasonable cause to believe’ that a worker did not have the right to work in the UK you could be imprisoned for five years and required to pay an unlimited fine.

Therefore, the risks would increase dramatically for those who regularly use zero hour and gig economy workers.

 

What should you do?

We will update our blog regarding any changes on this topic.

In the meanwhile we advise that you:

• Review your current right to work procedures and how you could extend the process to workers and potentially self-employed individuals
• Ensure the current right to work procedures are effective and in line with the home office Right to Work Checklist

If you need any further support with this topic, such as how to carry out a right to work check, please don’t hesitate to contact us.