Reform UK will lay out the plans later today.
Bosses could face prison under the new plans (Image: Getty)
Reform UK says it will fine firms 10% of their global revenues and jail bosses who employ illegal migrant workers. Under the plans announced on Wednesday, employers would be held responsible even if they were unaware of the worker’s immigration status.
Reform’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said in a statement to the Daily Express: “Under a Reform government, Britain will have the harshest penalties in the world for employing illegal migrants. Bosses of companies employing illegal migrants will be sent to prison, and their companies fined 10% of their global revenues. There are companies whose entire business model is based on profiting from illegal working.”
Yusuf will set out the plans today (Image: Getty)
Mr Yusuf added: “The Tories and Labour have made Britain the softest-touch country in the world for illegal migrants to undercut British workers. There are companies whose entire business model is based on profiteering from illegal working.
“It is a slap in the face to the public. It makes a mockery of our immigration laws, takes jobs from British workers and is funding the people smugglers in the Channel.”
Mr Yusuf is also set to outline plans to launch a ‘Turkish Barbers tip line’, which will allow and incentivise members of the public to report suspicious high street shops or illegal working.
Reform’s announcement comes after a Government crackdown on illegal working in the delivery sector.
Last year, a Daily Express investigation uncovered asylum seekers working across London as delivery drivers for some of the country’s biggest companies.
Firms such as Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat subsequently said they would tighten processes to stop account sharing, whereby a person with the right to work creates an account to work for the companies before allowing others with no right to use it to earn.
Yesterday, a Deliveroo spokesman said: “Illegal working should absolutely be addressed, and that’s why we’ve led the industry in cracking down on the sophisticated, organised criminals who attempt to abuse our platform.
“We run Right to Work checks on all riders, conduct multiple daily identity checks and use cutting-edge fraud-detection technology, and we’d encourage other industries affected by illegal working to do the same.”
Under current legislation, businesses employing someone who does not have the right to work without carrying out the correct checks face fines of up to £60,000 for each illegal worker.
The Home Office announced in July that it had arrested 10 Evri workers who were on immigration bail, subject to strict conditions, while further inquiries took place.
Figures published in January showed visits and arrests linked to illegal working had reached their highest levels since current records began in 2019.
Some 12,791 visits took place in 2025, up 57% from 8,122 in the previous year, to businesses including nail bars, car washes, barbers and takeaway shops.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Illegal working undermines honest business, exploits vulnerable individuals and fuels organised immigration crime.
“We are already closing the loopholes that allow illegal migrants to work in the UK by extending right-to-work checks to the gig economy and delivery sector.
“Employers who break the law face severe consequences, including fines of up to £60,000 per illegal worker, business closures, licence revocations and prison sentences of up to five years.”