Reform UK pledges to jail bosses employing illegal workers

Reform UK has announced a tough new stance on companies employing illegal migrants, pledging to jail executives responsible for such practices and impose fines amounting to 10% of the global revenues of large firms. The party’s objective is to prevent delivery and gig economy businesses from benefiting financially from illegal workers without facing any repercussions.

Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson, expressed concern that opportunities for young British workers are being diminished, saying, “young British people are being shut out of entry level jobs and our whole economy is being undermined.” The party plans to introduce legislation that would hold chief executives and directors criminally accountable for employing illegal workers, regardless of whether they were aware of the workers’ immigration status. This approach is designed to mirror the personal liability senior managers have under Financial Conduct Authority regulations for their companies’ financial misconduct.

The party also intends to establish a dedicated phone line for the public to report suspected illegal working or organized criminal activity, with police and authorities like trading standards being obliged to investigate all tips. Additionally, anyone providing information that leads to successful prosecutions would receive a portion of the fines collected. Yusuf emphasized the ambition behind these policies, stating the party aims to enforce “the toughest penalties anywhere in the world for illegal working.”

Meanwhile, the Home Office affirmed that it is already intensifying sanctions against employers who break immigration laws. A department source dismissed some of Reform UK’s proposals as “empty posturing,” noting that many measures are already in place. The Home Office highlighted existing penalties, which can include fines up to £60,000 for each illegal worker, closures of businesses, revocations of licenses, and prison terms up to five years. Furthermore, since the current Labour government took office, enforcement actions have surged, with illegal working arrests rising by 83% and raids increasing by 77%, reaching historic highs

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