Following productive talks with the United Kingdom (UK) government, food delivery companies - Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat have committed to further strengthening security and verification checks on delivery riders to prevent illegal working in the gig economy.
The commitment came after Ministers convened the 3 firms for a roundtable at the Home Office to discuss what further urgent action can be taken to prevent immigration offending on their platforms.
Delivery firms to bolster rider security checks
Food delivery firms to boost checks to halt illegal working
Over the last year, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat have introduced voluntary ‘right to work’ checks on all account holders and registered substitutes. These measures have helped stop illegal workers abusing the platform, with action taken on thousands of accounts.
However, Border Security Minister - Dame Angela Eagle and Employment Rights Minister - Justin Madders raised concerns that, despite these welcome steps, there continues to be abuse in the sector where illicit account sharing leads to illegal working.
Ministers set out the government’s zero tolerance approach to immigration crime and stressed the importance of tightening checks to crack down on those who flout employment rules.
As result of productive discussions, the firms agreed to increase the use of facial verification checks and fraud detection technology to ensure only registered account holders can work off their platforms. This will help stop people with no right to work in the UK from using someone’s name to earn money illegally.
The strengthened industry standard – to be rolled out in the next 90 days - will see Deliveroo and Uber Eats increase the quantity and sophistication of verification checks they already do, with Just Eat upping the same checks from monthly to daily.
Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, said: “This government will not turn a blind eye to illegal working. It undercuts honest business, hits people’s wages and plays into the hands of the people smuggling gangs.
I welcome Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats’ pledge to increase facial verification checks following today’s roundtable. We will keep a close eye on their progress and continue discussions.
Under our Plan for Change, we are taking a zero tolerance approach to illegal working across the board. Arrests nationwide have increased by 51% and we are strengthening legislation via our borders bill to end the abuse of flexible working arrangements.”
Employment Rights Minister Justin Madders said: “Illegal working opens the door to mistreatment and exploitation, undercutting legal workers in the process by driving down wages and working conditions.
“We’re already delivering the biggest upgrade to people’s rights at work in a generation as part of our Plan for Change, and we will continue to engage with these companies to ensure these rights are enforced, building a fairer labour market.”
A Deliveroo spokesperson said: “We take a zero tolerance approach to anyone abusing our platform, and today’s meeting with industry partners and the Home Office represents progress in our collective efforts to combat illegal working.
“The industry leading measures Deliveroo put in place over the last year have had a positive impact, but criminals continue to seek new ways to abuse the system. Today, we have committed to further strengthening our approach, increasing daily facial recognition checks, and we welcome the industry’s commitment to do the same.”
An Uber Eats spokesperson said: “We are committed to tackling illegal working and welcome continued collaboration with industry and the Home Office, which is essential in raising standards and ensuring consistency.
“We will continue to invest in industry-leading tools to detect illegal work and remove fraudulent accounts.”
A Just Eat spokesperson said: “Just Eat fully supports the government’s efforts to tackle illegal working, and we are continuing to invest significant resources to protect the integrity of our network.
“Today, alongside the government and wider industry, we’re committing to further action to strengthen our systems and safeguards in response to these complex and evolving challenges.”
This announcement came just months after the government announced it will change the law to expand illegal working checks.
Under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, companies hiring gig economy and zero-hours workers in sectors like construction, food delivery and beauty salons will be legally required to carry out checks to confirm that anyone working in their name is eligible to work in the UK. The move will bring them in line with other employers to level the playing field for the majority of companies that do the right thing.
Ramping up illegal working enforcement activity forms a key part of the Home Office’s drive to restore order to the immigration system under the UK government’s Plan for Change.
In many cases, individuals travelling to the UK illegally are sold a lie by smuggling gangs that they will be able to live and work freely in the UK, when in reality they often end up facing squalid living conditions, minimal pay and inhumane working hours, with the threat of arrest and removal if they are caught working illegally.
Since the election, a major surge in immigration enforcement activity across the UK has led to a 51% increase in the number of illegal working arrests. Since 5 July last year to 31 May, 9,000 visits have resulted in 6,410 arrests, marking a 48% and 51% rise respectively compared to the year before under the previous government (5 July 2023 to 31 May 2024).
The intensified activity also comes alongside the return of nearly 30,000 people with no right to be in the UK.