Reform UK has unveiled a hardline illegal workers plan that would put company bosses at risk of prison and hit large firms with fines equal to 10% of their global revenues. The Reform UK illegal workers proposal is aimed squarely at businesses that, the party argues, profit from unlawful hiring without paying a price.
Home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf said young British people were being pushed out of entry-level jobs and warned that the wider economy was being weakened. Under the plan, chief executives and directors of large companies could be made personally and criminally liable if their firms benefit from illegal workers, even if they did not know the workers’ immigration status. Reform said it would pursue that change if it won the next general election.
The party also said it would create a public phone line for suspected illegal working or organised criminal activity. Police and other agencies, including trading standards teams, would have to act on the reports. Reform said people whose tips led to successful prosecutions would receive a share of any fines collected, a move designed to encourage more public reporting and enforcement.
Yusuf said the party would bring in what he called the toughest penalties anywhere in the world for illegal working. He compared the proposed personal liability rules for company executives to the way senior managers can be held responsible for financial misconduct under Financial Conduct Authority rules. Reform framed the approach as a direct attack on delivery and gig economy companies that it says have benefited from illegal labour.
The proposals come as penalties for employers are already rising. A council was fined £45,000 in June after employing one illegal worker, underscoring that enforcement is already having a financial bite. Reform is now seeking to go much further by tying company profits, management accountability, and public reporting into one enforcement system.
