Reform UK has pledged to criminally prosecute company directors and chiefs whose firms employ illegal migrants and to fine large firms 10% of global revenues. The party would make executives personally liable regardless of their knowledge of workers' immigration status and introduce a public hotline that rewards tips that lead to convictions. The Home Office says it is already expanding right-to-work checks and enforcing steep penalties, including fines of up to £60,000 per illegal worker, while enforcement activity has risen sharply under the current government.
Reform UK Proposes Jailing CEOs and 10% Global-Revenue Fines for Firms Employing Illegal Migrants
[PA Media]
Reform UK has pledged to make company chiefs personally and criminally responsible if their firms employ illegal migrants, and to impose fines on large firms equal to 10% of their global revenues. The party framed the plan as a way to stop delivery and gig-economy companies from profiting from illegal labour "without consequences."
What Reform UK Would Do
Under the proposal, if Reform wins the next general election it would pass a law making chief executives and directors of large companies personally and criminally liable for profiting from illegal working, regardless of whether they were aware of the immigration status of individual workers. The party says this would mirror the personal liability senior managers can face for corporate financial misconduct under Financial Conduct Authority rules.
Reform also proposes a public hotline to report suspected illegal working or organised criminal activity. Police and other authorities, including trading standards teams, would be required to follow up on tips. Callers whose reports lead to successful prosecutions would receive a share of any fines imposed.
Zia Yusuf, Reform's home affairs spokesperson, said the party "would introduce the toughest penalties anywhere in the world for illegal working," arguing that "young British people are being shut out of entry-level jobs and our whole economy is being undermined."
Government Response and Context
The Home Office responded that it is already raising penalties for employers who hire illegal workers and warned that some of Reform's proposals amount to "empty posturing." A department spokesperson said the government is extending right-to-work checks to the gig economy and delivery sectors and stressed existing sanctions: fines of up to £60,000 per illegal worker, business closures, licence revocations and prison sentences of up to five years for the most serious offences.
The Home Office added that Immigration Enforcement activity has risen sharply since Labour came to power, with illegal-working arrests up 83% and raids up 77%. The party pointed to recent enforcement action as context, noting that one council was fined £45,000 in June for employing a single illegal worker.
Points To Watch
Key questions include how liability would be proven for executives without knowledge of individual workers' status, how the 10% global-revenue penalty would be applied and challenged in court, and how the proposed hotline would avoid false or malicious reports while ensuring proper safeguards for workers and businesses.
The debate highlights tensions between tougher criminal sanctions and practical enforcement, legal fairness for executives, and wider efforts to protect jobs and combat organised illegal working in the UK.
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