Gig economy security under scrutiny: Strengthening UK compliance to combat illegal working

The UK government recently announced a strategic partnership with leading food delivery platforms Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats. This collaboration targets illegal working within the delivery sector, marking a decisive shift in regulatory enforcement and corporate accountability. As these platforms strengthen their onboarding procedures with real-time identity checks and right-to-work checks, digital trust emerges as the critical differentiator. This initiative demonstrates the essential role of robust identity verification (IDV) in establishing a safe, compliant gig economy framework.

This article explores the strategic impact of a government initiative on gig economy businesses, focusing on compliance, operational challenges, identity verification, and the importance of digital trust for growth and brand protection.

The compliance evolution: Regulatory changes in the gig economy

The partnership between the UK Home Office and the three dominant food delivery platforms addresses critical vulnerabilities in current verification systems. The primary challenge involves “substitute” or account-sharing practices, where verified workers lease their accounts to individuals lacking legal work authorization in the UK. This exploitation not only violates immigration regulations but also creates substantial compliance risks, enables worker exploitation, and undermines platform integrity.

The new framework includes several enforcement mechanisms:

• Advanced Data Integration: Delivery platforms receive enhanced Home Office intelligence to identify and flag suspicious usage patterns
• Continuous Identity Validation: Implementation of frequent, sophisticated verification protocols, including biometric facial recognition, ensuring account users match verified identities
• Strengthened Enforcement Actions: A 50% increase in compliance raids and arrests for illegal working violations, accompanied by elevated civil penalties for non-compliant organizations

This regulatory shift establishes clear expectations: proactive compliance is now a fundamental operational requirement, not an optional enhancement.

Strategic business impact: Beyond food delivery applications

While initially focused on food delivery, this initiative establishes compliance standards for any organization utilizing flexible, remote, or freelance workforce models, including staffing agencies, recruitment platforms, mobility services, and eCommerce marketplaces.

For executive decision-makers, this development addresses critical business concerns:

• Brand protection and market position: Employment violations can generate significant negative publicity, damaging customer confidence and investor relations
• Regulatory compliance management: Navigating complex, evolving employment and immigration regulations requires robust systems and processes. Non-compliance results in substantial financial penalties and further regulatory scrutiny 
• Scalable growth strategy: Sustainable expansion demands secure, efficient systems. Compliance failures can halt growth initiatives and damage market credibility

Executive leadership requires solutions that deliver measurable value and align with strategic objectives. The risk of reputational damage or regulatory non-compliance drives demand for proven, reliable compliance solutions.

Implementation leadership: Building the business case for advanced IDV

Internal advocates champion innovative solutions and process improvements. Their responsibility involves building compelling business cases for advanced technologies like sophisticated identity verification systems.

These strategic leaders must address stakeholder concerns, including:

• Professional credibility: Advocating for solutions that fail to deliver promised results can damage professional reputation and influence
• Organizational change management: Overcoming resistance from financial stakeholders or technical teams who may resist new implementations
• Long-term value demonstration: Proving solutions address immediate challenges while supporting long-term organizational objectives

The UK government partnership demonstrates the shifting regulatory landscape, where inaction carries greater risk than proactive investment.

Technical implementation requirements: Scalability, security, and integration

Technical leadership is responsible for protecting organizational infrastructure and ensuring system integrity. They require solutions that meet stringent technical criteria:

• Enterprise scalability: Solutions must accommodate growing user volumes without performance degradation or system availability issues
• Security compliance: Systems must adhere to the highest security standards and maintain relevant certifications (SOC 2, ISO 27001)
• Integration compatibility: Solutions must integrate seamlessly with existing technology infrastructure through robust, well-documented APIs

The ability to deploy advanced IDV capabilities, including biometric verification and liveness detection, without disrupting existing workflows is essential.

How Veriff can help 

Veriff’s AI-powered identity verification platform addresses the challenges required by the UK government’s regulatory enforcement. Our solution enables businesses across the gig economy to establish secure, compliant, and trustworthy operational frameworks.

Veriff addresses specific regulatory requirements through:

• Automated Real-Time Verification: We provide fast, accurate identity verification in seconds, with global coverage. Our platform supports over 12,000 government-issued identity documents from 230+ countries and territories, along with database integrations.
• Biometric Authentication and Continuous Re-verification: To eliminate account sharing, Veriff provides biometric authentication capabilities. Organizations can re-verify worker identity at any point—shift commencement, task completion, or random intervals—using simple selfie verification, ensuring authorized personnel perform all work activities
• Advanced Fraud Detection Systems: Our platform combines AI technology with expert human oversight to detect sophisticated fraud attempts, including document tampering, identity spoofing, and emerging threat vectors. Veriff provides deep identity intelligence and advanced fraud detection by analyzing 1,000+ data points, including behavioral biometrics, device intelligence, and sophisticated document security features. This enables us to proactively block sophisticated fraud attempts that threaten your reputation and lead to losses, ensuring you catch real threats while maximizing genuine user and seller onboarding efficiency.
• Global Scalability: Whether onboarding dozens or thousands of workers, our platform scales with business requirements, maintaining fast, seamless user experiences worldwide
• Compliance and Security Certifications: We maintain the highest data protection and security standards, holding certifications including SOC 2 Type 2 and adhering to GDPR and CCPA regulations, ensuring strict regulatory compliance. As an IDSP, Veriff helps businesses conduct the necessary right-to-work checks with our UKDIAFT-compliant identity verification solution. 

Through automated, strengthened identity verification processes, Veriff enables platform protection from abuse, reputation safeguarding, and confident business growth.

Strategic preparation for the future of work

The UK government’s partnership with delivery platforms establishes the new compliance standard, not a temporary measure. Organizations that proactively implement robust identity verification solutions will ensure regulatory compliance while building more resilient, trustworthy brands. Reactive compliance strategies create substantial risk exposure, including fines, operational disruption, and lasting reputational damage.

In the digital-first economy, identity certainty is the foundation of trust. Strategic technology investments protect business operations, empower legitimate users, and contribute to a secure, transparent digital marketplace.