Employment experts sceptical about Keir Starmer’s digital ID plan

UK prime minister Keir Starmer has confirmed the government will introduce digital IDs to ensure the UK’s ‘borders are more secure’.

Starmer, speaking at a conference in London, said: “You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID. It’s as simple as that.”

But employment specialists have questioned whether the scheme will achieve its goal because systems were already in place to ensure compliance with right-to-work rules.

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy earlier told the BBC that while it would be compulsory to have a digital ID on the government database, it won’t be a requirement to have it on your mobile phone.

“People won’t have to use it for other purposes – such as signing up to different services – if they don’t want to, she added. “But it will help us to make sure we undermine the illegal economy.”

A National Insurance number – which is currently used as part of proof to your right to work – will no longer be sufficient, Nandy said.

The plan will be for digital ID to be available to UK citizens and legal residents by the end of this parliament.

Digital ID does not apply to those who have retired but it is unclear how part-time work post-retirement will be affected.

Emma Brooksbank, immigration partner at national law firm Freeths, said it was “difficult to see how the government’s proposal to introduce digital ID will make any difference to illegal working in the UK”.

She added that right to work checks were introduced decades ago, in 1996, and current illegal working legislation had been in place since 2008.

‘Illegal work has continued’

“While the process for checking a prospective employee’s identity and right to work status has changed over the years, the fundamental requirement to undertake a check of all employees has not changed. This requirement has included British citizens and all overseas nationals, without exception,” said Brooksbank.

“Despite these requirements, illegal, exploitative work has continued to be made available by employers who choose not to comply with right-to-work requirements, and illegal workers have continued to engage in this.”

She said that digital ID would simply mean that compliant employers needed to adapt their processes, and those who choose to ignore the rules and employ people illegally would continue to do so.

‘Resistance from a new generation’

Oliver O’Sullivan, director of Immigration at immigration law firm Migrate UK said framing Digital ID in the “context of preventing illegal workers doesn’t fully address issues that most people held previously with civil liberty”.

“In reality, if you’ve applied for a British passport recently or otherwise verified your identity with the UK government via a Gov.UK website, you already have the essence of a digital passport with the government,” said O’Sullivan.

“Like the EU settlement scheme, digital IDs face resistance from a new generation of people resistant to sharing sensitive information online, while also struggling with a large population of people who are not familiar with digital technologies who will struggle to complete the process.

“Illegal working is often the result of employers who don’t check right to work, or don’t know how to do it correctly. Will digital ID cards reduce illegal working? Not if the main reason for illegal working is employers knowingly hiring a person without permission to work, or not doing the right checks in the first place. Right-to-work checks aren’t failing because of the documents involved.”

‘System riddled with problems’

Vanessa Ganguin, managing partner of Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law echoed the criticism and pointed out that the eVisa system did the same thing. She said: “Nobody working in immigration understands why a new digital ID scheme to discourage illegal working is needed when the UK has had a system of right to work checks since 1997 and has just this year gone through the upheaval of rolling out the eVisa as a digital alternative to paper documents. It’s only nine months since the new eVisa system replaced documents with a digital share code for millions of immigrants to evidence their status in right-to-work checks.”

She added: “Employers are still getting used to our new right-to-work checks regime where British and Irish workers use passports and immigrants now prove their status using the new eVisa to protect themselves from severe illegal working penalties.”

Ganguin pointed out that the government insisted those who were not able to use a smartphone will still be able to use a new digital ID card and that inclusion would be at the heart of its design. “Yet one of the biggest problems with the eVisa digitalisation of the past year has been the lack of physical evidence as an alternative,” she said. “The system has been riddled with problems and failures, preventing people from being able to prove their status for work and rental checks, welfare and travel. Such issues have also dogged digital systems of ID in other European countries too. Britain has a far smaller irregular working economy than the rest of Europe. Yet the government is now proposing to inflict the same chaos on British citizens.”

Organisations exposed to liability

Hesham Shoeb, senior associate at Oury Clark Solicitors, said: “Employers are required to carry out right-to-work checks on all employees, including British citizens, typically by reviewing a passport or birth certificate. The government’s proposed digital ID system would replace this process, requiring every worker, whether British, Irish, or a non-UK national, to use a digital ID to confirm their eligibility to work in the UK.”

This could extend compliance obligations to previously exempt areas, said Shoeb, such as self-employed freelancers and gig workers, “potentially exposing organisations to liability if engaged workers cannot obtain or verify their UK digital ID before commencing short-term or cross-border engagements”.

Digital IDs also potentially increase data protection risks as employers remain legally responsible as data controllers, even when using certified identity service providers. Organisations, he said, will need robust contracts, strong access controls, retention policies, and data protection impact assessments to manage these risks.

“A digital-first system may also disadvantage candidates without smartphones, reliable internet, or digital literacy, potentially raising discrimination concerns. Employers may need to maintain non-digital alternatives.

“Overseas recruits may face delays in verifying their right to work due to eVisa issues or the integration of the UK’s mandatory digital ID scheme, potentially causing workforce planning bottlenecks, delaying projects, and risking compliance penalties if work begins without proper verification.”

‘Government can unlock faster job starts’

Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) chief executive Neil Carberry was less critical of the plan. He said: “We use digital ID every day, from paying on our phones to travel and event tickets. There is no reason that the state should fall behind.

“By providing ID documents it already supplies digitally, the government can unlock faster job starts, and lower administration burdens in our labour market – as well as a faster, more accurate benefits system. This gives us a more fluent and dynamic job market – just what you need to achieve economic growth.

“The REC has consistently championed digital verification with government because it gets more people into work, makes hiring simpler for businesses and prevents fraud. Government digital ID is essential to the kind of verifiable credential passport we want to deliver for workers to support their job search.”

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