Employment & Pensions Blog: Digital ID Cards Confirmed and the Possible Return of Employment Tribunal Fees

Mandatory Digital ID Cards to Confirm Right to Work

The year to 22 March 2025 saw an 40% increase in the number of illegal working visits to companies and a 42% increase in the number of arrests. To combat illegal migration, last week the Government announced the introduction of digital ID cards to help combat the increase in illegal working.  

By the end of this parliament, digital ID will now become mandatory for all right to work checks. The introduction is supposed to simplify the existing process for employers of List A and List B documents, by narrowing it down to just one digital ID card. What is less clear is how this is going to achieve the Government’s aim of reducing illegal working. Unscrupulous employers who ignore their existing right to work check obligations are unlikely to change just because of digital ID cards. 

Separately, the Government has also announced that the obligation to confirm right to work will be extended beyond just ‘employees’ and will now include an obligation to confirm it for any gig economy workers operating under the company’s name. For example, agency workers and self-employed contractors. For the moment, this proposal doesn’t have an  anticipated implementation date.

Tribunal Fees: A Necessary Step to Save a Struggling System

Yesterday, The Guardian newspaper reported that the Government is considering reintroducing Employment Tribunal fees requiring Claimants to pay a fee to submit their claims. Tribunal fees were first implemented in 2013 which resulted in a dramatic reduction in the number of claims, but they were later outlawed by the Supreme Court in 2017. Since then, the number of Tribunal claims has steadily increased.

The unfortunate reality is that more and more Tribunal cases are being submitted, the Tribunal’s number of open cases is at a record high and the system simply cannot keep up. The time between submitting a claim and having a final hearing is now measured in years (plural!!!) rather than months, which isn’t fair on Claimants or Respondents. Claimants have to be willing to live with the claim for a sustained period of time before they have their day in court, and Respondents have to navigate the common problem of their witnesses moving on to new employment and trying to convince them to take time off from their new job to come back and give evidence. Likewise, the longer the litigation process the more legally represented Respondents are having to pay in legal fees. 

Whilst nobody wants to see an expensive fee that acts as a barrier to justice, something has to be done which will be to the benefit of everyone (Claimants, Respondents, and the Tribunal system itself). Some sort of fee to submit a claim seems like a sensible way to start addressing these issues. The record number of open Tribunal cases exists in a pre-Employment Rights Bill world, and the Bill will give employees increased employment rights which will inevitably result in more claims being made. The Government might be anticipating this and could see Tribunal fees as a way to introduce some sort of balance to the system.  

We shall have to wait and see if Tribunal fees moves forward beyond a press report. If it does, it is likely to be heavily opposed by trade unions and workers alike.  

If you require further guidance on checking the right to work or navigating the Employment Tribunal process, please contact a member of our Employment Team.