Freelancers, contractors, zero-hours staff and other non-permanent workers now make up a significant share of the UK labour market. Nearly 20 per cent of the workforce is classified as contingent, including around 4.38 million self-employed individuals and 1.4 million temporary or contract workers.
This shift reflects how organisations now operate. Flexible labour supports project delivery, seasonal peaks, specialist skills and cost efficiency. Contingent work is no longer peripheral. It is mainstream.
For employers, that presents an important question.How do you maintain consistent compliance and risk standards across your entire workforce when a substantial proportion is not permanently employed?
Many contingent workers have the same access and responsibilities as permanent employees. They may handle sensitive data, work in regulated environments, engage with clients or enter secure sites. Contract type does not reduce the potential risk.
If screening for contingent labour is inconsistent or delayed, organisations face exposure in areas such as:
As organisations scale their use of flexible labour, even occasional lapses can become systemic risks. What may seem negligible in small numbers becomes a major control gap when applied to hundreds or thousands of workers.
A unified screening standard across all worker types helps remove ambiguity. It supports:
Screening should not be influenced by the contract through which someone enters the organisation. It should be influenced by the risk of the role.
A robust, scalable approach to contingent-workforce screening typically covers:
This baseline supports a consistent and defensible approach whether the worker is permanent, freelance, agency-supplied or providing services under a contract for services.
Right-to-work obligations often cause uncertainty when contractors or agency workers are involved. Current Home Office guidance is clear.
That means asking suppliers to demonstrate they have completed compliant right-to-work checks and operate reliable processes. The legal penalty sits with the direct employer, but reputational and operational consequences can affect the organisation receiving the labour.
A simple expectation applies:
Know who is checking, how they are checking, and whether the evidence is reliable.
Some organisations still assume contingent workers carry less risk because they are temporary or sourced through a third party. Evidence and experience show this is rarely true.
Screening contingent workers is not a barrier to flexibility. It is a way to protect business continuity and maintain trust.
Contingent labour has become a core part of workforce strategy across the UK. As permanent and temporary work increasingly overlap, organisations face broader exposure to compliance, security and operational risks.
Screening all workers consistently is not gatekeeping. It is responsible workforce management. It protects operations, supports compliance and reinforces the organisation’s reputation with customers, regulators and employees.
At Giant Screening, we believe that applying the same standard to everyone who represents your organisation is not optional.
It is the foundation of modern workforce assurance.
If you would like to review or build a contingent-workforce screening policy or benchmark your current approach against best practice, our team is ready to help.