Labour exploitation in the security industry, and how we do it differently

The private security industry protects people and property, but a hidden corner of it has a problem the sector is increasingly willing to name out loud: labour exploitation. If you buy security services, understanding the warning signs isn't just an ethical issue. It's a risk-management one.

The warning signs of exploitation

Exploitation rarely announces itself. It hides inside "cheap" quotes and informal arrangements. The common red flags include:

• Cash-in-hand payment. Officers paid off the books with no payslip, no PAYE, no tax or National Insurance, and no employment protection. It's a hallmark of the worst operators, and it exposes the client to reputational and legal risk.
• Recruitment through WhatsApp groups. Shifts handed out informally in unvetted chat groups, often with no contract, no proper screening and no accountability for who actually turns up on site.
• Sub-minimum-wage pay and unpaid hours. Wages that quietly fall below the National Minimum Wage once travel, "fees" or unpaid briefing time are factored in.
• Licence and identity sharing. One person's SIA badge being used by another, a serious safeguarding and security failure.
• Excessive hours. Officers pushed to work dangerous numbers of hours because they're treated as disposable, not employed.

These practices undercut honest providers, put vulnerable workers at risk, and, in the most serious cases, shade into modern slavery. It's why bodies like the Security Industry Authority (SIA), industry groups such as the S12 Leadership Group, and now the new Fair Work Agency are focused on stamping it out.

Why it should worry buyers, not just workers

If a contractor exploits its workforce, the organisation buying that service carries real exposure: brand and reputational damage, supply-chain liability under the Modern Slavery Act, and the simple operational risk of unvetted, unaccountable people on your premises. A price that looks too good usually is, and the saving is coming out of someone's pocket, or being made by cutting the corners that keep your site safe.

If a quote only works because the people delivering it aren't being paid or protected properly, it isn't a saving, it's a liability.

How Go Security does it differently

We built Go Security to be the opposite of the cash-in-hand model. Our employment practices aren't a perk, they're the foundation of a service clients can trust:

• 100% PAYE. All of our roughly 300 officers working each month are employed on PAYE, properly paid, taxed and protected, including our K9 dog handlers. No cash-in-hand, ever.
• Proper recruitment, not WhatsApp roulette. Officers are recruited and onboarded through a structured, accountable process, not anonymous shift-touting in a chat group.
• BS 7858 vetting. Every officer is screened to the British Standard for security screening before they ever set foot on a client site.
• Transparent, auditable records. Pay, hours, licences and right-to-work checks are documented and available for client and regulator scrutiny.
• Industry engagement. We actively support the S12 Leadership Group's Labour Exploitation Workstream to help raise standards across the whole sector.

This article is general commentary on industry practice and does not name or accuse any specific company. Staffing figures describe Go Security's typical monthly deployment.