UK Right to Work Changes: Is Your Agency Ready? 

UK Right to Work Changes: Preparing for 1 October 2026 

From 1 October 2026, the UK’s Right to Work regime will expand beyond traditional employment relationships. 

The reforms will bring a wider range of working arrangements within scope, reflecting the increased use of contractors, subcontractors, temporary labour and online platforms.

For recruitment agencies and organisations operating within labour supply chains, now is the time to review existing arrangements and confirm where responsibility for Right to Work compliance will sit. 

What is changing? 

Section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 expands the illegal-working provisions to include: 

• Individuals engaged under a worker’s contract
• Individual subcontractors 
• Certain online services that match service providers with customers
• Some organisations further up a contractual chain 

Depending on the circumstances, this may include some agency, casual, zero-hours and self-employed arrangements. 

The changes relate specifically to immigration compliance. They do not alter the wider employment-law definitions of employee, worker or self-employed contractor.

Who will be responsible? 

The organisation with the direct contractual relationship with the worker will normally be responsible for completing the prescribed Right to Work check. 

However, liability may extend further up a contractual chain in certain circumstances. This could include arrangements involving subcontracting, online matching services or a contractual right of substitution. 

The changes do not make every organisation in a supply chain automatically liable. Responsibility will depend on the contracts in place and how the arrangement operates in practice. 

Organisations should consider: 

• Who engages the individual 
• Who is contracted to provide or arrange the work 
• Whether the work can be subcontracted 
• Whether substitution is permitted 
• Whether an individual is being supplied or a defined service is being purchased
• What Right to Work controls operate throughout the supply chain 

Contractual labels and payment methods will not, by themselves, determine whether an arrangement falls within scope. 

What is not changing? 

The existing Right to Work checking routes will remain available. Depending on the individual’s circumstances, these include: 

• A prescribed manual document check 
• Home Office online check using a share code 
• The Employer Checking Service 
• An eligible digital check through a registered Right to Work Digital Verification Service Provider 

Digital verification will remain optional rather than becoming mandatory in every case. 

Where a third-party provider is used, the organisation remains responsible for ensuring the check is suitable, completed correctly and supported by the required evidence.

What is a statutory excuse? 

A statutory excuse is an organisation’s defence against a civil penalty if a worker is later found to be working illegally. 

To establish a statutory excuse, the appropriate check must be: 

• Completed before the individual starts work 
• Carried out using a prescribed method 
• Recorded correctly 
• Supported by retained evidence  

Where an individual has time-limited permission to work, an appropriate follow-up check must also be completed before the statutory excuse expires. 

An incomplete check, the wrong checking method or a failure to retain evidence could leave an organisation without a statutory excuse. 

What are the risks? 

An organisation that engages an illegal worker without establishing a statutory excuse may face:

• A civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker 
• A Home Office investigation 
• Reputational damage 
• Increased compliance scrutiny 
• Sponsor-licence consequences 
• Business closure or criminal prosecution in serious cases 

Failing to understand who is responsible within a labour supply chain may also expose organisations further up that chain to additional risk. 

How should organisations prepare? 

Organisations should take the following steps ahead of 1 October:

1. Review all employee, worker, contractor and subcontractor arrangements. 

2. Identify who has the direct contractual relationship with each individual. 

3. Assess whether extended liability could arise within any supply chains. 

4. Review substitution clauses and subcontracting arrangements. 

5. Update contracts to include appropriate Right to Work obligations. 

6. Ensure checks are completed before in-scope individuals begin work. 

7. Introduce a reliable process for follow-up checks. 

8. Train recruitment, HR, procurement, legal and operations teams. 

9. Confirm that compliance evidence can be retrieved quickly if requested. 

10. Seek specialist advice where an arrangement is complex or unclear. 

Key Takeaways

The Right to Work regime will expand on 1 October 2026, but the established checking methods will remain available. 

Not every contractor or service arrangement will fall within scope. Organisations must consider the substance of each arrangement, including who engages the individual, how the work is supplied and what the contracts permit. 

Responsibility may also extend beyond the organisation with the direct relationship with the worker in certain circumstances. Effective compliance will therefore require input from recruitment, HR, procurement, legal and operations teams. 

Early preparation will help organisations reduce risk, avoid disruption and meet their responsibilities when the reforms take effect. 

For further information, read section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 and the latest Home Office Right to Work guidance. 

This article provides general information and does not constitute legal advice. Organisations should obtain advice on how the reforms apply to their particular contractual and operational arrangements.