Right to Work checks are expanding: What changes on 1st October 2026
Right to Work compliance is shifting from traditional employment relationships. Section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 comes into force on 1 October 2026, which extends the illegal working regime beyond Contracts of Employment.
There is a need for Immigration compliance to be considered before a sub-contractor agreement is signed, not after work begins.
Who does this now apply to:
From 1 October 2026, the duty to check covers businesses engaging:
- Agency workers supplied to work under your company’s name.
- Individual subcontractors providing services under your company’s name.
- Gig economy workers, including individuals matched to work through online platforms.
- Casual, temporary, and zero-hours arrangements that sit outside a standard employment contract.
A company name or consultancy agreement does not remove the need to understand who will deliver the services. Before engagement, identify whether the supplier will use its own employees, individual self-employed workers, agency staff or further sub-contractors. The more control your organisation has over who performs the work and how it is carried out, the less safe it is to assume that responsibility sits elsewhere.
Responsibility follows the work, not the contract type. If services are provided by someone under your name, you have a duty to verify their right to work.
- Map your workforce. List everyone doing work under your name who isn’t a direct employee: agency staff, contractors, gig-economy workers, casual staff, who selects the individuals and, whether there can be any substitute.
- Decide who checks and put it in writing. State who must complete compliant Right to Work checks, keep evidence, carry out follow-up checks as required. Responses such as “we assumed the agency did it” will not be an acceptable reason for checks not being made.
- Extend your existing process. Use a standard checklist for every comparable engagement and apply consistently, regardless of nationality, to reduce discrimination risk. You can use the same one you run for employees: manual document check, Home Office online check, or digital check through a registered provider. The change is who it applies to. Ensure that checks made use one of the verified methods.
- Keep up to date records. A compliant check only protects you if you can evidence it. Store the evidence for every worker, with dates. Keep dated records of the check and the contract for the required period, diarise follow-up checks where permission is time-limited, and agree who will stop or replace a worker if eligibility cannot be confirmed.
Enforcement starts in October 2026. Illegal working is now a government priority.
What can you do now:
Review template sub-contractor agreements, procurement questionnaires and onboarding processes.
Early preparation will mean your organisation is in a good position to prevent illegal working, avoid disruption and show due diligence.
If you need any advice or have any questions, please contact us on team@hrprime.co.uk
