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UK Right to Work Checks Are Changing on 1 October 2026: What Employers Need to Know

AgileHRO Sep 21, 2026 7 min read
UK Right to Work Checks Are Changing on 1 October 2026: What Employers Need to Know

From 1 October 2026, UK right to work checks stop being a “just check your direct employees” exercise. Under Section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025, the obligation to carry out right to work checks expands beyond traditional employees to a much wider range of working arrangements — including contractors, subcontractors, agency staff, gig workers, and people found through online labour-matching platforms. Businesses that don’t comply could face civil penalties of up to £60,000 per illegal worker.

If your business touches a labour supply chain anywhere in the UK, this is worth reading properly — not filing under “HR admin.” (And if you’re weighing up hiring in the UK against this backdrop, it’s a good moment to have that conversation.)

What’s actually changing

Right now, the rule is simple: you check the right to work of the people you directly employ. From 1 October 2026, that changes in two important ways.

1. The definition of “employer” gets wider. Section 3 of the new Code of Practice extends liability to “employers” in non-direct contractual arrangements — specifically where someone without the right to work personally provides work or services through a chain of contracts, or through an online matching service that connects a service provider to a client. In plain terms: if you’re part of a supply chain and the work gets passed down through subcontractors or platforms, you can now be on the hook even though you never signed an employment contract with the worker.

2. Relying on “they’re an agency worker, not my problem” no longer works. Businesses higher up a contractual chain may find themselves exposed if illegal working is identified anywhere in their supply chain, and simply pointing to the fact that someone is employed by an agency or engaged as a contractor will no longer be enough to avoid liability. This is a big part of why more UK businesses are looking at converting loosely-managed contractor relationships into properly structured Employer of Record arrangements — it puts the compliance obligation somewhere built to carry it.

Who’s actually affected

You’re likely in scope if your business:

  • Supplies workers or services to a third party and subcontracts some or all of that work to another company
  • Uses agency workers, casual staff, or contractors as part of fulfilling a contract
  • Operates or uses an online platform that matches individuals with work
  • Sits anywhere in a chain where services get passed on rather than delivered directly

You’re probably not affected if you’re purely an end-user — for example, you hire a cleaning company, a repairs contractor, or a consultant for your own business’s use and nothing gets passed on further. These provisions don’t apply if your organisation is simply purchasing services for its own use rather than supplying those services onward as part of a chain of contracts — acting as an end-user, client, or customer should keep you outside the new liability.

The penalties

The maximum civil penalties themselves aren’t changing — a first breach can already result in a fine of up to £45,000 per illegal worker, rising to £60,000 for a repeat breach. What’s changing is who those penalties can now reach: businesses that never directly employed the worker in question, but sit somewhere in the supply chain, can now be exposed to the same fines. For sponsor licence holders, there’s an added layer of risk — non-compliance could mean increased scrutiny of your wider immigration compliance and, in serious cases, licence revocation. If visas and sponsorship are part of your UK workforce mix, it’s worth having your global mobility setup reviewed alongside your supply chain now, not after an audit flags a gap.

Key dates

  • 2 December 2025 — The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 received Royal Assent.
  • 24 June 2026 — The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 (Commencement No. 4) Regulations 2026 were made, confirming that Section 48 comes into force on 1 October 2026.
  • 30 June 2026 — The Minister for Border Security and Asylum confirmed the changes to Parliament in a written statement.
  • 1 July 2026 — The draft revised Code of Practice on preventing illegal working was published.
  • 1 October 2026 — Section 48 comes into force, alongside the finalised Code of Practice.
  • Now until then — the lead-in period. Waiting until the rules are actually in force risks leaving too little time to map labour arrangements, renegotiate contracts, train teams, and close gaps in existing processes.

What to do before October

  1. Map your labour supply chain. Identify every category of labour used across the business and review arrangements with agencies, labour providers, and subcontractors.
  2. Audit your current RTW process. Check your existing right to work checking procedures and record-keeping against what the new Code will require.
  3. Rewrite supplier and agency contracts. Build in audit rights, substitution controls, and information-sharing obligations so you can actually verify compliance further down the chain, not just take it on trust.
  4. Get a clear read on what compliant employment actually costs. Run the numbers through our employment cost calculator to see what properly structured UK employment looks like next to the risk you’re currently carrying.
  5. Lock onboarding behind checks. No one starts work — direct hire, contractor, or otherwise — until the right to work check is complete and evidenced.
  6. Train the people who actually touch hiring. Procurement, HR, and line managers who bring in contractors or agency staff all need to understand where the new liability sits.

Where an EOR fits into this

This is exactly the kind of compliance shift that makes “we’ll just handle it ourselves” a lot riskier than it used to be — especially if you’re hiring across borders and don’t have in-country legal muscle watching every jurisdiction’s rules change in real time.

Working with an Employer of Record like AgileHRO means the right to work checks, the record-keeping, and the liability exposure for direct hires sit with people whose whole job is staying ahead of exactly this kind of regulatory change — not bolted onto someone’s HR to-do list. If your UK workforce includes a mix of contractors and agency staff you’re now rethinking in light of these rules, converting some of that into properly employed, EOR-managed roles is one of the more direct ways to shrink your new supply-chain exposure. Pair it with Global Payroll and you’ve closed off the two places this liability actually lives — who employs the person, and who pays them.

We already run this exact model for clients hiring in the UK — real specialists, not a ticket queue, guaranteed response in hours.

New rules. Old excuse. Not going to fly on 1 October.

“We didn’t employ them directly” stops working as a defence in a few weeks. If any part of your UK workforce runs through agencies, subcontractors, or platforms, you have a closing window to find out exactly where your exposure sits — before the Home Office does it for you.

Talk to an Employment Specialist →

No sales pitch, no ticket queue — a real conversation with someone who deals with UK employment compliance for a living, and a straight answer on whether this actually changes anything for you.

FAQ

When do the new UK right to work rules take effect? 1 October 2026.

Do the new rules apply to contractors, not just employees? Yes. The regime expands beyond traditional employees to cover workers, individual sub-contractors, gig or platform workers, and labour supplied through supply chains.

What’s the maximum penalty for non-compliance? Up to £60,000 per worker for a repeat breach, and £45,000 per worker for a first breach.

Does this apply if I just hire a contractor for my own business? Generally no — if you’re acting purely as an end-user or client and not passing the service on as part of a contractual chain, you should stay outside the new liability. If you’re unsure which side of that line your arrangements fall on, that’s exactly the kind of question an Employer of Record specialist can answer in one call.

What law introduced this change? Section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025.

This article is for general information only and doesn’t constitute legal advice. The rules described are accurate as of publication but remain subject to the final Code of Practice and Home Office guidance — for a compliance decision specific to your business, speak to a qualified immigration lawyer.

Sources

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