Right to Work Checks Just Got Much Wider: Is Your Supply Chain Exposed?

For years, right to work checks were an onboarding task for new employees, usually handled by HR and rarely thought about again. That changed on 1 October 2026. Under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025, the illegal working regime has been significantly extended and the exposure now reaches well beyond your own payroll.

What Changed on 1 October 2026

The definition of "employment" for illegal working purposes has been widened. It now covers workers engaged under worker contracts, individual subcontractors and individuals matched to work through online platforms, alongside traditional employees. Genuinely self-employed individuals who run their own business and contract directly with clients remain outside the regime, but the line between "genuinely self-employed" and a subcontractor or worker is exactly the kind of question businesses now need to get right and review.

In practice, this means the following groups can fall within scope:

• Casual, zero-hours and ad hoc workers

• Individual subcontractors working within a contractual chain

• Agency workers and gig economy workers supplied through platforms

• Individuals working under substitution arrangements

Extended Liability: Penalties Can Travel Up the Chain

The most significant shift is the introduction of "extended liability." Previously, the civil penalty risk sat with the direct employer. Now, the Home Office can pursue businesses further up a contractual chain, including those that use subcontractors, agencies or online matching services, even where they have no direct relationship with the individual who turns out to be working illegally.

That is a major change for sectors that rely on layered supply arrangements, including construction, hospitality, logistics, social care, facilities management and technology. Right to work compliance is no longer just an HR responsibility. Procurement, operations and supply chain teams now have a direct role to play.

The Consequences of Getting It Wrong

The penalties are serious, and they apply per individual:

• Civil penalties of up to £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach, rising to up to £60,000 for repeat breaches

• Criminal liability where an employer knowingly employs someone without the right to work, with unlimited fines and up to five years' imprisonment

• Sponsor licence consequences, including audit risk, suspension or revocation

• Reputational damage, as civil penalty details can be publicly named

The Statutory Excuse Still Matters

The route to protection is still the statutory excuse, but it now has to work across a wider range of engagements. Businesses are protected by carrying out the prescribed checks before work begins, building written compliance requirements into contracts, and making sure the person doing the work is the person who was checked. That matters particularly for substitution arrangements and platform work. Any repeat or follow-up check on or after 1 October 2026 must also follow the updated rules, including for long-serving staff.

How to Carry Out the Checks

Whichever route you use, the check must be done before work starts, and you must be able to evidence it. There are three routes:

• Manual document check: Ask for original documents from the Home Office's permitted lists. Check them in the person's presence, in person or by live video call. Confirm they are genuine, belong to the individual, and that photographs and dates of birth are consistent. Check expiry dates and any limits on the work permitted. Take clear copies and record the date of the check.

• Online check: Where the individual holds an eVisa or immigration status, they provide a share code and date of birth. You verify it through the Home Office's online service and confirm the photograph matches the person.

• Digital identity check: For British and Irish passport holders, a certified identity service provider can carry out the check.

Keep the records for the whole engagement plus two years. Diarise follow-up checks before any time-limited permission expires. Apply the same process to every individual in scope, and make sure your suppliers and agencies can show they do the same.

What Employers Should Do Now

Map your workforce by engagement type. Identify every category of person doing work for you, not just employees, and where they sit in your contractual chains.

Build checks into all relevant onboarding. Extend your right to work process to workers and individual subcontractors who now fall within scope.

Review agency, subcontractor and supplier contracts. Look for compliance obligations, audit rights, restrictions on further subcontracting, and cooperation provisions if the Home Office makes enquiries.

Strengthen identity verification. Make sure you can show the person doing the work is the person who was checked, particularly for platform and substitution arrangements.

Train HR, procurement and operational managers. Everyone who engages labour needs to understand that this is now a shared responsibility.

Keep checking consistent and non-discriminatory. Wider checking increases the risk of inconsistent practice, which creates its own discrimination exposure.

Impact

This is one of the less visible Employment Rights Act era changes, but arguably one of the highest-stakes, because penalties are per worker and the liability now follows your supply chain. We help businesses review how they engage workers and subcontractors, update contracts and onboarding processes to preserve the statutory excuse, and build practical right to work procedures that HR, procurement and operations teams can all follow. If you would like your arrangements reviewed, get in touch.

Contact Oliver Tasker: 📞 Call: 01522 776270 ✉️ Email: oliver@impactemploymentlaw.co.uk

Advice. Protection. Impact.