Right to Work Checks Are About to Cover Contractors and Gig Workers — Is Your Business Ready?

If your business uses contractors, freelancers, agency staff or gig-economy workers, a compliance change landing on 1 October 2026 will apply to you even if you've never directly employed anyone.

What's changing

From 1 October 2026, the Home Office is expanding right to work checks beyond traditional employees to cover contractors, zero-hours workers and platform labour. Specifically, checks will now apply to self-employed contractors, non-employee zero-hours workers, partners in limited liability partnerships, and individuals engaged through online matching platforms or subcontracting arrangements. This is being introduced under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025, meaning compliance responsibility is no longer limited to businesses with a formal payroll relationship.

Why this is a bigger deal than it sounds

Previously, right to work compliance obligations sat mainly with licensed sponsors and direct employers. Under the new rules, all businesses engaging labour in the UK — not just sponsor licence holders — are affected, and the penalties have real teeth: civil penalties of up to £60,000 per illegal worker now apply across this much broader set of arrangements. Businesses using agency workers, subcontractors, casual or temporary staff, gig workers or platform-based labour should all review their processes.

How this compares to the US and elsewhere

The US has run an equivalent system for decades through Form I-9, which every employer completes at the point of hire to verify identity and work authorisation, with steep fines for non-compliance in either direction. Both countries place the verification burden squarely on the business engaging the worker, but the UK's October 2026 change goes further than the US model by explicitly pulling in gig and platform workers who wouldn't necessarily be classed as "employees" for other legal purposes.

Checklist: get ready before 1 October 2026

• List every category of labour your business engages beyond direct employees — subcontractors, agency staff, platform workers, LLP partners — and map who is currently subject to a right to work check.
• Update your onboarding process for contractors and freelancers to include a right to work check before work begins, not after.
• If you use staffing agencies or subcontracting firms, clarify contractually who is responsible for carrying out and recording the check.
• Train whoever handles onboarding on the government's official right to work checking guidance, since check methods (in-person document checks vs digital identity verification) vary by worker type.
• Keep dated records of every check carried out — in a penalty dispute, the paperwork trail is what protects the business, not the fact a check happened.
• Don't wait for 1 October — start reviewing your current contractor base now, since backdating checks isn't possible once the rules are live.

Key Numbers

• Effective date: 1 October 2026
• Maximum civil penalty per illegal worker: £60,000
• Legal basis: Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025

Sources

• theHRDIRECTOR: Government confirms expansion of right to work checks
• Howes Percival: Right to work checks are expanding from 1 October 2026
• gov.uk: Checking a job applicant's right to work
• USCIS: I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification

Educational content only — not financial advice.