Right to Work changes in new Home Office draft, coming 1 October 

By Sarah Croft | July 23, 2026 | News, Right to Work

The Home Office and UK government have recently released a new draft of the Employer’s guide to Right to Work checks, including several changes and updates to the existing Right to Work system.  

Right to Work checks are a requirement for all UK ‘employees’ – but they have not previously been needed for those involved in ‘gig-economy’ work, known as ‘workers’. Amendments to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 (BSAI 2025) have changed this, by expanding the scope of ‘employer’, placing new responsibilities upon a wider range of people to verify a person’s right to work.  

It’s important to remember that this is only a draft of the guide; more changes may come before the implementation date on the 1st October 2026. The wording of the legislation has been left deliberately vague in order to cover the widest possible range of employment types.

For now, we are here to take you through what has changed, and some examples provided by the Home Office to clarify certain areas. 

Key takeaways

• Changes are expected to come into full force on the 1st of October. 

• The Right to Work Scheme has expanded to cover worker contracts, individual subcontractors, and online matching services. 

• New guidance has been introduced around extended liability. This means that civil liability for lack of Right to Work checks may extend beyond the party with the direct contractual relationship with the worker and, in some circumstances, reach upstream organisations within a supply chain.  

• Annexes C and D have been removed and either incorporated into the main body of the guidance, or are no longer relevant (i.e. Ukrainian nationals now need Right to Work checks along with every other nationality)  

• From October, employers choosing to complete a Right to Work check digitally must use a Digital Verification Service Provider (DVSP) who is listed on the Office for Digital Identities Attributes (OfDIA) register, and that they are able to provide Right to Work checks.

Updated responsibilities for completing Right to Work checks

 Who now needs Right to Work checks?

Previously, only “employees” required Right to Work checks. Under these changes, the following groups will also require Right to Work checks: 

• Workers 

• Individual subcontractors 

• Online matching services 

• Worker platforms 

• Some contractual supply chains 

This brings gig-economy workers such as those working for delivery services like Uber or Deliveroo under scope, or those using online marketplaces like Taskrabbit. 

Examples of working arrangements in scope

The Home Office provided several case studies which detailed who would be responsible for completing the Right to Work checks across a range of organisation types.

1. Contract of employment 

For a receptionist employed at a hotel who is a permanent member of staff, the organisation responsible for the Right to Work check would be the hotel itself. 

2. Worker’s contract 

For an individual registered with a recruitment agency that supplies temporary workers to establishments like bars and restaurants, who is engaged directly by the agency on a contract for services, the responsible party would be the recruitment agency.  

3. Individual subcontractor  

A subcontractor who signs up to work through a delivery platform and logs into an app when they want to work, accepting delivery requests and receiving payment for each completed delivery, would need a Right to Work check from the delivery platform.  

4. Online matching service 

A cleaner who uses an online matching service to find cleaning work and is matched with a homeowner would need a Right to Work check from whoever runs the online matching service.  

Extended liability

The draft also introduces extended liability – whereby civil liability for lack of correct Right to Work checks may extend beyond the employer who has the direct contractual relationship with the worker, covering third party employers, online matching services, and instances where work may be substituted between several individuals.  

Some things to note: 

• “Extended liability” does not automatically transfer the responsibility of completing a Right to Work check to someone further down the contractual chain 

• If the direct employer cannot be identified (e.g. the worker can’t identify who employs them, or records/contractual arrangements aren’t available), and the contractual employer is identified as having a responsibility, liability for not completing a Right to Work check may fall to them 

This illustration from the Home Office demonstrates where extended liability may apply:

The examples referenced in the green box can be found on pages 43 – 44 of the Employer’s guide to Right to Work checks draft.  

The following image sets out the extended liability in a chain of contracts, and who may ultimately be found responsible and face civil penalty: 

Who is not in scope?

Someone purchasing services or labour for their own, personal operations does not automatically bring them into the new extended liability regime. For example, the following groups of people would generally be exempt from extended liability: 

• Self-employed tradespeople like plumbers or electricians 

• Independent accountants 

• Freelancers like graphic designers, trading through their own Ltd. company 

• Businesses buying services for themselves 

Establishing a statutory excuse for extended liability

In order to protect your business against extended liability claims, it’s important to complete these steps before work commences: 

• Create a written statement which includes who has the responsibility for completing Right to Work checks, and establishes controls over further subcontracting.  

• Establish substitution controls which ensure Right to Work checks are carried out on any substitute worker, if relevant. 

• Ensure you have identity checking method to make sure the person coming to work is the same as who the Right to Work check was performed on. The guidance is not prescriptive about how to do this but suggests workplace ID cards, periodic face matching checks, or attendance management systems.

Three ways to conduct Right to Work checks

The routes to help employers complete a Right to Work check have not changed:

1. Online checks: when an employer has an eVisa, the employer needs to use a share code and date of birth to check their eligibility through the Home Office service and confirm that the photograph provided as part of the eVisa application matches the applicant. You must then take evidence that the check was completed (access, check, record, store). Some DVSP, including TrustID, also have an integration with the Home Office online checking service which allows employers to pull the report and complete the identity check by requesting a selfie to compare with the image of the individual. 
2. Manual checks: Employer conducts checks using the worker’s original documents (obtain, check, copy, store). 
3. Checks using a Right to Work Digital Verification Service Provider (DVSP): A certified third party, registered with the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OFDIA), confirming they can provide Right to Work checks, carries out the check on the employer’s behalf. From October, employers choosing the digital route must use a registered RtW DVSP who must appear on the digital identity and attribute service.  

In every instance, evidence must be recorded and retained for the duration of employment plus two years.  

When a Right to Work check is completed, the employer will be able to see if the candidate has a continuous or time-limited Right to Work. A continuous check means no follow-up checks are needed (usually). However, a time-limited Right to Work means the employer will need to complete a follow-up check after a certain period of time. 

Reasons why an employer may lose their statutory excuse 

Last year, the Home Office issued more than £130 million in fines from employers found to be using illegal workers. Civil penalties can reach up to £60,000 per illegal worker, and employers can face jail time of up to five years, or an unlimited fine depending on the severity of the offence. Illegal working arrests have increased significantly since 2022, with the figure expected to rise as a result of these changes.  

Here are some reasons why you may lose your statutory excuse and therefore face criminal charges: 

• If the Right to Work check was completed after employment began  

• By using the wrong method of checking 

• Relying on a share code without checking the report 

• Failing to check the person applying for work is the person who appears on the day 

Support from TrustID

As a certified Digital Verification Service Provider,  TrustID are a leading and trusted provider of Right to Work checks, supporting thousands of employers across the UK with their hiring needs. We will keep you updated as this new draft is refined and completed. For now, if you would like to get ahead of the changes, simply get in touch with our expert team.