The extension of Right to Work checks: have your say
The Home Office is asking for input on plans to expand Right to Work checks beyond ‘traditional’ employees to include gig workers and subcontractors. The public consultation is live until 10th December 2025, so now’s the perfect time to help shape the guidance before it becomes law.
What’s changing?
The proposal would extend the requirement for Right to Work checks across supply chains to cover anyone hiring gig economy and zero-hours workers. In short, it’s a shift from checks being required only by ’employers’ to regulating anyone who engages people to work in their name.
Why now?
This move is part of a broader government push to tackle illegal immigration and exploitative working practices. The aim is to stop illegal working and deter people smugglers from exploiting vulnerable migrants with false promises of jobs in the UK.
And the government isn’t just talking tough. Over the past year, Immigration Enforcement teams carried out more than 11,000 visits (up 51% on the previous year) and made over 8,000 arrests, a 63% increase. Thousands of civil penalties have been issued too, with businesses found employing illegal workers facing fines of up to £60,000 per illegal worker.
Why your voice matters
If these changes go ahead, organisations using contractors, agency staff, or platform workers will need to rethink their processes. Right now, if you use agency workers or self-employed individuals, you don’t have a legal duty to check their Right to Work status. The proposed changes would close that gap with a major shift in UK immigration law aimed at creating parity and protecting against exploitation.
Quick steps to stay ahead
- Map your workforce: Do freelancers, subcontractors, platforms, or agencies play a role in your supply chain? How do you monitor them today?
- Review onboarding: If guidance changes, can you extend checks without slowing down processes or overloading your team?
- Plan for scalability: Think about tools that can handle checks across multiple tiers of your supply chain.
This consultation isn’t just about making rules tougher, it’s about making them workable. Your feedback can shape how checks are done, who’s responsible, and what evidence counts in real-world workflows.
Respond to the consultation here before 10th December 2025.
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New Right to Work checks for Gig Economy and Self-Employed workers: a shift in UK immigration law
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April 1, 2025
The UK government has plans for significant changes to immigration law that will affect businesses hiring gig economy workers, zero-hours contract employees, and self-employed contractors. Read this blog to find out more about the future requirement for UK organisations to conduct mandatory Right to Work checks on anyone working on their behalf, regardless of employment status or contract type.
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