From 1st October 2026 Right to Work checks extend beyond employees to workers, individual subcontractors and service providers engaged through certain online matching services and will affect businesses further up a contractual chain, even where they do not directly employ the individual worker.

The new rules do not mean that every freelancer, consultant or service company must automatically undergo a Right to Work check and various arrangements do fall outside the scheme. The difficulty is identifying which working arrangement is caught by the legislation.

Businesses can find themselves slapped with hefty civil penalties in circumstances where they do not have direct contact with the individual worker.

• £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach

• £60,000 per illegal worker for a repeat breach

Civil penalties are not the upper limit of risk and sanctions can include up to 5 years imprisonment, unlimited fines, business closure, director disqualification, seizure of earnings…. the list goes on.

Are you aware of your liabilities in respect of your entire work force and labour supply chain?Do you have effective safeguards in place to protect your business from civil penalties?

To find out more about our immigration services head to our page here: Business Immigration Lawyers | Corporate Immigration Solicitors

This article was written by Renée Fickling, who is based in our Farnborough office.