The Home Office has published a draft of the revised Employer’s Guide to Right to Work Checks which sets out the steps employers must take to prevent illegal working in the UK and establish a statutory excuse against civil penalty liability by carrying out right to work checks.
The key changes in the guidance include:
- The addition of the changes being implemented under section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 (the Act) which will extend the right to work scheme and the sanctions for non-compliance to cover a wider range of working arrangements. This will apply to employers who are engaging an individual on a worker’s contract, engaging an individual sub-contractor, and through an online matching service providing details of an individual who is a service provider to potential clients or customers.
- The notion of “extended liability” under the Act, which extends the civil penalty liability beyond the employer who holds the direct contractual relationship with the worker i.e. where there is a right of substitution in the contract.
- The “prescribed requirements” which must be carried out to establish a statutory excuse against liability for a civil penalty.
- The “prescribed requirements” will be either carrying out a right to work check before employment starts where there is a direct contractual relationship with the worker, or in the case of “extended liability” where there is a non-direct contractual arrangement, putting in place relevant contractual terms and conditions, substitution controls and identity verification systems before the work/services commence.
The guidance will not apply to individuals operating an independent business either in their own name or through their own company and who contract directly with clients or customers for the provision of goods or services.
If adopted in full, the amended guidance will come into force on 1 October 2026.
