Right to work checks: what’s changing from October 2026

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Right to work checks have traditionally been an employee onboarding issue. From 1 October 2026, however, employers need to look more widely at who may require a check.

Changes to the illegal working regime have extended right to work obligations beyond traditional employment relationships. Depending on the arrangement, businesses may now need to carry out checks on individuals who might previously have fallen outside their usual processes.

This could include:

  • Workers who are not employees;
  • Casual and zero-hours workers;
  • Individual contractors;
  • Agency workers and others supplied through contractual chains; and
  • Some gig economy and platform-based service providers.

Importantly, this does not mean that someone becomes an employee or worker for wider employment law purposes. The right to work regime has its own definitions and deliberately casts a wider net.

However, this does not mean that every self-employed person will require a right to work check. The label attached to the relationship is not decisive, but genuinely independent businesses providing services to their customers will generally remain outside the scheme. The Home Office guidance gives the examples of an independent plumber providing services to members of the public and a graphic designer contracting through their own personal service company.

Reviewing who needs to be checked

Employers should start by looking beyond their payroll and reviewing the different ways in which people provide work or services to their organisation.

This should include consultants, contractors, casual staff, agency arrangements and others personally providing work or services. Employers will need to establish which arrangements fall within the regime, who is responsible for carrying out the check and whether their onboarding processes ensure that a required check is completed before work begins.

The mechanics of right to work checks have not fundamentally changed. What has changed is the group of people who may need one.

For HR teams, identifying who needs to be checked will therefore be just as important as knowing how to carry out the check.

Here to help

Our Employment team can help employers map their wider workforce, identify who requires a right to work check and update onboarding responsibilities and processes. If you would like advice on whether a particular arrangement falls within the expanded regime or how to carry out compliant checks, please contact Miranda Mulligan, Senior Solicitor in Employment Law.

Please note, the contents of this article are provided for information only and must not be relied upon.