Right to Work Checks - An Update
This article was written by Samuel Gardner, Business Immigration Solicitor at OTB Legal.
2026 is shaping up to be a year of turbulence for right to work checks, with two updates to the sponsor guidance and a consultation for policy changes due to come into force later this year.
What are right to work checks?
It is a criminal offence to employ someone who does not have the right to work. The consequences can include a hefty civil penalty and even jail time for company directors in the worst case scenarios. A correctly carried out right to work check provides a legal defence to the offence of hiring an illegal worker. This check must occur before the worker begins their role. We’ve written more about how to conduct a right to work check here and here.
Big changes for sponsor licence holders…….. or not…..
On 08 April 2026, the Home Office introduced a small change in wording to the sponsor licence guidance which had a big impact on a sponsor’s duties. The change was to extend the duties to conduct right to work checks to not just employees but any individual directly engaged by the sponsor.
These changes were met with controversy and were subsequently reversed on 20 May 2026. As at the time of writing the duty to conduct right to work checks extends any worker you wish to sponsor, or any other worker you wish to employ, rather than the wider requirement for any individual you may directly engage.
Wider changes coming down the path
This reversal may not be the end of the story. These attempts do reflect a wider change due to take effect in the Autumn.
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 expands the duties to prevent illegal working by employers. The changes will expand the liability for a civil penalty to businesses where there is indirect employment of an individual without the right to work. By virtue, this not only extends the need to conduct right to work checks drastically, but it increases their importance.
The idea that you have an informal knowledge of an individual’s right to work has always been a false sense of security for employers, but the new requirements extend your liability to workers further down the chain of employment and for whom your business will have less direct involvement in the hiring of, such as sub-contractors. The full list is individuals:
“under a contract of employment (a contract of service or apprenticeship)
under a worker’s contract
as an individual sub-contractor, or
an online matching service providing the details of an individual who is a service provider to potential clients or customers”
It’s important to note that this expands the definition of employer beyond the one used in employment law, but this change in definition will only apply to right to work checks.
As part of these changes, which are expected to come into force as early as October this year, the government held a consultation in April for a new code of practice for employers conducting right to work checks. This document can be accessed here.
If you’d like to discuss right to work checks, or other immigration support, in more detail then please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at hello@otb.legal or our switchboard number: 0330 111 6682