Right to Work Checks UK: A Complete Employer’s Guide (2026 Update)

Reviewed by Simon Obee, Head of HR Advisory at Employment Hero, with tips and advice throughout.

From 1st October 2026, Right to Work checks extend beyond employees to workers, agency staff, individual subcontractors and platform workers. But penalties are unchanged.

Right to work checks: the short version

What it is: A legal check that confirms someone can work in the UK. You must do it before they start work, for everyone in scope, whatever their nationality.

Who’s in scope from 1st October 2026: Employees, plus workers, agency staff, individual subcontractors, casual and zero-hours staff, and people found through online platforms. It’s the working relationship that decides this, not the job title.

How to check:

1. Get the documents: see the original documents in person, or get a share code and date of birth for an online check.
2. Check them: make sure they’re genuine and belong to the person in front of you.
3. Keep a record: save a dated copy for the length of employment plus two years.
4. Recheck: do a follow-up check before any time-limited permission expires.

Which method to use:

• British and Irish citizens: a manual check, or a digital check through a Home Office registered provider.
• eVisa holders and EU Settlement Scheme status: the free Home Office online service, using a share code.
• Pending applications or appeals: the Employer Checking Service.

If you get it wrong: Fines of up to £45,000 per worker for a first breach and £60,000 for a repeat breach. In the most serious cases, the penalty is up to five years in prison and an unlimited fine.

Right to work checks: the details

This guide will cut through the confusion. We’ll break down exactly what you need to do to conduct compliant right to work checks, from manual document verification to the latest digital methods. We’ve kept this guide up to date since 2025, and it’s now fully updated for the changes from 1st October 2026.

What changed on 1st October 2026

“There are major changes in immigration law. From 1st October 2026, the duty to carry out right to work checks has extended beyond employees to a much wider group, including contractors, agency workers and those engaged through platforms.” – Simon Obee, Head of HR Advisory at Employment Hero

Until 1st October 2026, right to work checks were mostly about employees. Not anymore. Section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 came into force on 1st October 2026, extending the UK illegal working regime beyond traditional employment relationships. If you use anyone other than employees to get work done, this change is about you.

Who’s now in scope

The regime now covers three groups on top of employees:

• People on a worker’s contract. That means someone providing work or services under a contract that isn’t employment but still involves personal service and a degree of control by your business. Genuinely self-employed professionals who contract directly with their own clients sit outside this category.
• Individual subcontractors in a contracting chain. This applies where each party has been contracted by another to deliver the same or related work.
• People found through online matching services. These are platforms that connect service providers with clients or customers for payment.

In practice, that brings in agency workers, individual subcontractors, casual and temporary staff, zero-hours workers, gig economy workers and platform-based labour. What decides which category someone falls into is how the relationship actually works, not what it’s called. Calling someone a contractor doesn’t take them out of scope.

Responsibility can travel up the chain

The new rules also introduce “extended liability”: in defined circumstances, a business can face a civil penalty even without a direct contract with the person doing the work. The Home Office looks first to the business with the direct contractual relationship, but if you sit at the top of a subcontracting chain, you can’t assume someone further down has it covered.

The penalties haven’t changed. Who they apply to has.

The civil penalty is still up to £45,000 per worker for a first breach and £60,000 for a repeat breach, with up to five years in prison and an unlimited fine in the most serious cases. What changed is how many working arrangements those penalties now reach.

Check the person who actually turns up

Updated guidance from the Home Office stresses that the person you check should be the same person doing the work. That matters most if your contracts allow substitution, or if you hire remotely or through contractors.

Every check has to be fair

An updated discrimination code applies to employment starting on or after 1st October 2026, and to repeat checks due from that date. You can’t treat someone less favourably because their permission is time-limited, they hold an eVisa or they need a different type of check. You can encourage a digital check, but you can only insist on one when the worker has an eVisa and must use the Home Office online service.

What to do going forward

For any new starters – label each person: employee, worker, individual subcontractor, agency, casual or platform worker. That list tells you who needs a check.

Check before day one. To establish a statutory excuse, a required check normally has to be done before the person starts work.

Agree who checks in each contract. For each agency, subcontractor or platform arrangement, work out who holds the direct contract, who carries out the check and whether extended liability could arise elsewhere in the chain. Then write it into the contract.

Look hard at substitution clauses. If someone else can do the work, you need to know who that person is and that they’ve been checked.

Diarise follow-up checks. Anyone with time-limited permission needs a repeat check before it expires.

“Process matters more than awareness. The same checks applied consistently to every candidate and up-to-date notes explaining decisions will protect a business far better than relying on individual managers to remember the right thing at the right moment.” – Simon Obee, Head of HR Advisory at Employment Hero

What are Right to Work checks?

Now, back to the basics. A right to work check is how UK businesses confirm that someone has the legal right to work in the UK. This isn’t optional; it’s a legal requirement. And since 1st October 2026, it doesn’t just mean employees. It can also cover workers, individual subcontractors and people found through online platforms. Check everyone in scope, regardless of their nationality or how long you’ve known them.

The purpose is to prevent illegal working. By ensuring everyone you employ has the correct permissions, you are doing your part to uphold UK immigration laws and avoid severe penalties. It’s a fundamental part of any compliant guide to hiring employees.

Why Right to Work checks are essential for UK employers

Beyond the obvious legal obligation, these checks are an essential part of your risk management strategy. Failing to conduct a proper check can result in fines of up to £45,000 per worker for a first breach and £60,000 for a repeat breach. For a small or medium-sized business, a mistake like this can be catastrophic.

By completing these checks correctly, you establish a “statutory excuse.” This means that if it turns out one of your employees was working illegally despite your best efforts (for example, they used fraudulent documents), you have a legal defence against a civil penalty. It’s your proof that you did everything by the book.

When did Right to Work checks start in the UK?

This isn’t a new piece of red tape. The requirement for employers to check an employee’s right to work was introduced by the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996. The system has evolved significantly since then, especially with the introduction of digital and online systems, but the core principle has remained the same for decades.

With the rules constantly being updated, it’s crucial to know which methods are currently valid and how to use them correctly.

Types of Right to Work checks

There isn’t a single way to do a Right to Work check. There are three main ways to check, plus the Employer Checking Service for people with a pending application. The one you use depends on the person’s nationality and immigration status.

Manual Right to Work checks

This is the traditional, in-person method. You, as the employer, must obtain the person’s original, physical documents from the government’s approved list. You then have to check that they are genuine and that the person presenting them is the rightful holder, in their presence. 

This method is still valid for British and Irish citizens with a current or expired passport, or an Irish passport card, but it’s becoming less common as digital options become more accessible. A complete onboarding checklist should specify which documents are required for this.

Digital Right to Work checks for British and Irish citizens

Employers can use a digital verification service provider (DVSP) to carry out digital right to work checks for British and Irish citizens who hold a valid passport or Irish passport card. Since 1st October 2026, digital checks must go through a provider registered with the Home Office. It’s a game-changer, especially for remote hiring.

A DVSP uses identity verification technology to confirm the person’s identity and eligibility to work. While you have to pay for this service, it can streamline your onboarding process and reduce the risk of human error associated with manual checks. This move towards digital ID for right to work checks is a key part of modernising the hiring process.

Unlike a manual check, which accepts a British or Irish passport of any age, a digital check through a registered DVSP accepts an expired British or Irish passport only where it is within six months of its expiry date. 

Home Office online Right to Work check

This is a free online service provided by the Home Office. It’s the required method for checking the right to work of anyone with an eVisa or status under the EU Settlement Scheme.

eVisas replaced physical immigration documents like biometric residence permits, so you can’t do a manual document check for these individuals. You must use the online service instead. The person gives you a “share code” and their date of birth, which you enter into the Home Office’s online service to view their real-time immigration status and right to work details. You’ll still need to check that the photo on their online profile matches the person in front of you, and save a copy of the profile page as your record.

Employer Checking Service (ECS)

What if someone has an outstanding application or appeal with the Home Office? They might have the right to work, but no current documentation to prove it. In this case, you must use the Employer Checking Service (ECS).

You submit a request to the ECS and they will respond (usually within five working days) to confirm the person’s right to work. This gives you a statutory excuse for six months while their application is being processed, after which you’ll need to conduct a follow-up check.

How to conduct a compliant Right to Work check (step-by-step)

The Home Office lays out a clear, four-step process that you must follow to establish a statutory excuse. Getting any of these steps wrong can invalidate the entire check.

Step 1 – Obtain the worker’s original or digital documents

First, you must obtain the worker’s documents. For a manual check, this means seeing their original passport or other approved documents. You cannot accept photocopies or photos on a phone. For an online check, you need their share code and date of birth. It’s crucial that you obtain these documents before they start work.

Step 2 – Check the validity of the documents

This is where you play detective. For a manual check, you must verify that the documents are genuine and belong to the person in front of you. Check that photos match, dates of birth are consistent and that there are no obvious signs of tampering. For an online check, you must still verify that the photo on the online profile matches the person presenting themselves for work.

Step 3 – Make and keep a record

This step is just as important as the first two. You must make a clear, legible copy of the documents you have checked and keep it securely. For manual checks, you must sign and date the copy to record when you conducted the check. For online checks, you must save a PDF of the profile page. You need to keep these records for the duration of the person’s employment and for two years after they leave. For how long to keep other employment records, see our guide to employment tribunal time limits.

Step 4 – Conduct follow-up checks (if applicable)

If an employee has a time-limited right to work (e.g., they are on a visa), your job isn’t done. You must conduct a follow-up check just before their current permission expires. Failing to do this means your statutory excuse will expire, leaving you liable if they continue to work without the right permissions. Set a reminder and treat this follow-up with the same seriousness as the initial check.

Avoiding common Right to Work mistakes

Many employers make simple, avoidable mistakes that put them at risk. Here are the most common pitfalls to watch out for.

Right to work documents: what’s acceptable

For a manual check, a British or Irish passport can be current or expired, but a clipped (cancelled) passport isn’t acceptable. For a digital check through a registered provider, a British or Irish passport can be current or expired by up to six months; older expired passports are not accepted. Other documents, like visas, must be in date. Check the Home Office’s list of acceptable documents rather than assuming.

Not recording the check properly

Just looking at a passport isn’t enough. If you don’t make a clear, dated copy of the document (or save the online profile), you have no evidence that you ever did the check. In the eyes of the Home Office, a check that isn’t recorded is a check that never happened.

Failing to recheck time-limited permissions

This is a huge one. Forgetting to conduct a follow-up check for an employee on a visa is one of the easiest ways to end up with an illegal worker on your payroll and a massive fine. Your statutory excuse is time-limited, just like their visa.

Can you do right to work checks over video call?

Document checks conducted via video call are no longer a valid method for right to work checks, following the cessation of temporary COVID-19 measures on 30 September 2022. You can no longer rely on your own remote document checks.

Any remote right to work check must now be completed either through a registered digital verification service provider (DVSP) or via the Home Office online right to work service.

Penalties for failing to conduct Right to Work checks

The consequences for getting this wrong are severe and they are not just financial.

Civil penalties and fines

As mentioned, the civil penalty for hiring an illegal worker can be up to £45,000 per worker for a first breach and £60,000 for a repeat breach. This is designed to be a serious deterrent and the Home Office is not shy about issuing these fines. And since 1st October 2026, these penalties can apply to more working arrangements, and in some cases to businesses higher up a subcontracting chain.

Criminal liability and reputational risks

If you are found to have knowingly employed someone who does not have the right to work or a repeat offender of hiring illegal workers for failing to conduct right to work checks of employees, you could face criminal charges, leading to an unlimited fine and up to five years in prison. The reputational damage of being named and shamed as a non-compliant employer can also be devastating.

Avoiding discrimination when checking Right to Work

It’s vital to handle these checks in a fair and non-discriminatory way. You must check everyone in scope in the same way, not just those who you think might not be British. Making assumptions based on someone’s accent, name or appearance is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010 and can lead to a discrimination claim. A consistent process for everyone is your best defence.

Right to Work checks: Key takeaways for UK employers

Right to Work checks are not just another hoop to jump through in the hiring process. They are a fundamental part of being a responsible and compliant UK employer. And since 1st October 2026, the question isn’t just how you check, but who you check.

By understanding the different methods, following the correct steps and keeping meticulous records, you can protect your business and build your team with confidence.

Employment Hero helps you keep every check, record and follow-up date in one place. Explore our tools and see how we can help you hire smarter and safer.

How Employment Hero can help with Right to Work compliance

Managing all this manually is a huge administrative burden, especially as your team grows. Keeping track of visa expiry dates in a spreadsheet is a recipe for disaster.

Employment Hero’s HR platform helps you manage compliance with confidence. You can securely store digital copies of right to work documents in employee files, set automated reminders for follow-up checks and build it all into your onboarding workflow. This helps you reduce manual admin and minimise the risk of human error, freeing you up to focus on welcoming your new hire.

For DBS checks and what your hiring managers can and can’t ask at interview, read our UK hiring compliance guide. For every other employment law date coming up, see our Employment Rights Act hub.

Disclaimer: This guide is general information only, current as at 1st October 2026, and is provided in good faith to assist UK employers. It isn’t legal advice and shouldn’t be relied on as a substitute for it. Employment law changes frequently. Check the current position with a qualified adviser before acting.