Our blog dated 12 May 2025 highlighted that the UK Government had announced plans to extend the scope of right to work checks to workers including ‘gig economy’ workers and zero hours workers. The precise date for implementation of the revised Statutory Code of Practice and guidance is still unknown. However, the proposals are becoming clearer.
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 (the Act) containing the changes received Royal Assent on 2 December 2025. The UK Government published a consultation paper in relation to the proposals on 29 October 2025, which closed on 10 December 2025. Once the outcome of the consultation process is known, we will provide a further update.
What changes are proposed?
Section 48 of the Act contains details of the new broader duty which will mean that organisations will need to carry out right to work checks on workers, sub-contractors and others. The definition of ‘employment‘ under the current illegal working legislation (which prohibits employment of someone who does not have a current valid right to work in the UK) will be extended to apply to arrangements where an organisation:
- engages an individual under a worker’s contract;
- engages an individual sub-contractor; or
- engages an online matching service providing details of an individual who is a service provider to potential clients or customers.
The Act contains definitions of individual sub-contractor and online matching services. Please contact us if you want specific advice about how these new arrangements will apply to you.
These changes will mean that right to work checks will need to be caried out on a broader range of arrangements than is currently the case. The intention of the changes is to clamp down on illegal working in a wider part of the labour market than traditional employment relationships.
The UK Government’s consultation paper states that responses to the consultation will inform the preparation of new right to work guidance and a revised Statutory Code of Practice that will support the right to work scheme.
In addition, the Government notes that these changes sit alongside an increase in enforcement action. The consultation paper notes that there has been an 63% increase in illegal working arrests and a 51% increase in raids in the last year and that immigration enforcement activity has significantly increased. Therefore employers and businesses can expect the new regime to be strictly enforced. Civil penalties can be up to £60,000 per illegal worker so it will be important to have the relevant right to work check processes in place.
Who will right to work checks have to be carried out on once the changes are introduced?
Once the new rules are in force, any organisation engaging with relevant individuals will be required to carry out right to work checks in order to establish a statutory excuse against liability for a penalty. This is a much broader obligation than the current right to work regime which generally applies to those engaged under a contract of employment or apprenticeship. Some employers already undertake checks on workers in order to avoid reputational and other risks of engaging those who do not have the right to work in the UK. Going forward, such checks will be mandatory in order to avoid a civil penalty for illegal working.
The consultation seeks views on how to operationalise those changes, how to enforce them and how to simplify processes to make it easier for employers to comply. The paper refers to the fact that in the future, digital ID cards will create a simpler way to check right to work.
What steps can we take to prepare?
- Businesses may want to audit their current workforce to consider what arrangements they have in place which might be caught by the new right to work regime, and what category these workers fall into so that they can plan for the changes. For example, they might want to consider how many casual workers, contractors and others are engaged and whether they are engaged directly or through a personal service company.
- Once the changes are confirmed, the business will be able to identify what process it plans to use for right to work purposes. Many businesses now use Digital Identity Service Providers to undertake checks on British and Irish nationals. Such checks might be faster / more efficient for short term engagements and may facilitate checks being carried out remotely for some workers.
- For very short-term engagements (for example a contractor coming on site for a day who is covered by the new rules), having to carry out a right to work check at short notice may be challenging. Consider what is practical in light of your business.
- In some cases where workers are engaged on a sporadic basis, it is unclear if the employer will have to repeat the right to work check in advance of each engagement. The guidance should be considered once published to clarify what changes will be needed to your right to work processes.
- For employers who have a sponsor licence, compliance with the right to work rules is critical as a serious compliance breach could result in revocation of the sponsor licence. Ensuring that you are able to comply with the new rules will be important.
For further detail on any of these changes, or to discuss right to work checks, please contact Elaine McIlroy, Erin McLafferty or Gregor Craig-Murphy from Brodies Employment and Immigration team.
