United Kingdom · immigration

Do I Need to Do Right to Work Checks for Subcontractors in the UK?

Recent major legal changes in the United Kingdom have overhauled immigration compliance. If you hire individual subcontractors or use a labor supply chain to deliver work to clients, you can now be held personally or commercially liable under the expanded right to work regime.

What the law says about subcontractors in the UK

Historically, the duty to prevent illegal working in the United Kingdom only applied to direct, payroll-based employees. However, on 1 October 2026, Section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 came into force, radically changing the legal landscape. This legislation inserted Section 14A and Section 15A into the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, expanding the definition of 'employment' for right to work compliance.

Under Section 14A, you must directly perform right to work checks if you engage an individual under a worker's contract or as an individual subcontractor. Under Section 15A, a new 'extended liability' regime has been introduced. If your business contracts with a client to provide services and you subcontract that work to another company or supplier, you can now be held liable if any worker down that chain does not have the right to work in the UK.

The civil penalties are severe: up to £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach, rising to £60,000 for repeat offenses within three years. Additionally, knowingly employing an illegal worker remains a criminal offense carrying up to five years in prison and unlimited fines under Section 21 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006.

When you must perform right to work checks

Determining whether you must perform a check depends entirely on how the relationship is structured, not simply on whether you call someone 'self-employed'. If you hire an individual subcontractor (such as a sole trader or a freelancer) to help you deliver work for one of your clients, you are part of a contracting chain and you must ensure checks are carried out. Even if you are a solo operator with no direct employees, you are legally responsible for any sub-contractor you bring in.

To establish a 'statutory excuse' and protect yourself against massive fines under Section 15A, you must meet strict 'prescribed requirements'. These include having robust, written contract terms in place before work starts. These terms must explicitly require the subcontractor to perform the right to work checks, prohibit further subcontracting without your written consent, allow you to audit their compliance, and enforce termination if they fail to comply.

Furthermore, you must have active systems to manage 'substitution' (ensuring any substitute sent to work is also checked) and carry out identity verification on-site to confirm that the person performing the work is indeed the person who was checked.

What is exempt from the right to work rules?

Not every subcontractor arrangement falls within the extended liability regime. If you are contracting directly with a genuinely independent business that is providing services solely for your own internal business operations (and not delivering work to an onward third-party client), this is generally out of scope. For example, if you hire an independent self-employed plumber directly to fix a leak in your office, no check is required.

Similarly, contracts solely for the supply of finished goods, or providing pure technology/ordering services without a labor element, do not trigger the subcontractor right to work requirements. However, you should not rely on boilerplate warranty clauses to protect your business, as the Home Office looks at the substance of the arrangement rather than the label.

Managing these shifting compliance rules can be highly stressful and legally risky. You can use Caunsel to research these changes, securely upload and save your commercial contracts in a centralized case file, or consult with an independent UK immigration lawyer to draft compliant subcontractor agreements.

Steps

• Audit all current and upcoming subcontractor and freelancer engagements starting on or after 1 October 2026 to identify who falls under the new definitions.
• Draft and insert mandatory prescribed terms into all new contracts, legally requiring your subcontractors to perform right to work checks and permit audits.
• Implement an identity verification process (such as a secure sign-in process) to ensure the person who turns up to do the work is the person whose right to work was validated.
• Formulate a clear written protocol for managing substitutes, ensuring no replacement worker begins work without a documented right to work check.
• Conduct regular, documented audits of your subcontractors' right to work verification records to maintain your statutory excuse.

Common mistakes

• Relying on standard indemnity or warranty clauses in contracts instead of implementing the strict, Home-Office-prescribed contract terms, substitution controls, and on-site identity verification.
• Assuming that because a subcontractor operates through a personal service company (PSC) or is labeled as 'self-employed,' they are automatically exempt from right to work rules.
• Failing to perform checks on replacement or 'substitute' workers who turn up on-site when the primary subcontractor is sick or unavailable.

Questions people ask

Are right to work checks for subcontractors retroactive for contracts signed before October 2026?

No, the new rules are not retrospective. The prescribed requirements and potential civil penalties for subcontracting chains only apply to contractual arrangements entered into on or after 1 October 2026.

Can I simply delegate all right to work liabilities to a recruitment agency?

While you can contractually oblige an agency to perform the checks, you must still have the prescribed contractual terms, substitution controls, and identity checks in place under Section 15A. If the agency fails to check and you lack these compliant systems, liability can still travel up the chain to your business.

What is the penalty if a subcontractor is found working illegally on my client's site?

Under the UK's updated rules, if you do not have a statutory excuse established through the prescribed contractual terms and identity systems, you can face a civil penalty of up to £45,000 for a first breach and up to £60,000 for repeat offenses within three years, plus potential criminal prosecution if you knew they lacked the right to work.

General information only, last updated 2026-10-03. Caunsel is not a law firm and does not practise law. AI answers and this guide are not legal advice. Verify filings, deadlines, and statutes with a licensed lawyer in United Kingdom.