Since 1 October 2026, some businesses must perform right to work checks on people described as self-employed contractors, although the rules do not cover every independent supplier. The expanded scheme includes workers engaged under a worker’s contract, individual sub-contractors and certain service providers introduced through online matching services. Responsibility can also extend to organisations further along a contractual supply chain. A plumber operating an independent business for several customers or a designer supplying services through a genuine personal service company may remain outside the direct checking duty. The new civil penalty provisions generally apply to relevant engagements beginning on or after 1 October 2026. The actual working arrangement matters more than its contractual label. Businesses with several sites should apply the same classification consistently rather than leaving different interpretations to individual hiring managers.
The question is who engages or supplies the individual and whether a genuine independent business is providing a service. Describing a person as self-employed, a consultant or a freelancer does not determine responsibility. This guide explains which relationships are covered, how employers should verify permission to work and the safeguards required when services are provided through other businesses.
Do you need right to work checks for self-employed contractors?
It depends on the arrangement. You may need to check someone who personally undertakes work under a worker’s contract, or an individual sub-contractor engaged to fulfil work your business has promised another organisation. Independent businesses serving you as genuine clients are generally outside the direct duty. However, an intermediary, matching platform or substitution clause can create additional responsibilities.
What changed on 1 October 2026
Section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 amended the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. New section 14A extends the civil penalty scheme beyond ordinary employment to worker’s contracts, individual sub-contractors and online matching services. Section 15A introduces potential extended liability for certain contractual arrangements. The updated employer’s guide to right to work checks took effect on 1 October 2026 and explains how to establish protection against a civil penalty. Its examples illustrate the main categories.
| Arrangement | Who carries out the check | Home Office example |
|---|---|---|
| Contract of employment | The direct employer | Hotel employing a receptionist |
| Worker’s contract | Organisation engaging the person | Employment business providing temporary bar staff |
| Individual sub-contractor | Organisation contracting with the individual | Delivery platform engaging a rider to fulfil customer orders |
| Online matching service | Matching service must meet relevant checking or extended-liability requirements | Service matching a householder with a cleaner |
A worker’s contract involves a person agreeing to perform work personally, where the recipient is not a client or customer of an independent business run by that individual. An individual sub-contractor contracts to deliver work which the other contracting party has already promised to a third party. These statutory definitions are narrower than everyday descriptions of freelance or contract work. An agency worker’s employment status for tax purposes does not automatically determine which organisation bears responsibility under the immigration legislation.
Who is not covered
The Home Office guidance excludes genuine independent businesses dealing directly with their own clients or customers. This can include self-employed sole traders and limited companies supplying a defined service as businesses, rather than individual workers engaged personally. Its examples include a plumber advertising independently to several customers and a designer providing services through a genuine personal service company. Those customers are not automatically obliged to check these individuals merely because they visit their premises or provide services. Even where a supplier falls outside the statutory duty, customers may seek assurance about the identity and eligibility of people attending sites.
However, intermediaries, delivery platforms and service chains can change the analysis. Assess who controls the work, who contracts with whom, whether the individual trades independently and how substitution operates. No single indicator is conclusive; in particular, a substitution right may introduce extended liability rather than remove every checking obligation.
| Question | Points towards a check being needed | Points away from one |
|---|---|---|
| Does the individual personally perform the work? | Personal service is required by an in-scope worker’s contract | An independent business provides an agreed outcome |
| Does the individual operate a real business? | Work is obtained through the engager or platform | Independent marketing and several customers |
| Who undertakes the contract for the final customer? | Your business supplies the work onwards | Supplier serves you as its own customer |
| Who selects and replaces the workers? | You or a contracted labour supplier | Independent supplier controls its own workforce |
| Can someone substitute for the worker? | A permitted substitute can trigger additional controls | No substitution clause; assess other factors separately |
What about contractors you engaged before 1 October?
For the newly covered worker’s contracts, individual sub-contractors and online matching services, a civil penalty generally applies only when employment under that arrangement started on or after 1 October 2026. Extended liability safeguards apply where relevant contractual arrangements were entered into from that date. The changes therefore do not create a general retrospective requirement to recheck everyone hired previously under those arrangements.
Review new engagements carefully, including replacements or new contracts with former contractors. A contract extension may need individual assessment. Employers have long been required to check employees under traditional employment contracts, and follow-up checks conducted from 1 October should follow current procedures. Maintain existing records and assess whether new assignments change which organisation carries legal responsibility. Where renewal changes the party providing work or the person doing it, revisit the contractual chain rather than relying on an earlier assessment.
How to carry out the check
Conduct a prescribed check before an in-scope individual starts work. Give workers a reasonable opportunity to use any valid method available to them, without insisting on a method they cannot use. The three main methods are: A digital verification provider does not remove the employer’s responsibility to ensure the photograph matches the person and the result is properly recorded.
| Method | Who it suits | Key rules |
|---|---|---|
| Manual check | People presenting acceptable original documents | Possess originals; compare them with the individual in person or live on video; copy and date the record |
| Online check | People proving immigration permission through an eVisa | Enter a W-prefixed share code and date of birth; examine the photograph, work restrictions and official result |
| Digital identity check | Eligible British or Irish passport or passport-card holders | Use a registered right to work digital verification provider; retain the output and complete employer checks |
For the online method, use the Home Office share code service. Codes start with W and last 90 calendar days; codes beginning R or S serve other purposes. British and Irish passports can be digitally verified up to six months after expiry where permitted and technically supported. Retain prescribed evidence for the engagement and two years afterwards, then destroy it securely.
If immigration permission is time-limited, arrange a follow-up before the statutory excuse expires, subject to rules for outstanding applications and Employer Checking Service verification. Settled status or indefinite leave to remain ordinarily provides continuous permission. Someone with time-limited leave under the long residence route may require further checks, depending on their recorded expiry date. A person claiming the right of abode must demonstrate it through an approved checking method. Keep the actual expiry date, not an assumed visa duration, in your monitoring system. If online results include restrictions on occupations, hours or employers, compare those restrictions with the proposed work before allowing an engagement to begin.
Extended liability if you sit in a chain
Extended liability can arise when a contractor promises to deliver services to another business and engages another employer to supply the people doing the work. It also applies to relevant online matching services and certain agreements allowing individuals to send substitutes. Section 15A can treat a party further up a chain as employing an individual even without a direct contract with that worker.
This does not make every customer of a service company liable. A retailer purchasing cleaning for its own premises or a manufacturer receiving agency workers for its own operations normally falls outside the relevant upstream arrangements. The employment business remains responsible for direct checks. A construction contractor passing work down a chain to fulfil its own contract with a client, however, may face extended liability.
Normally, the direct engager performs the worker check. An upstream organisation seeking protection against extended liability must implement the prescribed contractual safeguards before work starts and retain evidence that they operate effectively in practice. Where a subcontractor appoints another supplier, keep evidence of required consent and that equivalent checking obligations were passed further along the contractual chain.
| Requirement | What it means |
|---|---|
| Written statement | Require prescribed checks, prior written consent for further subcontracting, equivalent duties down the chain, audit rights, cooperation with investigations and action when illegal working is discovered |
| Substitution controls | Ensure substitutes are checked before starting, control who may arrange them and link the individual working to the person verified |
| Identity verification | Maintain proportionate checks connecting actual workers with verified identities; passes, attendance systems and periodic re-verification may help |
Contract terms by themselves are insufficient. The Home Office considers contractual responsibility, practical controls, compliance evidence and how work is allocated. Identity verification may involve workplace passes or approved facial recognition systems, and the guidance recommends re-verification at least once during any 24-hour period or shift when appropriate. Keep proportionate audit evidence without collecting unnecessary personal information.
What is at risk
Organisations without a statutory excuse may face civil penalties for employing someone illegally. The official figures are up to £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach and £60,000 for a repeat breach within three years. Mitigating factors can affect the final penalty. Knowingly engaging someone without permission, or having reasonable cause to believe they cannot work, can also constitute a criminal offence. The statutory excuse protects against civil penalty liability only where prescribed steps were followed; it does not prevent every regulatory or contractual consequence.
Licensed sponsors have further duties. They must check people employed or treated as employed under the expanded scheme, and verify sponsored workers even where the engagement structure differs. Illegal working findings can threaten the sponsor licence. Appendix D sets out sponsorship record-keeping obligations. Business owners planning self-sponsorship should review these risks; our self-sponsorship route explained guide discusses how sponsor licensing interacts with the worker’s permission to work. Contracting out payroll administration does not automatically remove the organisation’s own legal duties.
Avoid discrimination while you do this
Apply consistent checks to everyone within a relevant category, including British and Irish citizens. Do not select individuals based on names, ethnicity, accents or appearance, or insist on digital checks where a lawful alternative is available. Discriminatory recruitment practices can lead to Employment Tribunal claims, potentially with uncapped compensation. Train recruiters and purchasing staff in both compliance and fair treatment.
A practical checklist for businesses using contractors
- List employees, agency workers, individual contractors, subcontracted teams, platform arrangements and permitted substitutes.
- Identify who directly contracts with each individual and whether a genuine independent business supplies the service.
- Complete prescribed checks before relevant new engagements begin, keeping evidence for the engagement and two further years.
- Schedule follow-up checks where permission is time-limited and note any verification notice expiry dates.
- Where extended liability may apply, include required written statements in supplier agreements before work starts.
- Control substitution and ensure any replacement’s permission is verified before they undertake the work.
- Record proportionate steps confirming the actual worker is the person whose permission was checked.
- Train managers and contract administrators; audit implementation, not just signed documents.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to check an agency worker supplied to my business?
Usually not if an employment business directly engages the worker and supplies them for your own operations. That business is responsible for the prescribed check. Extended liability generally does not arise merely because you use agency staff internally, although contractual assurance and sensible site identity controls may still be appropriate. Different supply chains require assessment.
Do I need to check a contractor who works through their own limited company?
Not automatically. A genuine company delivering services directly to you as its customer can fall outside the scheme’s extended definition of employment. However, merely routing payments through a personal service company does not settle matters. Examine the real arrangement, particularly personal service, intermediaries and whether the individual is engaged to fulfil work supplied onwards.
Can I check a contractor’s documents by video call or from a scan?
A manual check by live video is permitted if you physically possess the original acceptable documents and inspect them while speaking to the holder. Ordinary scans and screenshots do not replace originals, except where the guidance expressly accepts digital evidence of a name and National Insurance number. Use the official online service for eVisa holders.
Which share codes can I accept?
A Home Office right to work share code must begin with W. Codes starting with R or S are for other purposes and do not establish a statutory excuse. If the code has expired or was generated for the wrong service, request a fresh W code and perform the official check.
Get your contractor arrangements checked before you rely on them
The difficult cases involve contractors who appear independent but rely on one organisation for assignments, or arrangements where several businesses stand between the person performing the work and the ultimate customer. If you need a review of current engagements, supplier contracts or practical checking procedures, speak to Hedgley Immigration. The team can also advise on work sponsorship if you hold or plan to obtain a licence. Call Sean on 07704 909490 or Lydia on 07587 145994 to discuss the arrangements and the relevant legal requirements.