The latest changes to right-to-work requirements came into force on 1 October 2026, expanding the responsibilities businesses have when checking whether individuals are legally entitled to work in the UK.
For recruitment agencies, this is an important compliance change.
The rules now reach beyond traditional employees and cover a broader range of working arrangements, making it more important than ever for agencies to understand who they are engaging, who is responsible for carrying out checks and what is happening throughout their supply chain.
With the changes now in effect, recruitment businesses should be asking one simple question:
Do we have everything in place?
What changed on 1 October?
Right-to-work requirements have traditionally been closely associated with employees working under standard employment contracts.
From 1 October 2026, the Right to Work Scheme has been extended to a broader range of working arrangements, including people engaged under worker contracts and individual subcontractors, alongside certain online matching services.
For recruitment businesses operating across temporary, contract and other flexible workforce models, that makes it essential to understand how each individual is engaged rather than assuming they fall outside the requirements because they aren’t a conventional employee.
Why is this particularly important for recruitment agencies?
Recruitment supply chains can be complex.
An individual may be sourced by an agency, supplied to an end client and paid or employed through another organisation. There may also be payroll providers, umbrella companies, subcontractors and other third parties involved.
The changes mean agencies need greater visibility over these relationships.
Potential civil penalty liability can also extend through contractual chains in certain circumstances, making it increasingly risky to simply assume that someone else has completed the necessary checks.
Agencies should understand:
- Who is responsible for completing the right-to-work check?
- Which individuals and engagement models are covered?
- How is the check completed?
- Who confirms the identity of the individual?
- Where is the evidence stored?
- Are follow-up checks required?
- What controls are in place across third-party suppliers?
If you cannot confidently answer these questions, now is the time to review your processes.
The cost of getting it wrong
Right-to-work compliance isn’t an area recruitment businesses can afford to overlook.
Where the relevant requirements apply, failure to carry out the prescribed checks can result in a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker.
For an agency supplying large numbers of temporary or contract workers, the potential exposure can quickly become significant.
But the risk goes beyond the financial penalty.
Compliance failures can damage client relationships, affect an agency’s reputation and raise wider concerns about the controls being applied throughout its supply chain.
Your post-1 October right-to-work checklist
Now the changes are in force, recruitment agencies should use the opportunity to carry out a compliance health check.
1. Have you reviewed every worker category?
Don’t only look at PAYE employees.
Review all the different ways people work through your business, including agency workers, temporary workers, zero-hours arrangements, individual subcontractors and other flexible engagement models.
Make sure you understand which requirements apply to each.
2. Have you mapped responsibility across your supply chain?
If another organisation is involved in employing, paying or engaging workers, establish exactly who is responsible for what.
Avoid relying on assumptions.
Your agency should understand where right-to-work checks happen, how they are completed and what evidence exists to demonstrate compliance.
3. Have your contracts been reviewed?
Your contracts should accurately reflect the responsibilities of each party.
This is particularly important where clients, payroll providers, umbrella companies, subcontractors or other third parties are involved.
Where responsibilities are unclear, consider obtaining specialist legal advice.
4. Are you keeping the right evidence?
Completing a check is only useful from a compliance perspective if you can demonstrate that the prescribed process was followed.
Review where right-to-work records are stored, who has access to them and how easily they can be retrieved if required.
Evidence generally needs to be retained throughout the individual’s employment or engagement and for at least two years afterwards.
5. Are you checking the person as well as the documents?
Right-to-work compliance isn’t simply about obtaining documentation or completing an online check.
Agencies also need appropriate controls to confirm that the individual carrying out the work is the person whose right to work has been verified.
This is particularly important where workers are onboarded remotely or supplied at volume.
6. Does your team understand the changes?
Anyone involved in recruitment, onboarding, compliance, payroll or worker management should understand the requirements relevant to their role.
Make sure your team knows what checks are required, what evidence needs to be retained, when follow-up checks may be necessary and when something needs to be escalated.
7. Have you checked your compliance partners?
Using a third party to support part of your process shouldn’t mean losing visibility.
Understand what checks your providers carry out, how they carry them out and what evidence is available.
It may also be worth reviewing your suppliers periodically rather than treating compliance as a one-off exercise.
Don’t forget follow-up checks
Not everyone has an unlimited right to work in the UK.
Where an individual’s permission is time-limited, agencies need processes that identify when a follow-up check may be required.
That means having reliable systems in place to record expiry dates, flag upcoming checks and ensure somebody has clear responsibility for completing them.
A strong onboarding process is important – but ongoing compliance matters too.
Right-to-work is increasingly a supply-chain responsibility
One of the most important lessons for recruitment businesses is that compliance cannot be viewed as an isolated onboarding exercise.
Modern recruitment can involve multiple organisations and several different employment and engagement models.
Agencies therefore need visibility across the entire process.
Who sourced the worker? Who engages them? Who pays them? Who checked their right to work? Who verified their identity? Who holds the evidence? And who is responsible if something goes wrong?
The more complex the supply chain becomes, the more important those questions are.
Have you got everything in place?
The 1 October deadline has now passed.
For recruitment businesses, the priority should be making sure their processes reflect the new requirements – and identifying any gaps before they become a problem.
Review your worker categories. Map your supply chain. Check your contracts. Audit your records. Train your teams. And make sure you understand exactly what your third-party providers are doing on your behalf.
Most importantly, don’t assume somebody else has it covered.
In an increasingly complex recruitment supply chain, visibility, clear responsibility and robust processes are key to protecting your agency, your clients and your workers.
Right-to-work changes: FAQs for recruitment agencies
What changed on 1 October 2026?
The Right to Work Scheme was expanded to cover a broader range of working arrangements beyond traditional employment, including people engaged under worker contracts and individual subcontractors, as well as certain online matching services.
Do recruitment agencies need to review their processes?
Yes. Recruitment businesses should review their operating models and contractual arrangements against the latest Home Office guidance to establish what responsibilities apply to them.
Can an agency rely on another company completing the check?
Agencies should not simply assume another organisation has satisfied all relevant requirements. Where third parties are involved, agencies should understand who is responsible, what checks are carried out and how compliance can be evidenced.
What is the maximum civil penalty?
Businesses can face a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker where the relevant requirements apply and the business has failed to establish the appropriate statutory excuse.
Do agencies need to keep evidence of right-to-work checks?
Yes. Appropriate evidence should be retained in accordance with the relevant Home Office requirements so the business can demonstrate that the prescribed check was completed.
Should agencies audit their suppliers?
Where other organisations play a role in worker engagement or compliance, reviewing their processes can help agencies understand and manage supply-chain risk.
Where can agencies check the latest requirements?
Recruitment businesses should refer to the latest Home Office right-to-work guidance and seek specialist legal advice where there is uncertainty about how the rules apply to their particular operating model.
This article is intended for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Recruitment businesses should refer to the latest Home Office guidance and obtain professional advice appropriate to their individual circumstances and operating model.
