Rules · UK-EMP-020
Right to work checks now cover workers and individual sub-contractors
From 1 October 2026 the right to work duty and the civil penalty also apply when you engage someone under a worker’s contract or as an individual sub-contractor, not only when you employ them. Online matching services are covered in the same way. For these people a penalty can follow only where the engagement started on or after 1 October 2026.
In sections 15 to 24, a reference to a person employing another person includes a reference to— … a person (“person A”) engaging an individual (“individual A”) under a worker’s contract … a person (“person B”) engaging an individual sub-contractor (“individual B”)
- Rule ID
- UK-EMP-020
- Title
- Right to work checks now cover workers and individual sub-contractors
- Description
- From 1 October 2026 the right to work duty and the civil penalty also apply when you engage someone under a worker’s contract or as an individual sub-contractor, not only when you employ them. Online matching services are covered in the same way. For these people a penalty can follow only where the engagement started on or after 1 October 2026.
- Value
- Applies to engagements starting on or after 1 October 2026
- Applies to
- Anyone who engages a worker or an individual sub-contractor directly. Someone who runs their own business and has you as a customer is not covered; whether that is so depends on how the arrangement works in practice, so take advice if unsure.
- Jurisdiction
- United Kingdom
- Effective date
- 1 October 2026
- Last verified
- 12 October 2026
- Version
- 2026.1
- Source
- legislation.gov.uk
- Source retrieved
- 12 October 2026
- Related rules
- Category
- Compliance
- Status
- Verified
- Note
- The new categories are quoted from section 14A of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, inserted by section 48 of the 2025 Act and in force on 1 October 2026 (S.I. 2026/683). The limit that a penalty applies only where the engagement started on or after 1 October 2026 is in the Home Office Employer’s guide and code of practice of 1 October 2026 (PDFs), not in the Act, and the source check cannot read it.