Right-to-Work Compliance Is Changing: What Businesses Need to Know Before October 2026
A Significant Shift Is Coming
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 (Commencement No. 4) Regulations 2026 have brought section 48 of that Act into focus, with a commencement date of 1 October 2026. For businesses and HR teams, this is one of the most significant developments in right to work compliance in recent years, and the window to prepare is shorter than it may appear.
What Section 48 Actually Does
At its core, section 48 extends the statutory right to work framework beyond the traditional direct-employment model. Until now, the right to work regime has largely operated on a straightforward basis: an employer hires a worker, checks their documents, and retains a statutory excuse against a civil penalty if the worker is found to be working illegally.
Section 48 disrupts that model. It broadens right to work obligations to cover non-traditional working arrangements, meaning the compliance question is no longer simply:
“Who is on our payroll?”
It becomes:
“Who is directing, supplying, or benefiting from the work, and who is expected to hold the statutory excuse?”
Who Is Affected?
Any organisation that engages workers through arrangements other than direct employment should be paying close attention. This includes businesses that use:
- Agency staff supplied through a labour provider or staffing agency
- Contractors or self-employed individuals engaged on a project basis
- Freelancers brought in for specific assignments
- Other non-standard working arrangements, such as umbrella company workers or platform-based engagements
If your organisation has historically relied on a third party, such as a recruitment agency or labour provider, to carry out right to work checks upstream, you will need to revisit where legal responsibility actually sits once section 48 is in force.
What We Are Still Waiting For
The critical missing piece at this stage is the detailed Home Office operational guidance, which is expected to clarify:
- Precisely how the new duty operates in practice
- Whether the existing Lists A and B documents will need corresponding amendment
- How responsibility will be apportioned between hirers and labour suppliers in multi-party arrangements
Businesses should not, however, treat the absence of that guidance as a reason to delay preparation. The structural shift that section 48 represents is already clear from the legislation itself, and the organisations best placed to comply will be those that have mapped their exposure and reviewed their processes before the guidance lands, not after.
The Compliance Risk Is Real
Civil penalties for employing someone without the right to work in the UK are currently up to £60,000 per illegal worker. Section 48 will widen the pool of organisations that can be held liable, and enforcement activity in this area has been increasing year on year.
Beyond the financial penalty, a civil penalty notice carries reputational consequences and can affect an organisation’s ability to hold a sponsor licence, a consideration of particular importance for businesses that rely on sponsoring overseas workers.
What Businesses Should Do Now
There are practical steps organisations can take before October 2026, regardless of when the Home Office guidance is published:
- Map your workforce arrangements. Identify every category of worker engaged by your organisation, including those not directly on payroll, and document how each relationship is structured.
- Identify where right to work checks are currently carried out. For agency and contractor arrangements, establish whether checks are being done by your organisation, the supplier, or both, and whether there is a clear contractual record of that responsibility.
- Review your contracts with labour suppliers. Ensure that responsibility for right to work checks is clearly allocated and that you have audit rights over the checks your suppliers carry out.
- Audit your current documentation. Check that right-to-work records for all workers direct and indirect, are complete, up to date, and stored correctly.
- Stress-test your processes before an enforcement visit does. A mock audit carried out now will identify gaps and give you time to address them before the new obligations take effect.
How Sterling Law Can Help
At Sterling Law, we work with businesses across a range of sectors to review and strengthen their right-to-work compliance processes. Our mock audit service is designed to replicate the approach taken by Home Office compliance officers, identifying weaknesses in your documentation, record-keeping, and responsibility mapping before they become enforcement issues.
With section 48 coming into force on 1 October 2026, now is the right time to act.
To discuss how we can help your organisation prepare, please get in touch:
📧 oksana@sterling-law.co.uk 🌐 www.sterling-law.co.uk
This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. If you have a specific query relating to your organisation’s right-to-work obligations, please contact us directly.
