Until last week, right to work checks were an employee problem. If someone was on your payroll, you checked their documents before day one. If they invoiced you as a contractor, most small businesses assumed the checks were somebody else’s job.
That assumption stopped working on 1st October 2026. The right to work scheme now reaches beyond employees, and the fines that come with it have followed. If you use self-employed chefs, freelance bar staff, cleaners, labourers or anyone else who invoices you rather than sits on your payroll, this one is for you.
What changed on 1st October 2026?
From 1st October 2026, the duty to prevent illegal working covers a much wider group of people. Alongside employees, it now applies to:
- workers engaged on a worker’s contract (including many casual and zero hours arrangements)
- individual sub-contractors who personally carry out the work
- people found and engaged through online matching platforms and apps
- labour supplied through chains of contracts, where liability can now travel up the chain
The change applies to engagements that start on or after 1st October 2026. Existing contractors engaged before that date are not caught retrospectively, but anyone new from now on is.
Do I need to do a right to work check on a self-employed contractor?
Sometimes, and the label on the contract does not decide it.
Someone who is genuinely self-employed, running their own business, trading in their own name and contracting directly with a range of clients, is outside the scheme. The Home Office gives the example of a plumber who runs their own business and takes work from multiple customers. You do not need to check them.
An individual who personally does the work for you, is engaged directly by you, and is in reality part of how your business runs is a different matter. Calling them a “contractor”, a “freelancer” or “self-employed” will not take them out of scope if the reality says otherwise.
A useful way to think about it:
- Probably out of scope: a business you buy a service from, which sends its own people (for example, a cleaning company that employs its cleaners). The cleaning company does the checks on its own staff.
- Probably in scope: an individual self-employed cleaner, chef or labourer you engage directly to personally do the work.
- Needs a closer look: contractors using a personal service company, workers sourced through an app, and anyone whose contract lets them send a substitute.
What happens if a contractor sends a substitute?
This is the trap we expect to catch the most small businesses. If a contract allows the person to send someone else in their place, you only keep your protection if the substitute’s right to work is checked before they start work. The person who turns up on Saturday has to be the person whose documents you have checked.
How much are the fines?
The civil penalties have not changed, but they now apply to far more people:
- up to £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach
- up to £60,000 per illegal worker for a repeat breach
For a café, a building firm or a small hospitality group, two or three unchecked contractors could cost more than a year’s profit.
How do I protect my business?
Your protection is called a statutory excuse. You get it by carrying out a prescribed right to work check, in the right way, before the work starts, and keeping a dated copy. If you have done that and the person later turns out not to have the right to work, you will not be fined.
Two points worth knowing. First, you cannot simply rely on a check someone else has done, such as a recruitment agency, to give you your own statutory excuse. Second, if you use a digital checking service, it must be a certified Right to Work Digital Verification Service Provider.
What should small businesses do now?
- List everyone who works for you and is not an employee. Casual workers, freelancers, sub-contractors, agency staff and anyone found through an app.
- Sort them into groups. Genuine independent businesses (out of scope), individuals personally doing the work (in scope) and the grey areas.
- Build the check into onboarding for everyone in scope. Before day one, every time, with a dated copy kept.
- Look at your contracts. Check substitution clauses, and make sure supplier contracts say who is responsible for right to work checks on their staff.
- Brief whoever books the cover. In most small businesses the risk sits with the supervisor who rings a freelancer on a Friday night, not with the owner.
Our view
This is not a reason to stop using contractors. Flexible labour is how most small hospitality, retail and construction businesses survive. It is a reason to stop treating contractors as an admin blind spot. A five minute check before someone starts is a lot cheaper than a £45,000 letter from the Home Office.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do right to work checks apply to contractors from October 2026?
Yes, in many cases. From 1st October 2026 the scheme covers workers, individual sub-contractors and people engaged through online platforms, as well as employees. Genuinely self-employed people running their own independent business are still outside it.
Do sole traders need a right to work check?
Potentially. A sole trader running a genuine business with several customers is likely to be out of scope. A sole trader engaged directly to personally do work for you, in a way that looks more like a worker, is likely to be in scope.
Do I need to check contractors I engaged before 1st October 2026?
The expanded rules apply to engagements that start on or after 1st October 2026. It is still sensible to review long-standing arrangements, particularly where a new contract or a substitute is involved.
Can I rely on my agency’s right to work check?
Where an employment business supplies a temporary worker, the agency is responsible for the check. Where you engage the individual yourself, you need your own statutory excuse and cannot hand that responsibility to someone else.
What is the fine for not doing a right to work check?
Up to £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach and up to £60,000 per worker for a repeat breach.
Not sure which of your contractors are now in scope? Book a 30 minute call with Dan and we will go through your list with you, or join the Beagle HR Club for ongoing support.
This article is general guidance for employers and is not legal advice.
