On 30th June 2026 the Government laid regulations to strengthen the Right to Work and Right to Rent Schemes, alongside updated statutory codes of practice for employers and landlords. These measures implement provisions in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 and will come into force in October 2026, in line with the common commencement date for businesses.
The Immigration (Restrictions on Employment and Residential Accommodation) (Prescribed Requirements and Codes of Practice) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 were laid before Parliament on 30th June 2026.
Under this government’s Plan for Change the government is determined to clamp down on illegal working. Immigration Enforcement teams are intensifying their activities. There has been a 63% increase in illegal working arrests (8,000) and 51% increase in raids (11,000) in the last year (October 2024 to September 2025), with over 1,050 migrants encountered on raids returned or deported.
Right to work checks requirement expanded as of 1st October 2026
The reforms introduce, for the first time, an extension of the Right to Work Scheme and the associated civil penalties for non-compliance, to cover companies who contract workers or individual sub-contractors to provide services under their company name, such as agency workers or workers in the gig economy (zero hours contracts, agency workers, casual workers, self employed contractors, individual subcontractors).
This means that for the first time, the requirement to carry out right to work checks will be extended to cover businesses hiring ‘gig economy’ and zero-hours workers in sectors like construction, food delivery, beauty salons, courier services and warehousing.
Furthermore, the regulations strengthen the framework for digital identity verification. They introduce updated requirements for the use of digital verification service providers (DVSPs) mandating that when choosing to use digital verification for a right to work or right to rent check, that it must be carried out using government registered providers. Digital verification services are central to delivering secure, efficient and reliable checks under both Schemes.
Steps businesses should take before October 2026
Certainly first thing to do is for businesses to take the right to work checks as one of their priorities. The government’s focus is on preventing illegal workers and penalties and other consequences for non compliance are severe for the businesses. Businesses engaging employees and workers have a key role to play in preventing illegal working in the UK. The government published Draft Code of Practice on Preventing Illegal Working, which businesses must carefully read and implement in their right to work check procedures.
This code of practice sets out the prescribed checks that employers should conduct to avoid a civil penalty in the event of illegal working and the factors that the Home Office takes into account when determining the amount of any penalty issued.
Owners, managers and HR teams need to carefully review their staff arrangements to ensure that all additional worker categories are included in their right to work checks procedures before the 1st October 2026 deadline.
Businesses may find it useful to seek professional legal support in reviewing the recruitment processes and procedures.