Do I Need to Check My Subcontractors' Right to Work? The New Rule From 1 October 2026

Until now, right to work checks were something you did for employees. From 1 October 2026, section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 stretches the same rules to people on worker's contracts, individual subcontractors and online platforms that match workers to customers.

In plain words: if a sole trader comes onto your job to do part of the work you have been paid to deliver, you now need the same proof that they can legally work in the UK as you would for someone on your payroll.

It catches a builder using a self-employed plasterer, a firm using freelance cleaners or drivers, and any app or platform that matches individuals to customers, including substitutes who take a job in someone else's place.

It does not catch a homeowner hiring a tradesperson for their own home. The Home Office's own draft guide says a self-employed plumber with lots of their own customers does not need a check. Someone you hire through their own limited company does not need one either, and nor does an ordinary business service like a window cleaner for your office.

The rule only bites on work that starts on or after 1 October 2026. A new job or a new contract with someone you have used for years counts as new.

The civil penalty is up to £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach and up to £60,000 per worker for a repeat breach within three years. For a small firm that is the business gone.

There is a sting further up the chain too. If your subcontractor cannot be found, or you did not put the right protections in your contracts, the fine can land on you as the main contractor.

Most people use the free online check. The subcontractor gets a nine character share code from gov.uk, starting with W, and gives it to you with their date of birth. You enter both on the gov.uk right to work checking service and save the result page.

You can also check original documents from the Home Office's List A or List B, in person or on a live video call, and keep a clear copy. British and Irish passport holders can be checked that way or through a certified digital ID provider.

Whichever way you do it, do it before they start work. A check done after the first day does not protect you.

Keep a copy of the document or the online result and the date you did the check. Keep it for the whole time they work for you, plus two years, then destroy it securely.

If someone's permission to work runs out on a set date, check them again before it expires. Missing that follow up check is the easiest way to get caught out.

If the person on site is contracted to one of your subcontractors rather than to you, they must do the check. To stop a fine moving up to you, the draft Home Office code says your contracts should require checks, ban further subcontracting without your written consent, let you audit their records, and control substitutes. Keep evidence that you did all of this.

Every firm is set up a bit differently, so we built a free 30 second checker. Answer four questions and it tells you whether the rule applies to you and exactly what to do next. It is general information based on the Home Office draft guidance, not legal advice.