Following the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025, right to work checks are set to be broadened from just employees to encompass employment “and other working arrangements”. The government consultation on how this major expansion should apply ended last year and it is due to take effect no later than 2026 – 2027. In a matter of months, we expect to find out who will be governed by the new right to work code and how. Right to work checks protect employers from hefty civil penalties for non-compliance (up to £60,000 per illegal worker) and we expect this will be another major expansion of outsourcing immigration enforcement to businesses.
“There are whole sectors where businesses can engage workers without the legal responsibility to complete a right to work check, for example agency workers and casual contract arrangements in the gig economy,” explained Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum Alex Norris.
The backdrop to this massive expansion of red tape for employers is a ramping up of Home Office enforcement action. The number of UK employers losing their licence to sponsor migrant workers tripled at the end of 2025 to the highest since records began in 2012. This accompanies increased data-sharing between UK Visas and Immigration and other bodies such as HMRC, as well as a large increase in illegal working visits and arrests.
Employers with sponsor licences now have an early preview of how onerous and confusing an expanded right to work check regime may be as new sponsor guidance changes in March and April have greatly expanded right to work duties for organisations licenced to sponsor migrant workers. The stakes are high as non-compliance can mean losing a licence to sponsor migrant workers – an unenviable situation for an employer and their sponsored workers.
Who comes under the scope of sponsors’ new right to work checks?
Sponsors must now check the right to work of any worker they wish to employ or sponsor, including workers who are not a direct employee, whether sponsored or not. As well as employees, this now includes any worker sponsors “directly engage”. What’s more, elsewhere the guidance says that the government can now revoke a sponsor licence where a sponsor is “employing or engaging” a worker (whether sponsored or not) who does not have the right to work or is working in breach of the conditions of their permission. Worryingly, the word “directly” does not appear with the word “engage” in the guidance on when sponsors would normally lose their licence.
We have written to the Home Office for more clarity on this wording that is currently inconsistent across sections of its guidance for sponsoring employers.
How should sponsors protect themselves?
Until we receive more clarity, to protect themselves from a licence revocation, sponsors should now check the status of all self-employed, zero-hour and directly engaged contractors or secondees. Where sponsors are engaging self-employed workers there is limited scope to protect against the loss of their licence if a self-employed worker is found not to have the right to work.
This is a significant change for sponsors, some of whom will be engaging many contractors to whom this may apply. Most will not have been carrying out right to work checks on self-employed workers and will be unaware of their status as hitherto it has not been a requirement. Sponsors may want to seek legal advice on how best to protect themselves and audit their right to work processes accordingly.
Get advice on your right to work obligations
If you hold a sponsor licence, now is the time to audit your right to work processes and ensure contractors and self-employed workers are covered. The stakes are high, non-compliance can mean losing your licence to sponsor migrant workers entirely. Clive Dobbin and our Employment team work closely with immigration law specialists to provide joined-up advice for sponsoring employers. To discuss your position, contact our Employment team here.
Clive Dobbin, Partner, Employment Team, Paris Smith
In conjunction with Vanessa Ganguin, Managing Partner, Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law
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