Right to work checks are changing: what schools and colleges need to know

The way employers carry out checks will stay the same. However, checks will no longer be limited to employees. Instead, the rules will apply to a much wider range of working arrangements.  

What are the current rules?

Currently, employers can protect themselves against a civil penalty for illegal working by carrying out a prescribed right to work check before an employee starts work. If the employer completes the check correctly and keeps the required records, they may establish what is known as a ‘statutory excuse’. This means that if it later emerges that the individual did not have permission to work in the UK, the employer may avoid a civil penalty. 

At present, the duty to carry out a right to work check applies only to employees and there are three ways to carry out the check:  

1. A manual document check: using original documents from the prescribed lists
2. A Home Office online check: where the person’s immigration status allows this method
3. Digital identity verification: where a British or Irish passport holder uses an identify service provider registered under the relevant framework

These methods will remain available after 1 October 2026. 

What changes on 1 October 2026?

Section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 inserts two new provisions into the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. 

The reforms do two things: 

1. Expand the definition of ‘employer’ so that right to work checks apply to a much broader range of working arrangements; and
2. Introduce extended liability in supply-chain arrangements 

From 1 October 2026, a right to work check may be required where you: 

• Employ someone under a contract of employment
• Engage someone under a worker’s contract to provide personal service 
• Contract directly with an individual subcontractor, or
• Provide or use an online matching service through which individuals offer or obtain work

As a result, the new rules will capture a range of arrangements that have previously fallen outside the right to work regime, including casual workers, bank staff, ad hoc shift workers, individual subcontractors, freelancers engaged to provide personal service, consultants and people engaged through an online platform. 

It is also important to note that the definition of ‘worker’ for right to work purposes is broader than the employment law definition used in other contexts.  

Schools and colleges often engage individuals who are not employees. The following example shows how an arrangement that currently falls outside the right to work regime could be caught by the new rules: 

You engage a self-employed sports coach to run after-school football sessions each week. Under the current rules, you would not normally need to carry out a right to work check because the coach is not an employee. From 1 October 2026, the arrangement is likely to fall within the expanded regime if the coach is providing the service personally, meaning a right to work check may be required. 

Will the new rules apply retrospectively?

No. The changes will generally apply only to arrangements entered into on or after 1 October 2026. 

However, you should pay close attention to renewals, extensions and repeat engagements. If an arrangement ends and is renewed or extended after 1 October 2026, this may constitute a new contractual arrangement and bring it within the scope of the new rules. 

What is extended liability? 

In some circumstances, liability may extend up a supply-chain. This means that where you contract with a service provider, and that provider uses its own workers or subcontractors to deliver the service, your school or college could face consequences arising from failures lower down the chain. 

The direct employer remains responsible for carrying out the right to work check. The reforms do not transfer that duty to the school or college receiving the service. However, the introduction of extended liability means that you can no longer assume that right to work compliance is solely a matter for your contractors. Greater oversight and assurance of supply-chain compliance will become increasingly important. 

For example, you may outsource your catering services to an external provider, which in turn uses agency workers and subcontractors to staff the kitchen. Although you are not responsible for carrying out the right to work checks, you may still face liability if those checks are not completed properly elsewhere in the supply chain. 

What should schools and colleges do?

Right to work checks will no longer be simply an employee onboarding issue. You should review all working arrangements that could fall within the expanded regime. 

In particular, you should: 

• Map non-employee working arrangements across your school or college
• Identify casual workers, bank staff, individual contractors and consultants who provide personal service
• Review agency and outsourced service arrangements
• Identify contracts that allow substitution or involve subcontracting
• Decide who carries out checks and how you obtain assurance from supply chains
• Update contractual terms, procurement documents and onboarding processes
• Establish controls for renewals, extensions and new call-offs
• Check that written procedures match what happens in practice

For more information about how we can support you to prepare for these changes please contact Hugo Bittencourt de Oliveira. 

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