IN Brief:
- Right-to-work checks will be extended from 1 October to cover individual subcontractors and workers’ contracts.
- Construction has been identified as a high-risk sector for Home Office compliance activity.
- Businesses could face civil penalties of up to £60,000 per worker for non-compliance.
The Home Office has confirmed that right-to-work checks will be extended from 1 October to cover businesses engaging individual subcontractors, workers’ contracts, and labour arrangements beyond traditional employment.
The changes widen compliance duties for companies using zero-hours workers, agency staff, gig workers, and individual subcontractors. They also extend civil penalty liability up contractual chains, leaving businesses exposed where work is contracted through third parties.
Construction has been singled out as a high-risk sector. The industry’s heavy use of self-employment, labour-only subcontracting, agency labour, and multi-tier delivery chains means the new regime will affect site access, onboarding, labour supply, and compliance administration from the first day it takes effect.
Businesses that fail to carry out valid right-to-work checks can face civil penalties of up to £60,000 per worker. In serious cases, sanctions can escalate to criminal conviction, imprisonment, and unlimited fines.
The change places a new burden on contractors and subcontractors that have historically treated right-to-work compliance as an employment issue rather than a wider labour-engagement requirement. Many companies already carry out identity checks or access-control checks, but those processes may not provide a statutory excuse if they do not meet Home Office requirements.
Scale is the practical difficulty. A subcontract-heavy project can involve dozens of businesses and hundreds of operatives moving through site over a short period. Workers may change employers, switch packages, move between clients, or return after gaps in work. The administrative burden will fall across main contractors, subcontractors, labour agencies, payroll providers, and digital verification providers.
The new regime also lands in a labour market that is already stretched. CITB has forecast that the UK will need an average of 41,200 additional workers each year between 2026 and 2030, equivalent to around 206,000 over five years. That five-year workforce forecast places labour availability at the centre of the sector’s medium-term delivery challenge, particularly as housing, infrastructure, and public-sector work are expected to strengthen.
Compliance therefore has to be designed around live-site reality. A process that is legally correct but too slow can delay mobilisation, reduce productivity, and create friction at the point where projects need labour most. A process that is fast but incomplete can leave businesses exposed to enforcement action.
Digital verification is likely to become more prominent, although companies will need to understand its limits. Government guidance indicates that checks must be carried out through certified and registered digital verification service providers where required. Right-to-work compliance is not simply a technology purchase, however. Businesses must also define who is responsible for the check, when it is performed, how repeat checks are handled, and how evidence is retained.
Contractual arrangements will need attention. Main contractors may look to strengthen subcontract terms, require evidence of compliant checks, and audit labour supply chains more closely. Subcontractors may need to build right-to-work processes into their own onboarding and site mobilisation procedures. Labour agencies and payroll intermediaries are likely to face closer scrutiny where they sit between the company controlling the work and the individual providing labour.
Existing site-access systems may not be sufficient. CSCS card checks, biometric access systems, passport copies, or payroll documents may support broader control, but they do not automatically equal a compliant right-to-work check. That distinction will be tested if an enforcement case examines whether a business can rely on a statutory excuse.
The construction industry has several months to prepare before the 1 October start date. Companies that map their labour routes now, identify where checks are already being done, test whether those checks are legally valid, and remove ambiguity from subcontractor responsibilities will be better placed when the regime begins.
Right-to-work compliance is moving beyond HR and into delivery control. On projects with complex subcontract chains, the process will need to sit alongside induction, access, payroll, commercial records, and package management rather than operating as a disconnected administrative check.
