Updated for 1 October 2026
Right to work checks now cover subcontractors.
The rules changed on 1 October 2026. If you take on self-employed people, this is probably your problem now.
There is a free tool for this.
It walks you through the check, including the share code step, and gives you a dated, signed PDF record with the ID copy attached. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
What changed.
Right to work checks used to be an employee thing. From 1 October 2026 they reach further: to workers, to individual subcontractors, and to people taken on through online platforms.
So if you engage a self-employed bricklayer, electrician or labourer personally, you can now be treated as their employer for this purpose, and you need to carry out a proper check before they start.
Calling someone self-employed does not get you out of it.
The Home Office looks at how the work is actually arranged, not what the contract calls the person. Freelancer, contractor, consultant, self-employed — none of those labels decide it on their own, and working through a personal service company does not automatically put someone outside the rules either.
CIS verification is not a right to work check.
This is the one that catches people. Verifying a subcontractor with HMRC tells you whether to deduct 0%, 20% or 30%. It tells you nothing about their right to work and gives you no protection at all.
They are two separate jobs. You may now need to do both on the same person.
It can reach up the chain.
If you sit above a subcontractor who supplies the people, you may carry obligations of your own. You will not usually have to repeat every check yourself, but your contract has to carry the right clauses — checks on everyone doing the work, no further subcontracting without consent, the right to audit, the right to remove people, and cooperation with the Home Office.
And the clause has to be real. They will look at whether you actually ran the system, not whether you had the wording.
If substitutes are allowed, that is a hole.
A contract that lets someone send a substitute means the substitute needs their own check before they do any work. “My cousin is covering me today” is not something you can wave through, and you cannot push the responsibility onto the subcontractor.
What it costs to get wrong.
Up to £45,000 per worker for a first breach and £60,000 for a repeat. Knowingly employing someone with no right to work is a criminal matter, with consequences that run to director disqualification and closure.
What you should do.
Check where you stand on anyone you have taken on since 1 October, and on anyone you are about to. Engagements that started before then are not automatically dragged in, but renewals and variations can create a new arrangement, so look at those properly.
Then get the paperwork right, and keep it. The check only protects you if you did it before the work started and kept a clear copy.
Common questions.
Does this apply to someone invoicing through their own limited company?
It depends on the substance. Where a company supplies its own employees, that company normally carries the check — but if you are really engaging one named person through their company, it can still be on you, and you may have obligations up the chain either way. Worth a conversation rather than an assumption.
Do I need to redo everyone I have ever used?
No. The expanded penalty regime applies to engagements starting on or after 1 October 2026. Look at when each engagement started, and treat renewals and variations with care — they can create a new arrangement.
How do I actually check someone?
Three accepted routes: a manual document check, the Home Office online check using a share code the worker generates, or a registered digital identity provider. British and Irish citizens cannot use the share code route, so for them it is the document check.
How long do I keep the records?
For the whole engagement and two years after it ends, in a form that cannot be altered — a PDF or a scan is fine. Then destroy them securely.
Where we stand.
This is a plain summary of a change in the law, written to be useful rather than complete. It is not legal or immigration advice, and your own position may turn on facts this page does not know. Roseworth is not regulated to give immigration advice; where that is what you need, we will say so and point you to someone who is.