Compliance | How HR can manage the new Right to Work regime

Right to work checks used to be a relatively self-contained job for HR. Someone joins payroll, their documents are checked, a copy is made for safekeeping, and they begin work.

Under the latest update to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025, the Right to Work checks now apply to workers, individual subcontractors, and even some online matching platforms.

The only exception is those who are genuinely self-employed, but the answer to 'who counts as self-employed' is far from a fait accompli, and when getting it wrong carries a £45,000 penalty for the first offence - then £60,000 for every subsequent offence - it is a potentially massive headache for HR, legal, and everyone in between.

Enhanced risk profile

"The Home Office has made clear that it will look at how the arrangement works in practice, not what the contract calls it," said Denise Osterwald, Legal Director in the immigration team at Birketts LLP. "Labels such as 'self-employed' or 'consultant' will carry little weight if the reality points the other way."