The Home Office has laid before Parliament a statement of changes to the UK Immigration Rules, confirming significant changes to how employers and organisations recruit and engage non-UK nationals lawfully from October 2026. A draft updated Code of Practice on Preventing Illegal Working has also been published.
The changes are introduced by the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025, with some coming into effect from 1 October 2026.
From 1 October, the expansion of the right to work regime goes beyond traditional employers hiring under contracts of employment. It also covers certain organisations operating through labour supply chains, subcontracting arrangements, consultancy models, gig economy arrangements and online platforms.
The draft Code says that obligations will apply to:
- Organisations directly engaging individuals under contracts of employment, worker contracts, or as individual subcontractors.
- Businesses that have a contract to provide work or services to a third party and enter into a contract with another employer who employs the workers to carry out all or part of the work or services required to fulfil that contract.
- Businesses engaging an individual to provide work or services where that contract permits the individual to substitute their work or services to be carried out by another person in their place.
- Operators of online matching platforms that connect workers with clients or customers.
The changes do not cover individuals who are genuinely self-employed, operating in business on their own account, trading in their own name or as part of their own business, who contract directly with clients or customers for the provision of work or services.
The changes also do not extend the end-user’s liability to agency workers. They will remain the responsibility of the agency, which must carry out the required right to work checks.
Employers and organisations using contractors, subcontractors, labour supply arrangements or other non-traditional working models should review their current arrangements to understand whether the expanded right to work requirements apply to them.
