Right to Work - A Roundup for HR Professionals

Introduction

It is an offence to employ or engage an individual in the UK who does not have the legal right to work here and employers found to be employing anyone illegally may be subject to a civil penalty (or in more serious cases where the employer knowingly employs someone illegally, there may be criminal sanctions). Employers will have a defence against paying the civil penalty (known as a ‘statutory excuse’) if they have complied with the requirements in the Home Office’s guidance on right to work checks, which in situations where there is a direct contractual relationship between the employer and the worker, will involve carrying out a right to work check.

Major changes to the right to work checking regime were announced earlier this year and new rules come into force on 1 October 2026. These changes introduced the new concept of ‘extended liability’, meaning that businesses who sub-contract the delivery of services to a client, or who engage contractors with the right to substitute, may now be liable for civil penalties if a sub-contractor is found to have employed illegal workers. Where an arrangement is caught by the new extended liability provisions, business can establish a ‘statutory excuse’ by complying with certain ‘prescribed requirements’, which include having certain contractual terms in place with their sub-contractors.

This webinar will ensure that those responsible for, or involved in, carrying out right to work checks and/or engaging contractors and sub-contractors understand the latest Home Office requirements and the steps needed to establish a ‘statutory excuse’.

Consideration will be given to how and when to carry out the various different types of right to work checks, the importance of getting them right and the consequences of getting them wrong, as well as an overview of when extended liability applies and how to satisfy the ‘prescribed requirements’. It will include practical advice on how to deal with some of the common tricky issues which can arise and how to make sure staff across the organisation are aligned and up to speed on the latest requirements.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• When a right to work check must be carried out
• The different types of right to work checks
• When to use manual and online right to work checks (and the ‘View and Prove’ service) and when a digital verification service provider can be used
• Using the employer checking service
• An overview of the concept of ‘extend liability’ - what it is, how to identify arrangements that might be affected and how to establish a statutory excuse
• How to deal with some common tricky issues which can arise
• The consequences of failing to carry out right to work checks correctly, or failing to meet the ‘prescribed requirements’
• Practical tips for making sure right to work checks are carried out correctly across your organisation and you have a defence against extended liability