Civil penalties for right-to-work breaches in the UK can now reach £45,000 for a first offence and up to £60,000 per illegal worker for repeat breaches — and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) says newly expanded duties will make businesses liable for workers they do not directly employ.

The changes extend the obligation to conduct right-to-work checks beyond standard employment relationships. They now cover workers engaged under personal service contracts, individual subcontractors in supply chains, and fee-charging online job-matching platforms. The rules, which apply from October 2026 per the reform timetable, also extend liability along contractual and supply chains: businesses higher up a chain can face penalties where illegal working occurs further down and the direct employer cannot be identified or has failed to carry out the required checks.

That shift has practical consequences for HR teams, labour providers, main contractors, end hirers and platforms operating in complex supply chains. REC noted that recruiters already conduct right-to-work checks before sending workers on assignment. Under the new arrangements, however, liability can extend to organisations that never employed the worker. These organisations may therefore need to introduce their own controls, even where a worker's right to work has already been verified by another business in the chain.

For employers using digital identity verification, there is a further compliance gate. Businesses will need to confirm their provider is registered as a Right to Work Digital Verification Service Provider (RtW DVSP) on the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA) register.

Enforcement does not stop at unclear arrangements

The new rules mean unclear employment arrangements will not necessarily shield businesses from enforcement action. Where the Home Office cannot establish who was responsible for a worker, it may examine the contractual chain and pursue penalties against organisations further up the supply chain.

Lorraine Laryea, chief standards officer at the REC, criticised the scope of the reforms. "It is a pity to see another major burden on organisations at an already tough time for trading for businesses," she said.

Laryea said the REC supports efforts to tackle illegal working and recognises the government's motivation to improve regulation of working models that created exposure to illegal working. But she argued the changes go "far wider than necessary" given the regulation already covering much of the labour market.

"It may come across as unfair to businesses that they will be responsible for workers they do not employ, however well-intentioned the policy," she said. "Extending liability in this way risks creating more red tape, slower recruitment and fewer opportunities for jobseekers."

Penalty scale could skew hiring decisions

The REC also warned that the scale of potential penalties could push employers toward a more cautious, risk-averse approach to recruitment. Firms could favour applicants with straightforward documentation over equally qualified candidates whose status requires additional checks.

The result, according to the REC: employers may overlook suitable candidates and make poorer hiring decisions.

Laryea said the REC wants continued engagement with government on how the rules are implemented. "We are keen to work with the government and continue the dialogue to ensure the new rules on Right to Work checks are fair and balanced, and do not add administrative burdens to businesses and organisations that were not the intended target of these changes," she said.

For HR leaders, the immediate task ahead of the October 2026 deadline is mapping contractual and labour supply chains, verifying any digital identity provider's OfDIA registration, and deciding where duplicate checks are warranted to cap exposure to penalties that now travel up the chain.