Updated Guidance for Employers – Legal Right to Work Checks

An updated Employer’s Guide to Right to Work Checks, was published by the Home Office on 15 July 2026.

The updated guidance contains a combination of changes that took effect immediately upon publication and changes that will come into force on 1 October 2026.

Changes effective from 15 July 2026

The guidance has been updated to reflect current right to work checking practices and includes:

• Updated terminology and references throughout to reflect the wider rollout of eVisas and digital immigration status.
• Clarification of the different right to work checking methods (manual, online and Identity Service Provider (IDSP) checks), including when each method should be used.
• Updates to the lists of acceptable documents and evidence required to establish a statutory excuse.
• Additional guidance on repeat checks, use of the Employer Checking Service and practical issues that employers may encounter when carrying out checks.

Included within the guidance is a section on Impersonation and Imposters, which relates to previous discussions regarding the RTW process:

For all right to work checks, employers must be satisfied that the individual whose right to work is being checked is the same individual who will be carrying out the work.

The check therefore requires employers to take reasonable and proportionate steps, at the time the check is conducted, to verify the worker’s identity and to ensure that the individual who is the subject of the check is the individual to whom it relates. The purpose of this requirement is to prevent impersonation and imposters. Employers who fail to carry out the check as prescribed in this guidance and the associated code of practice will not establish a statutory excuse against liability for payment of a civil penalty if the individual is later found to be working illegally.

In practice, employers may wish to maintain proportionate measures and controls that are appropriate to their operating model to manage the risk of impersonation, imposters, or other fraudulent activity. Such measures could range from retaining a photograph of the individual who was the subject of the check for comparison at a later stage to the use of facial recognition technology via a RtW DVSP and may also help reduce wider business, operational and reputational risks.

Where an employer has carried out a prescribed right to work check and subsequently becomes the victim of fraud, impersonation or deliberate deception despite having appropriate mitigations and controls in place, this would be taken into account by the Home Office when considering the circumstances of the case. Each case is assessed on its individual merits. 

The updated guidance places greater emphasis on identity verification and fraud prevention, in addition to immigration compliance, which aligns with wider operational and reputational risk considerations.

Please ensure that current processes are reviewed urgently to ensure any necessary changes have been captured and implemented.

The document contains a list of information employers should obtain when using a Right to Work Digital Verification Service Provider (DVSP). This should be reviewed against the current HireRight process to confirm alignment with the updated guidance.

Changes taking effect from 1 October 2026

The guidance also incorporates the legislative changes due to come into force on 1 October 2026, including:

• The extension of the illegal working regime to non-direct contractual arrangements.
• New guidance explaining how right to work checks should be undertaken by businesses that fall within the expanded regime.
• Consequential updates to reflect the accompanying Code of Practice and the amended statutory framework.

We will continue to monitor developments and let you know if any further changes are made before the guidance is finalised or additional Home Office guidance is published.

Please let us know if you would like to discuss how these changes may affect your organisation’s right to work checking processes.

Please contact your Magrath Sheldrick representative for further guidance.

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