The Home Office has issued new sponsorship guidance extending a sponsor licence holder's responsibility to carry out right to work checks.
This guidance confirms that not only should sponsor licence holders be carrying out right to work checks for all their employees, they should now be carrying out right to work checks for those workers they 'directly engage'.
Why now?
This change has not come out of the blue - the extension of right to work checks to self-employed workers has been in the pipeline for the past year. The legislative frame work for the new system is contained within the Border Security, and Asylum Act 2025 which received royal assent late last year. Section 48 expands the definition of a “person employing another” to include:
- Businesses engaging individuals under a contract for services
- Businesses that directly engage sub-contractors
- Individuals providing services via online platforms or digital matching services
However, this legislation has yet to be fully implemented. Further guidance and rules will be published in June with intention that the scheme will be operational for all employers from October this year.
Early adopters
The new guidance appears to introduce the requirements under section 48 to sponsor licence holders in advance of the legislation itself being implemented. Paragraph S1.40 states as follows;
You must check that any worker you wish to sponsor (including a worker who is not your direct employee), or any worker you otherwise wish to employ or directly engage, has permission to enter or stay in the UK and can do the work in question before they start working for you. This applies even if the worker is, or appears to be, a British citizen or other settled worker. If you fail to carry out a right to work check, or any necessary follow-up checks, you will be in breach of your sponsor duties and may be liable for a civil penalty under illegal working legislation. If you are issued with a civil penalty, or otherwise fail to carry out the correct checks, we will normally revoke your licence.
The guidance makes clear that if a sponsor fails to carry out a right to work check, or any necessary follow up checks, they will be in breach of their sponsorship duties and may be liable for a civil penalty under illegal working legislation. The wording even suggests that failure to carry out these checks could lead to a sponsor losing their licence, even if the worker ultimately has the right to work.
What does this mean for sponsor licence holders?
The wording of the new guidance is unfortunately vague and imprecise. However, it would be wise for sponsor licence holders to start checking the right to work for their self-employed workers, if they are not doing this already. We do not have a clear definition of what worker relationships are specifically covered by the term 'directly engage'. We can assume, though, that the provisions are designed to cover worker arrangements where there is a direct contractual relationship between an employer and a worker.
This is likely to include;
- Independent contractors
- Freelancers
- Partners within a limited liability partnership
- Consultants
- Individuals who provide their services through a personal service company
- Certain office holders such as directors
The Home Office guidance that will be issued in June in relation to the Border Security and Asylum Act 2025 should provide further clarity.
If you are not currently checking right to work for these workers, you will need to start to implement a system to ensure compliance. These new measures will affect those individuals engaged following the introduction of the guidance from 8 April 2026 onwards.
DACB's immigration compliance audits for employers
With these new measures increasing the prevention of illegal working burden on employers, it is crucial to ensure your internal right to work checking system are up to scratch. The immigration team at DAC Beachcroft offers immigration compliance audits designed to help employers assess and strengthen their immigration compliance systems.
Our audits provide a clear, practical review of your current processes helping you identify and address issues before they become serious problems. We can also provide strategic advice on how you can best implement a system to check your self-employed workers in light of the new guidance.
Please see our flyer here which gives further details of these services.
We will be discussing these changes along with other UK immigration developments in our webinar on 7 May 2026 at 9am. Please sign up here.
