Right to Work Scheme: Tackling Illegal Working

The Government are today laying regulations to strengthen the right to work and the right to rent schemes, alongside updated statutory codes of practice for employers and landlords. These measures implement provisions in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 and will come into force in October 2026, in line with the common commencement date for businesses.

Clamping down on illegal working continues to be a critical part of this Government’s work to restore fairness, order and control within the immigration and asylum system. The ability to work illegally is a driver of illegal migration and exploitation. Illegal working undermines honest businesses and exposes vulnerable individuals to exploitation. This Government are clear that such activity will not be tolerated.

The reforms introduce, for the first time, an extension of the right to work scheme and the associated civil penalties for non-compliance, to cover companies that contract workers or individual subcontractors to provide services under their company name, such as agency workers or workers in the gig economy. These changes close gaps in the current framework and ensure that responsibility for the prevention of illegal working sits appropriately across modern labour market structures.

The regulations also strengthen the framework for digital identity verification. They introduce updated requirements for the use of digital verification service providers, mandating that when choosing to use digital verification for a right to work or right to rent check, it must be carried out using Government-registered providers. Digital verification services are central to delivering secure, efficient and reliable checks under both schemes.

In addition, powers in the Data Use and Access Act 2025 will enable a broader use of document verification through digital means to support candidate onboarding, strengthen assurance and give individuals greater choice over how they share their personal information.

Taken together, these measures respond to changes in the labour market, including the growth of flexible and platform-based work, and ensure that the framework for preventing illegal working remains effective and proportionate.

Enforcement of the new measures will commence from October 2026, when the regulations come into force.

[HCWS159]