The Home Office published significant updates to sponsor guidance in March and April 2026, materially expanding the obligation on sponsors in relation to undertaking right to work (RTW) checks.
What has changed?
The key change is a widening of the scope of RTW checks. Sponsors are now required to carry out RTW checks not only for employees and sponsored workers, but also for any individual they “directly engage” before that individual commences work.
The updated guidance states that sponsors must undertake a RTW check in relation to anyone they “employ, sponsor or directly engage” to ensure the person has permission to work in the UK.
Crucially and unhelpfully, “directly engage” is not defined in the sponsor guidance. This lack of clarity has created uncertainty as to how far the obligation extends, as it could potentially include freelancers, contractors, zero hour and casual workers, agency workers and other non-employed individuals.
Why does this matter?
Although the underlying law in relation to the scope of RTW checks has not yet changed for employers, where the business holds a sponsor licence the scope has effectively been extended through guidance.
Legally, civil penalties for illegal working can currently only be issued where the individual is an employee. However, importantly, sponsors may face compliance action (including sponsor licence revocation) for failing to conduct RTW checks on a wider population of people working in the business. We anticipate that Home Office compliance visits will scrutinise RTW practices beyond employees and failure to undertake RTW checks for non-employees may be treated as a breach of sponsor duties, even where no illegal worker is identified.
Likely future changes
The guidance changes for sponsors are almost certainly a precursor to broader legislative changes likely to come into effect in the next few months.
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 has already laid the groundwork for expanding the illegal working and civil penalty regime beyond employees to include workers, contractors, and gig economy participants, although the relevant provisions are not yet in force.
Also, a draft Code of Practice published in April 2026 proposes a wider definition of “employer” for the purposes of RTW checks, including those engaging subcontractors and individuals via digital platforms.
These reforms are expected to take effect for new engagements from October 2026.
The recent guidance changes for sponsors appear to be an early step in a broader move towards requiring full-workforce RTW compliance for all employers.
What does this mean for sponsors?
For many sponsor organisations this change has significant operational implications. Sponsors must now consider RTW checks for a much wider group of individuals, including freelancers and directly engaged consultants and temporary and casual and zero hours workers. Given the lack of clarity in the guidance, sponsors may also wish to take a cautious approach and also undertake RTW checks for contractors engaged via intermediaries and agency workers.
Onboarding processes, document checks, and record-keeping requirements may need to be extended beyond traditional HR workflows covering employees only and managers and HR teams will need to be trained on the new requirements.
What should sponsors do now?
In light of these changes, sponsors should act proactively and take the following steps:
- Identify all categories of individuals engaged by the business, not just employees. This should include contractors, consultants, agency workers, casual and zero hour workers, and other non-traditional arrangements.
- Assess whether current onboarding processes in relation to RTW checks include non-employed individuals. Most organisations will need to expand their RTW checks to cover non-employees and ensure the checks are undertaken before the individual commences work and that the checks comply with the latest guidance on the prevention of illegal working.
- If it isn't possible to undertake checks on all non-employees, consider prioritising individuals who work regularly for the organisation, operate under its direction or control and/or perform roles similar to employees. Ensure that as a minimum, RTW checks are undertaken in all cases where the organisation contracts directly with the individual - such as zero hours workers and freelancers and directly engaged consultants.
- Ensure that HR and recruitment teams and managers understand the new obligations and that there are clear internal policies.
- Undertake regular reviews of RTW checks as further guidance is published.
