What changed on 20 May 2026
The Home Office has rewritten the right to work (RTW) check duty for sponsors, and it is broader than before. Previously, the guidance framed RTW checks mainly as something you did for your sponsored workers. From 20 May 2026, the duty is split into two clear limbs. You must carry out RTW checks on every worker you employ, whether or not they are sponsored. You must also carry out RTW checks on every worker you sponsor, whether or not they are your direct employee. Both of these are now enforceable as sponsor duties. If you do not hold RTW evidence for a non-sponsored employee, the Home Office can cite that as a breach of your sponsor obligations, not just as a breach of illegal working rules.
Who you must check
The simplest way to think about it: if you employ them or you sponsor them, you must check them.
All employees on your payroll, regardless of nationality, immigration status, or whether they are sponsored by you
All workers you sponsor, even if they are employed by a different entity (for example, where one company in a group holds the licence and another employs the worker)
The duty does not extend to unsponsored workers you merely engage but do not employ. If you use agency staff, contractors, or freelancers who are not on your payroll and not sponsored by you, their employer is responsible for checking them. That said, using labour supply arrangements to sidestep compliance can still attract action under other provisions, so this is not a loophole. This position changes on 1 October 2026, see the section below.
Correction: the 'directly engaged' language has been withdrawn
If you read the March or April 2026 versions of the Part 2 guidance, you may have seen wording suggesting sponsors needed to check unsponsored workers who were "directly engaged" but not employed by them. The Home Office has deleted that language and confirmed it should be disregarded. The correct position is the one above: employ or sponsor, not merely engage. If you adjusted your processes based on the earlier wording, you can scale that back.
Non-direct-employer sponsors (group structures and agency arrangements)
Where you sponsor a worker but another organisation employs them, you have two options. You can carry out the RTW check yourself, or you can obtain and retain a copy of the check that the employing organisation conducted. Either approach works, but you must hold the evidence on file. A verbal assurance that the check was done is not enough.
Self-employed sponsored workers
If you sponsor a worker who is engaged in a self-employed capacity, you do not need to establish a statutory excuse under illegal working legislation. You do still need to carry out an RTW check and retain the evidence. If the worker is engaged by another organisation, you can either do the check yourself or ask that organisation to do it and provide you with the records.
Workers under 16
The online RTW check service is not available for workers under 16. You must still verify their right to work. The method is straightforward: ask the worker (or their parent or guardian) to show a live eVisa, and retain a screenshot.
How to conduct the check
There are three methods:
Online check using a share code. This is the standard method for workers with an eVisa, which from 20 May 2026 includes virtually all new sponsored workers. The worker generates a share code via the UKVI online service, and you use it together with their date of birth to view their status. This is the method you will use for the vast majority of new hires.
Manual right to work check. This applies to British and Irish nationals using a passport or birth certificate. You examine the original document, confirm it belongs to the person presenting it, and retain a clear copy with a signed and dated record of when the check was done. (This term replaces "physical document check" in the updated guidance.)
Employer Checking Service (ECS). For workers with a pending application or other circumstances where the online or manual check cannot confirm their status.
Which share code opens a right to work check
There is more than one Home Office share code service, and only one of them produces a code you can use for a right to work check. The worker must generate the code through the prove your right to work to an employer service at gov.uk/prove-right-to-work. In practice these codes begin with the letter W. A code the worker generated to prove their right to rent, or from the general view and prove your immigration status service, will not open the employer right to work check.
To run the check you need the share code and the worker's date of birth, and you use the employer service at gov.uk/view-right-to-work. Save the check result, with the date and the name of the person who carried it out. The check must be completed before employment starts for you to have a statutory excuse, and the code stays valid for 90 days from when the worker generates it.
Retaining records
All RTW check records must be kept for the duration of employment and for two years after employment ends. Digital copies are fine as long as they are clear and legible. This applies to checks on all employees and all sponsored workers.
What happens if you get it wrong
The revocation ground for employing someone without the right to work has been redrafted. A licence will normally be revoked if the sponsor is employing or sponsoring a worker without permission to work and the sponsor failed to carry out the prescribed RTW checks, or could otherwise have been reasonably aware of the situation. There is an important change here: if you followed the prescribed check process correctly but were still deceived, you have grounds to argue the revocation threshold is not met. The previous version did not offer that defence.
From 1 October 2026: contractors and sub-contractors come into scope
The position set out above holds until 1 October 2026. From that date the right to work scheme extends beyond employees. Sponsor guidance version 08/26 confirms the duty to check will also apply to organisations that engage individuals under a worker's contract, engage individual sub-contractors, or operate an online matching service that gives customers the details of an individual service provider.
For a care provider, that usually means anyone you engage directly who is not on your payroll: individual contractors, self-employed carers, and people working under a worker's contract rather than a contract of employment. Agency staff supplied to you by an agency remain the agency's responsibility as their employer.
Two things to do before 1 October 2026:
List everyone your organisation engages who is not on your payroll, and identify which of them you engage directly rather than through an agency.
Extend your existing right to work process to cover them, using the same three methods set out above, and file the evidence alongside your other right to work records.
The civil penalty for employing someone without the right to work is up to £60,000 per illegal worker, and for a licensed sponsor a failure here is also a licence issue. The Home Office's employer's guide to right to work checks and the statutory code of practice are being updated to reflect the extension, so check the published versions before 1 October 2026.
How Borderless helps
Borderless includes a mandatory RTW gate within the sponsorship offer form. The check must be completed before the offer can be submitted. The platform prompts you to enter the worker's share code and date of birth and validates the result directly. Where a manual right to work check or ECS check has been conducted instead, you can upload the evidence against the employment record using the document sub-type selector. If you are unsure whether your current processes cover the expanded duty, raise it with your Borderless contact and we will review it with you.
Government guidance: https://www.gov.uk/check-job-applicant-right-to-work
Government guidance: Sponsor guidance Part 3: sponsor duties and compliance