A new Right to Work regime takes effect from 1st October 2026 and may affect experts, their use of associates and, potentially, the terms agreed with instructing solicitors and expert agencies. With civil penalties of up to £60,000 per illegal worker, this is an area where mistakes can prove costly.

The UK government has required employers to carry out checks on employees’ right to work since the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. Section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 extends that regime so that, in some circumstances, civil penalty liability can reach beyond the employer who has the direct contractual relationship with the worker.

It is this extension that is particularly relevant to experts, their associates and those who instruct them. The Home Office has issued draft guidance setting out how the new regime is expected to operate.

Associates engaged directly

If you or your expert firm engage an individual associate or subcontractor to help deliver work, you may need to carry out a prescribed Right to Work check before that person starts work.

The position depends on the nature of the arrangement. The new regime is not intended to mean that every self-employed expert or sole practitioner automatically has to be checked. However, where an individual is engaged to help fulfil work which your firm has itself contracted to provide, the arrangement may fall within the extended regime.

The guidance explains the different ways in which a Right to Work check can be carried out. Depending on the circumstances, this may involve a manual document check, a Home Office online check or the use of an approved digital verification service provider. Records may also need to be retained and, where the individual has time-limited permission to work, further checks may subsequently be required.

Associates engaged through another firm

If you or your firm engage associates through their firm or another organisation, there is a separate issue: extended liability.

Under the new regime, liability may in some circumstances extend further up a contractual chain. A business which does not itself employ the individual may nevertheless be exposed if illegal working is later identified.

The guidance provides for a statutory excuse where the relevant requirements are met. These include having appropriate contractual terms in place which require prescribed Right to Work checks to be carried out, control further subcontracting, allow appropriate compliance checks and provide for action to be taken where illegal working is identified. The relevant contractual requirements are set out at page 49 of the current draft Home Office guidance.

The protection is not simply a matter of inserting standard wording into a contract. The arrangements also need to operate properly in practice.

What does this mean for instructing solicitors and expert agencies?

Whilst the immediate focus for experts and expert firms is likely to be the checking of individuals and the review of associate or subcontract terms, the changes may also have consequences for agreements with instructing solicitors and expert agencies.

Those further up the contractual chain may themselves wish to establish a statutory excuse against extended liability and may therefore seek additional contractual assurances from experts about Right to Work compliance, subcontracting and the use of associates.

It would not therefore be surprising to see new Right to Work provisions appearing in expert instructions and agency terms after 1 October.

What should expert firms do now?

Expert witnesses and expert firms that use associates or subcontractors should review their arrangements before the new regime takes effect.

In particular, they should consider:

• whether any individuals they engage may fall within the extended Right to Work regime;
• how Right to Work checks will be carried out where required;
• whether existing associate or subcontract terms need updating;
• whether their contracts permit substitution or further subcontracting; and
• whether clients or agencies are likely to require additional contractual assurances.

The timing is slightly more nuanced than saying that every existing agreement has to be rewritten by 1st October. The new provisions apply to relevant engagements commencing on or after 1st October 2026, and to relevant contractual arrangements entered into on or after that date.

Nevertheless, firms which regularly use associates or subcontractors would be well advised to review their procedures and standard terms now, rather than waiting until a new instruction or engagement arises.

The Home Office guidance is currently in draft and should be checked alongside the legislation before any changes are made to contractual arrangements.

Further information

The Home Office’s current guidance is available in its Draft employer’s guide to right to work checks: 11 September 2026.

This article is intended as a general overview of the changes and does not constitute legal advice.