who checks right to work for agency workers 2026

Direct answer. When an employment business directly engages agency workers and supplies them to a hirer for use in the hirer's own operations, the employment business is generally the party responsible for the prescribed UK right to work check. The final 1 October 2026 Home Office guide says the expanded rules are not intended to require routine duplication of those checks by the hirer in a standard agency supply arrangement. A different answer may arise if the hirer directly engages the person, if the contract is actually for work or services to be provided onward through a chain, or if substitution changes who turns up. The 2026 law demands analysis of the real contracts and operation; it does not make “check every agency worker twice” a universal rule. Home Office final employer guide, examples 2 and 12 and Annex C.

This guide addresses UK employment businesses and hirers making a practical responsibility and evidence decision. It does not settle a specific disputed employment relationship or excuse an employer from prescribed checks.

The standard agency supply arrangement

The final Home Office guide gives an example of an employment business that engages temporary hospitality workers on contracts for services and offers them short assignments in bars and restaurants. It calls the employment business the “employer” for the Right to Work Scheme and responsible for the check. Another example has a manufacturing company obtaining agency production workers for its own factory operations. The employment business remains directly responsible for the check; the manufacturing hirer is using those workers within its own business and is not providing their work or services onward under another contract. The guide says extended liability does not apply to the manufacturing company or the employment business in that example. Final guide, pages 12 and 46–47.

The guide's Q&A is unusually clear: where an employment business directly engages workers and supplies them to a hirer's own operations, it remains responsible for prescribed checks, and the 2026 changes do not intend routine duplication by the hirer. That is a stronger and more useful answer than saying “both parties always check.” Final guide, Annex C, page 77.

The hirer may still want commercial assurance that the employment business has a reliable checking process, and may need to control access to its site or workplace. Those are sensible operational controls. They are not the same as saying the hirer has its own direct statutory check duty in every standard agency placement. Keep the legal obligation and commercial assurance distinct.

Ask who directly contracts with the worker

Before assigning a check, map the actual arrangement:

1. Who signs the contract with the worker and on what terms?
2. Who offers assignments, controls the worker relationship and pays the worker?
3. Is the hirer using the worker in its own operations or supplying work or services onward to another customer?
4. Is the employment business merely providing labour, or is it contracted to deliver a service outcome using workers it obtains from another employer?
5. Can someone else carry out the assignment as a substitute, and who approves them?

The Home Office says no single label decides responsibility. “Agency,” “contractor,” “self-employed” and “consultant” may describe commercial relationships, but the direct-contract facts and actual delivery determine which part of the scheme applies. An organisation directly engaging an individual under a worker's contract or as an individual subcontractor may itself need the prescribed check; calling that person “agency labour” in a spreadsheet is not a defence. Final guide, pages 13–16.

When a service chain changes the answer

The 2026 extended-liability provisions address a different type of chain: for example, a construction company wins a contract to deliver new homes and relies on other businesses under a chain of contracts to supply people who fulfil that promise. In the final guide's example, the construction company is contractually responsible for work to a third party, so the arrangements may fall within extended liability. It is not a standard factory simply using temporary staff in its own production. Final guide, example 7, pages 43–44.

The direct employer still conducts the worker's prescribed check. An upstream organisation potentially exposed under the extended-liability provision must separately consider the prescribed written statement, contractual terms, assurance and identity controls relevant to that chain. It does not automatically assume the direct employer's check role. The final guide also gives out-of-scope examples, including a business buying a service or goods for its own operations rather than supplying that work or service onward. For the narrower upstream evidence process, see the proposed written-statement guide; do not publish this cross-link until Claude creates the route. Final guide, pages 44–55.

An agency–hirer contract can also include duties to share assurance, report concerns and identify the actual person placed. Those terms should be accurate and workable. A generic line saying “all workers have right to work” cannot substitute for a prescribed direct check by the responsible employer or for any prescribed extended-liability terms when the actual chain makes them necessary.

The employment business's check workflow

If the employment business is the direct employer under the scheme, it should make the check before the worker starts, using one of the Home Office's prescribed methods. The final guide recognises manual original-document checks, Home Office online checks and eligible checks with a registered Right to Work Digital Verification Service provider. The person must have the right to carry out the particular work offered, including any limits on role or hours. A worker should have reasonable opportunity to use an available method; the business must not select routes in a discriminatory way. Final guide, pages 18–38; current checklist.

If a worker uses a Home Office share code, the employment business must access the official employer service and retain the dated profile output; a screenshot the worker sends is not enough. If the worker uses manual documents, inspect originals as prescribed and keep a clear copy with the check-date record. If using a registered digital provider, retain the required provider output and facial comparison where relevant. A third party's independent check usually does not establish the business's statutory excuse, except for the prescribed registered-DVSP route. Final guide, pages 19–34 and Annex C.

Record any time-limited permission and follow-up requirement. If the worker cannot show the right to work through the normal routes because of an outstanding application or similar Home Office circumstance, use the Employer Checking Service in the circumstances the final guide specifies. Do not allow work to begin merely because the worker says an application is pending. Maintain prescribed evidence for the duration of employment and two years afterwards, then securely destroy it. Home Office checklist.

What the hirer should request

For a normal agency supply, a hirer can build a proportionate assurance process without pretending to perform the agency's statutory check again. Before assignment, identify the legal employment business, the named worker, the job and any restrictions the agency needs to confirm. Ask for a statement of its prescribed checking process, its named contact and how it handles follow-ups, substitutions and concerns. Agree how a hirer can request evidence or trigger an investigation without collecting excessive immigration documents routinely. The agency can provide suitable assurance or audit access under the commercial contract; decide what is needed for the relationship and privacy position.

At the workplace, make sure the person who turns up matches the person assigned. Site access, induction and competency controls can help identify a mismatch, though they are not a substitute for the Home Office check. If someone arrives who is not the named worker, pause the assignment and ask the employment business to resolve the identity and check position before work proceeds. A long-running placement may need monitoring of permission expiry, assignment changes or suspected impersonation. The direct employer remains accountable for the prescribed check; the hirer remains accountable for its own workplace and contractual controls.

Scenarios

Restaurant using temporary staff. An employment business signs up and contracts with a server, then sends that person to a restaurant for weekend shifts. The agency carries out the right to work check. The restaurant can verify it is receiving the agreed worker and obtain suitable agency assurance without automatically repeating the same prescribed check. This mirrors the Home Office's worker-contract example.

Factory using agency production labour. The manufacturer obtains temporary workers for its own output. The final guide's example says the employment business checks the workers, and extended liability does not apply to the manufacturer or employment business in that standard supply model. If the manufacturer is instead contractually supplying a third party with a staffed service and subcontracts performance, assess the different chain on its facts.

Unexpected replacement. A named agency worker is absent and someone else appears. The hirer should not assume the first worker's file covers the replacement. The agency must identify and complete the prescribed process for the replacement where it is the direct employer; the hirer should align site access to the actual person. If the arrangement permits worker-level substitution, examine the final guide's separate controls.

Common mistakes

• Saying the hirer must repeat the agency's check in every ordinary placement.
• Saying the hirer has no possible duty in any staffing chain, including where it is itself supplying services onward.
• Confusing a supplier assurance, site badge or training certificate with a prescribed Home Office check.
• Letting an unverified replacement start because “the agency usually checks everyone.”
• Accepting a share-code screenshot or scan of a physical passport as proof the employer used a prescribed route.
• Tracking document expiry without checking whether the permission allows the offered role or hours.
• Treating the October 2026 expansion as retrospective for all pre-existing engagements.
• Assuming Complys itself checks immigration status or grants a statutory excuse.

Where Complys fits

Complys Right to Work compliance software describes an evidence and follow-up record layer for workers. It does not conduct the official check, query the Home Office, act as a registered digital verification provider or decide liability. An employment business can evaluate how it stores dated check evidence and follow-up dates; a hirer can evaluate how it records supplier assurances and named placements. Confirm the exact deployed workflow before making a buying promise. The legal decision is who actually directly engages the worker and whether an extended-liability chain exists.

Next step: take one agency contract and assignment. Identify the direct employer, check owner and evidence keeper, then ask whether your business uses the worker in its own operations or supplies the work onward. Document the answer before changing onboarding requirements.

Primary sources

• Home Office, final Employer's guide to right to work checks: 1 October 2026, especially examples 2, 7 and 12, pages 12–16 and 43–55, and Annex C on agency workers.
• Home Office, Employers' right to work checklist, 1 October 2026.

Reviewed 4 October 2026. General UK information; actual contracts and practice determine responsibility.