UK Sets Digital Right-to-Work Rules Ahead of October Expansion

The UK Home Office has issued revised draft guidance that sets out how employers and labor platforms can use digital identity services when expanded Right to Work requirements take effect on October 1.

The rules will extend responsibility for preventing illegal working beyond conventional employment contracts. Worker contracts, individual subcontractors and online matching services can fall within the scheme, while extended liability can apply through some contracting chains and substitution arrangements.

Organizations can conduct a manual document check, use the Home Office’s online service or choose a digital check. An employer taking the digital route must use a registered Right to Work digital verification service provider, or RtW DVSP, that has been certified against the applicable trust framework and supplementary code.

The provider checks an eligible identity document and supplies an identity-verification output to the employer. The employer remains responsible for confirming that the photograph and biographical details belong to the person presenting for work, recording the date of the check and retaining the evidence for the duration of the engagement plus two years.

Facial recognition is optional rather than a universal requirement. When it forms part of a digital Right to Work check, the technology must be provided through a registered RtW DVSP. Employers must also offer another checking method to people who cannot or do not want to use a digital service and must avoid discriminatory treatment based on the route selected.

The guidance arrives as providers and government agencies move to the UK Digital Verification Services Trust Framework 1.0, which is replacing the pre-release framework used for earlier certification. Companies including Signicat have already obtained certification for document and identity verification services under the UK system.

Digital credentials held in a wallet or another holder service can also move through a chain of contracts. Each organization that relies on the credential must satisfy the applicable checking and recordkeeping requirements rather than treating the upstream verification as a complete transfer of responsibility.

The October changes implement provisions of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025. They create a broader compliance role for delivery platforms, staffing intermediaries and other services that connect individual workers with customers.

Sources: UK Home Office

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By the ID Tech Editorial Team