The Right to Work Checklist: What Changed on 1 October, and Where the Gaps Really Are
Sorted for employees isn't the same as sorted.
The Right to Work scheme changed on 1 October 2026. It now extends well beyond direct employees, bringing subcontractors, gig and zero-hours workers, and anyone engaged through an online matching service into scope for the first time.
Most HR, procurement and compliance teams believe this is already covered. The reality is more specific. The law defines four categories of worker, not one, and a business can be held liable even without a direct contract with the person doing the work.
This session gives you a practical way to check where you actually stand, not a general recap of the law. We'll cover:
- The four legal categories that now trigger a right to work check, and how to tell if your business falls into one of them
- The substitution trap: why letting a contract worker send a replacement can pull you into scope, even for someone you've never checked
- What "not retrospective" means in practice, and which of your existing engagements still need attention now the rules are live
- The real cost of getting it wrong: up to £60,000 per worker, plus the sponsor licence risk few teams have connected to this
- How to build a single, defensible record of who's working for you and who's accountable for checking them
You'll leave knowing exactly where your organisation stands under the new rules, and what to prioritise fixing first.
Be Certain.
Speakers
Michael Cleavely
Founder & CEO, CoComply
Michael Cleavely is the Founder and CEO of CoComply, the AI-native External Workforce Management platform. He started CoComply in 2020 with one goal: give organisations certainty about who's working for them. Under his leadership, CoComply helps HR, procurement and finance teams classify work correctly, route external services through the right process, and control the risk that travels with every engagement.
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Joe Johnson
Head of Client Success, CoComply
Joe heads up Client Success at CoComply, overseeing all of our key client accounts. He's spent 20 years in the contractor and compliance industry, advising contractors, agencies, and public and private sector organisations, and has been involved in more HMRC enquiries than most.
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Danielle Mapp
Associate Director, BDO UK
Danielle Mapp is an Associate Director within BDO's Immigration team, advising multinational organisations on UK immigration compliance, global mobility and workforce planning. With extensive experience supporting employers across a range of sectors, Danielle specialises in right to work compliance, sponsor licence management and mitigating immigration risk.
LinkedIn
Christie Lewis
Operations Director, Trust ID
Christie Lewis is Operations Director at TrustID, bringing over a decade of frontline expertise in document verification, fraud detection, and compliance. An ex-Immigration Officer, Christie previously led TrustID's Document Analyst Team as one of the organisation's most senior analysts, overseeing a team of Expert Analysts providing specialist advice and guidance on suspect documents and compliance matters, including Right to Work checks. She subsequently held a senior role at the National Ballistics Intelligence Service, where she was responsible for operations and compliance across the organisation. Christie now draws on this combined depth of operational and compliance experience to lead TrustID's operations, with a particular focus on document fraud, identity verification, and regulatory compliance.