The Home Office has quietly confirmed that civil penalties for employing people without the right to work in Britain will jump to up to £60,000 per worker early next year. Published guidance released on 13 December 2025 explains that the new Code of Practice for the Right-to-Work Scheme will take legal effect on 13 February 2026, replacing the interim code that has been in force since 2014.
Under the revised scale, a first breach will attract a maximum fine of £45,000 (up from £15,000) while repeat breaches within three years will be punishable by a £60,000 levy (up from £20,000). The changes apply to every sector but are expected to bite hardest in industries with complex freelance supply chains such as construction, hospitality, logistics and care. Employers must still conduct full identity and immigration-status checks before onboarding any worker, including contractors engaged through platforms or umbrella companies.
Home Office officials insist the tougher regime will “remove the financial incentive” for ignoring right-to-work rules and will funnel more revenue into immigration enforcement. They point out that 171 food-delivery riders were arrested for immigration offences during focused operations in November alone. But business groups warn that the sharp rise in liability—plus the cost of retrospective audits—could push small firms to stop using legitimate gig-economy labour models or abandon flexible staffing altogether.
![UK to Triple Maximum Fines for Hiring Illegal Workers From February 2026]()
Immigration lawyers advise HR teams to review onboarding processes now, ensuring they capture and store real-time online status checks and that any supplementary work taken by Skilled Worker visa holders stays within the 20-hour weekly limit. Companies should also update supplier contracts to oblige agencies and sub-contractors to perform identical checks, because downstream breaches now trigger the same headline fines.
For employers looking to tighten their compliance procedures, VisaHQ’s UK service (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/) can provide invaluable support by automating document verification, offering live visa-status tracking and connecting HR teams with expert advisers who specialise in right-to-work regulations—helping organisations avoid these steep new penalties.
With the government simultaneously increasing visa fees, sponsorship charges and ETA costs in 2025-26, critics argue that legal migration is becoming costlier just as the penalties for inadvertent non-compliance soar. Nevertheless, ministers believe the higher fines—last updated in 2014—are essential to deter abuse and to reassure the public that employers are not undercutting resident workers.
Under the revised scale, a first breach will attract a maximum fine of £45,000 (up from £15,000) while repeat breaches within three years will be punishable by a £60,000 levy (up from £20,000). The changes apply to every sector but are expected to bite hardest in industries with complex freelance supply chains such as construction, hospitality, logistics and care. Employers must still conduct full identity and immigration-status checks before onboarding any worker, including contractors engaged through platforms or umbrella companies.
Home Office officials insist the tougher regime will “remove the financial incentive” for ignoring right-to-work rules and will funnel more revenue into immigration enforcement. They point out that 171 food-delivery riders were arrested for immigration offences during focused operations in November alone. But business groups warn that the sharp rise in liability—plus the cost of retrospective audits—could push small firms to stop using legitimate gig-economy labour models or abandon flexible staffing altogether.
Immigration lawyers advise HR teams to review onboarding processes now, ensuring they capture and store real-time online status checks and that any supplementary work taken by Skilled Worker visa holders stays within the 20-hour weekly limit. Companies should also update supplier contracts to oblige agencies and sub-contractors to perform identical checks, because downstream breaches now trigger the same headline fines.
For employers looking to tighten their compliance procedures, VisaHQ’s UK service (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/) can provide invaluable support by automating document verification, offering live visa-status tracking and connecting HR teams with expert advisers who specialise in right-to-work regulations—helping organisations avoid these steep new penalties.
With the government simultaneously increasing visa fees, sponsorship charges and ETA costs in 2025-26, critics argue that legal migration is becoming costlier just as the penalties for inadvertent non-compliance soar. Nevertheless, ministers believe the higher fines—last updated in 2014—are essential to deter abuse and to reassure the public that employers are not undercutting resident workers.
