Guides · Compliance

Right to Work checks for courier subcontractors: what changed in October 2026

By the Qinetic team · Updated October 2026

For years, plenty of courier firms treated Right to Work checks as an employee problem. Owner drivers were self-employed, so the check was their business, not yours. From 1 October 2026 that stops being true for most same-day courier operations, and the fines are counted per driver.

What changed

Section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 amends the illegal working rules so that an "employer" is no longer only someone with employees. Alongside a revised Home Office code of practice, it now also covers a business that:

• engages someone under a worker's contract, to do work personally;
• engages an individual subcontractor: a person who does the work where your business holds the contract with a third party to provide it; or
• runs an online platform that matches individual workers with customers.

Read the second bullet again with a courier firm in mind. You hold the contract with your customer, and an owner driver does the work. That is the arrangement the change is aimed at.

Substitutes are the trap

Many owner-driver agreements give the driver a right to send a substitute. It's often there on purpose, as part of the self-employed status argument. Under the new rules, if a contract allows substitution, you only have a defence if you have checked each substitute yourself before they start work. You can't hand that responsibility to the driver, and you need to be able to show that the person doing the work is the person you checked.

In practice that means a substitute should go through the same onboarding as any other driver before they pick up their first job, not after.

Liability can travel up the chain

The Home Office will still look first at the business with the direct contract. But if that business can't be identified, or another business in the chain can't show it met the prescribed requirements, liability can move up. Those requirements cover written contract terms about checks and subcontracting, controls on substitutes, and identity verification. If you subcontract work on to other courier firms, check what your contracts say. If you take work from larger networks, expect them to start asking for evidence of your checks.

What it can cost

Civil penalties are up to £45,000 per worker for a first breach and up to £60,000 per worker for repeat breaches. For a firm with a dozen owner drivers and no checks on file, the exposure is not theoretical.

What to do now

1. List everyone who drives for you, including occasional drivers and substitutes, not just your regulars.
2. Check each one before their next job using a prescribed method: a manual document check, the Home Office online service with a share code, or a registered digital verification provider. Keep the evidence and the date.
3. Record time limits. Where someone has permission for a limited period, note the date and recheck before it runs out.
4. Fix your contracts. Add terms covering who does checks, how substitutes are approved and what happens if a check fails. Take advice on the wording.
5. Make substitution a process. No substitute works until they are onboarded and checked like any other driver.

How Qinetic helps

Drivers submit their identity evidence or Home Office share code from the Qinetic app or driver portal. The office reviews it, attaches the official result, and records the decision and any dates against the driver, next to their licence, insurance and vehicle records. Qinetic doesn't make the decision for you; it gives you one place to collect the evidence and prove you did the check. It's included in Core at £5 per driver per month. See how Right to Work checks work in Qinetic.

Common questions

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Sources: GOV.UK: illegal working penalties, codes of practice for employers, commencement regulations (SI 2026/683) and GOV.UK: right to work checks, employer's guide. Confirm your arrangements with an immigration or employment adviser.