Awareness
39% could explain what the changes are.
39% of UK recruitment agencies surveyed (22 of 57) could explain what changes regarding right to work checks on 1 October 2026. 19% (11 of 57) had not heard of the changes at all.
Every respondent who had not heard of the changes belonged to a firm of 25 people or fewer. Nine out of the ten firms with more than 100 staff could explain them.
Client pressure
47% have already been asked for guarantees.
47% of UK recruitment agencies surveyed (27 of 57) have already been asked by at least one client for contractual guarantees about their right to work checking process.
Among temp and contract specialists, 18 of 22 have already been asked. Among perm-focused firms, none of the 20 had. All ten firms with more than 100 staff have been asked.
Tracking
58% still track right to work manually.
58% of UK recruitment agencies surveyed (33 of 57) track right to work manually: 13 on spreadsheets, 8 by email, paper or memory, and 12 in an ATS that relies on a human checking it.
23% (13 of 57) use a dedicated checking tool, and 19% (11 of 57) an ATS with automated alerts.
Audit readiness
0 of 13 spreadsheet-reliant firms could evidence right to work on the same day.
None of the 13 firms tracking right to work on spreadsheets could evidence a compliant check for every worker on assignment the same day. Eleven of the 13 using a dedicated checking tool said they could.
16% of agencies (9 of 57) would need longer than a week to evidence their checks.
18 of the 20 firms with a named compliance owner could evidence within 48 hours, against 3 of 15 where an office manager owns compliance and 0 of 7 where consultants handle their own checks.
Automation
44% automate no part of their compliance process.
44% of UK recruitment agencies surveyed (25 of 57) automate no part of their compliance process.
Of the 32 firms with any compliance automation, 25 could evidence checks within 48 hours. Of the 25 with none, three could.
16 of the 18 respondents who were very confident about the new rules run dedicated checking tools or automated ATS alerts. 18 of the 19 who were not confident track manually.
Cost
44% spend 15 or more hours a week on compliance admin.
44% of UK recruitment agencies surveyed (25 of 57) spend 15 or more hours a week on compliance admin across the business.
49% of agencies (28 of 57) have lost or delayed a placement because of compliance admin. Only 10 of those 28 ever put a number on what it cost.
For fact-checkers
Full response counts.
Counts before percentages, so our maths can be checked. n = 57 throughout. Question nine allowed multiple answers, so its counts amount to more than 57. Find the full response counts and cross-tabulations here.
Method: 57 respondents, fieldwork August 2026, a self-selected sample of UK recruitment and compliance leaders reached through our network, targeted ads and direct email. Comparisons with published benchmarks are directional, and no group smaller than ten is broken out.
The full report, method and published benchmarks: stacklogic.co.uk/research/right-to-work-readiness. Quotes from named-role respondents are available on request where the respondent consented.
Media enquiries
Need a comment or an unpublished breakdown?
Every stat on this page traces back to a base count, and there are cuts of the data we have not published. For a quote, a different breakdown, or the original chart files, email Jack Roberts. Same-day replies until 1 October.
