A practical checklist for construction firms

Workforce Assured readiness: A practical checklist for construction firms preparing for the new compliance standard

In our previous article, we explored why the construction industry is moving rapidly toward more ethical, transparent and auditable workforce management — and how frameworks like Workforce Assured are shaping what ‘good practice’ now looks like across the sector.

But understanding the framework is only the first step. The real question many organisations now face is:

“Where do we stand today, and how far are we from being Workforce Assured ready?”

This third instalment in our series gives you exactly that: a practical, structured checklist to help construction firms assess their current maturity, identify gaps and take concrete steps towards alignment with the Workforce Assured standard.

Whether you intend to pursue accreditation immediately or simply want to future-proof your supply chain governance, this readiness guide will help you measure progress and prioritise your next actions.

1. Recruitment & employment terms:
are workers being engaged legally and transparently?

Workforce Assured begins with ethical and lawful recruitment practices. To assess readiness, ask yourself:

✔ Readiness checks

• Do you have a standardised onboarding process for all workers, including subcontractor-supplied labour?
• Are Right-to-Work documents collected, validated and stored consistently for every worker?
• Is there a central repository where all contracts, certifications and IDs are kept — not just for direct hires, but across every subcontractor tier?
• Are you able to demonstrate that only compliant workers are allowed on site at any time?
• Do you have visibility on document expiry dates (visas, certifications, insurance)?

Common gaps

• Inconsistent onboarding between sites or suppliers
• Missing or expired Right-to-Work evidence
• Manual document storage, resulting in audit inconsistencies
• Lack of downstream visibility of Tier 2 and Tier 3 recruitment sources

2. Wages & payment transparency:
are pay practices fair, prompt and documented?

Financial transparency is central to Workforce Assured.

✔ Readiness checks

• Do you operate with standardised rate cards across suppliers and projects?
• Are all pay rates pre-approved and linked to compliant worker categories?
• Can you trace payment flows from client to worker — including any fees or deductions?
• Are payment delays monitored and resolved quickly?
• Is there a digital link from approved timesheets to invoicing?
  

 Common gaps

• Variable rates between suppliers leading to non-compliance
• Hidden fees or unclear deductions
• Manual timesheet approval causing payment delays
• No visibility of how intermediary suppliers process pay

3. Workforce wellbeing: are workers supported, informed and able to raise concerns?

Beyond technical compliance, Workforce Assured looks closely at how organisations support worker welfare.

✔ Readiness checks

• Do workers receive clear information about wellbeing resources and grievance channels?
• Are policies (H&S, wellbeing, site conduct) distributed consistently across all worker types?
• Do remote or agency workers have access to the same information as direct staff?
• Are training and certifications tracked centrally?

Common gaps

• Wellbeing communication only reaches direct employees
• Subcontractors not aligned with your welfare standards
• No audit trail of which workers received which information
• Difficulty demonstrating consistent worker engagement

4. Modern slavery prevention:
do you understand what happens in your lower tiers?

One of the most challenging Workforce Assured requirements is mapping and monitoring labour supply-chain risk.

✔ Readiness checks

• Do all suppliers submit and renew their Modern Slavery policies?
• Can you map labour sources beyond Tier 1?
• Are intermediary labour providers vetted and approved before engagement?

Common gaps

• Limited visibility beyond Tier 1
• No centralised record of supplier policy acceptance
• Intermediaries onboarding workers without proper checks
• Incomplete audit evidence of ethical sourcing

5. Compliance & integrity:
are you audit-ready at any moment?

This is where Workforce Assured ultimately judges consistency, governance and control.

✔ Readiness checks

• Do you maintain a single system or source of truth for all workforce data?
• Can you quickly retrieve compliance evidence for any worker, project or supplier?
• Are approvals, checks and document uploads timestamped and traceable?
• Are compliance breaches flagged and acted upon automatically?

 Common gaps

• Compliance evidence scattered across systems, inboxes and spreadsheets
• Audit preparation requiring days of manual collection
• Actions not logged (verbal approvals, offline processes)
• No consistent audit trail across subcontractor tiers

6. Technology foundation:
Can your current processes scale to audit requirements?

This final category underpins all others. Workforce Assured doesn’t mandate technology — but without it, most organisations cannot meet the practical demands of the audit.

✔ Readiness checks

• Do you have a centralised platform to manage onboarding, documentation, rates, timesheets and supplier compliance?
• Does your system enforce mandatory steps, preventing non-compliant workers from being engaged?
• Can you track compliance in real time across all workforces and tiers?
• Do your suppliers work within the same structured process?

Common gaps

• Heavy reliance on spreadsheets, email and manual tracking
• No automatic prevention of non-compliant engagements
• Multiple disconnected systems causing data discrepancies
• Limited ability to produce instant audit evidence

Final thoughts:
Readiness is not about perfection. It’s about control.

Preparing for Workforce Assured does not mean achieving perfection overnight. It means moving toward full visibility, traceable processes and consistent governance across your entire extended workforce.
The organisations that make progress fastest are those that:

• centralise documentation
• standardise onboarding and pay practices
• extend governance beyond Tier 1
• adopt technology to enforce and evidence compliance
  
  

Workforce Assured is not simply a destination — it is a framework for building a stronger, more transparent and more resilient labour supply chain.

By following this checklist, you’ll already be ahead of much of the sector.