You can compare the two sets of sentences below to see why "it" can appear in the relative clause.
1. [There are People] + [It is their work to sweep the street] => There are people whose work it is to sweep the street.
2. [There are People] + [Their work is to sweep the street] => There are people whose work is to sweep the street.
The second sentence of (1) has the placeholder "it" which gets carried over to the relative clause, while (2) doesn't have "it" in the original. The second sentence of (1) and (2) have the exact same meaning, but having "It is" in the beginning makes the sentence read smoother.
Another example:
[He is the caretaker] + [It is his job to watch over the facility] => He is the caretaker whose job it is to watch over the facility.