Employment Alert – Fair Work Agency
What’s happening?
The Fair Work Agency (FWA) came into operation on 7 April 2026.
Its main aims are to protect workers, support fair competition and ensure employers comply with the law.
It is an executive agency, sponsored by the Department for Business and Trade and its creation has consolidated three pre-existing enforcement bodies:
- the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate,
- the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, and
- HMRC’s National Minimum Wage enforcement team.
The FWA is now responsible for enforcing a broad range of employment rights, including:
- National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage;
- Statutory Sick Pay;
- Holiday pay;
- Working time;
- Pension entitlements;
- Employment status and terms of employment;
- Gangmaster rules in the agriculture, horticulture and shellfish gathering industries;
- Agency worker rights;
- Modern slavery rights;
- Powers to enforce employment tribunal awards and COT3 payments;
- Right to work issues;
- Health and safety;
The aim of the FWA is to provide a more accessible route for workers to raise concerns and for the government to take enforcement action.
Workers can access the FWA online and fill out an online form to raise complaints about pay and working rights, report serious workplace abuse or exploitation and check whether a business has the relevant licences. This means workers can report issues about themselves or general concerns, without needing to bring a tribunal claim.
The FWA also has wide enforcement powers, which include the ability to:
- inspect workplaces;
- require the production of documents and evidence;
- publicly name and shame non-compliant employers;
- bring claims in the employment tribunal on behalf of workers and provide legal advice;
- require changes in employer behaviour through Labour Market Enforcement Undertakings and Orders; and
- recover the costs of enforcement from businesses found to be in breach.
In addition, if the FWA find that an employee or worker has been underpaid, it can issue a Notice of Underpayment, requiring employers to pay the sums owed. This can cover historical underpayments going back over a 6 year period and includes unpaid wages, statutory sick pay, holiday pay and other statutory entitlements.
The FWA has already shown itself to be a proactive body and is carrying out regular inspections. They often give relatively short notice to an employer of a visit and can target any business, large or small. No business is immune to a visit from the FWA.
Why is this important?
The creation of the FWA signals a clear shift towards more proactive and accessible enforcement of employment rights.
For employers, the most significant change is that workers no longer need to rely on bringing their own employment tribunal claim to enforce basic statutory rights such as pay, sick pay and holiday pay. Instead, they can complain directly to a state enforcement body who can investigate it on their behalf and seek to put right any failings if they are found.
These powers increase both financial exposure and reputational risk for businesses. The power to publicly name non-compliant employers is a strong sanction and could carry serious commercial consequences and cause substantial harm to a business’s reputation.
On 11 May 2026, the FWA published a report which found, that over the two years leading up to summer 2025, 14% of UK workers experienced at least one legal violation of their core rights. The report also highlighted the broader range of issues within workplaces, including unlawful deduction of wages, unpaid overtime, bullying and harassment, physical injuries and negative mental health due to work. Such issues are detrimental to workplace morale and worker’s wellbeing yet it was found that 7 in 10 workers experience at least one of these issues during their employment. The report showcased the current problems caused by out-of-date policies and workplace practices and flagged these as issues which employers should resolve to prevent investigation by the FWA.
What should you do?
Stay Tuned: We will keep you informed on further developments on employment rights and the Fair Work Agency.
Review: Consider your processes and documentation to ensure payroll records, working time records and contracts are accurate. If current policies and contracts are not up to date, put this on your to do list and action it quickly.
Respond: If an employee raises concerns about workplace practices in a grievance or any other format, do not ignore it. Investigate and take any necessary steps to resolve the issue to reduce the risk of the employee taking it further and making a report to the FWA.
Take Advice: If you require advice on how these changes may affect your business or would like support reviewing and updating your policies and contracts, please contact [email protected] who can put you in touch with one of our specialist employment lawyers.
This article is for information only and does not constitute legal advice. We recommend seeking professional advice before taking any action on the information provided. If you would like to discuss your specific circumstances, please feel free to contact us on 0800 2800 421.
