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Regulations have been made under the Employment Rights Act 2025 and the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to ensure labour market enforcement and licensing functions can be carried out from 7 April 2026 by the Fair Work Agency (FWA), on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business and Trade.
From 7 April 2026, the FWA will take over the functions of the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EASI), in relation to agency workers, and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), in relation to gangmaster licensing and labour exploitation. The powers currently exercisable by these bodies will be transferred to the Secretary of State.
The Fair Work Agency will take over responsibility for the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage from HMRC and, down the line, other employment rights such as holiday pay and statutory sick pay (SSP).
An article in The Times highlighted that the FWA will have police-style surveillance powers and will be able to access communications data of those suspected of breaching employment law. Enforcement officers will also have powers akin to Police powers under the Investigatory Powers Act. These will allow authorised officers to obtain communications data to support investigations into serious labour market offences such as wage exploitation and modern slavery.
The FWA can compel the production of documents, require people to attend interviews and impose penalties on employers who fail to comply with the law. It will be empowered to carry out unannounced inspections and use force where this is reasonable and necessary.
It will be able to take employers to tribunals, including on behalf of unions, even if the worker does not wish to (we have yet to see how this will work in practice).
The FWA will also have the power to apply to the courts for labour market enforcement orders, which can impose restrictions or requirements on businesses to prevent further breaches, as well as criminal sanctions for those who fail to comply.
It is hoped that the FWA will crack down on exploitation, such as a failure to pay the national minimum wage or holiday and sick pay, but whether this is a positive way to address such issues is another matter. It’s all a bit Big Brother is watching you and all quite performative, given that employees have little in the way of enforcement of their rights, given the lack of investment in the Employment Tribunal Services. Time will tell whether this is workable and does indeed resolve the issues for predominantly lower-paid workers. Let’s hope it will.
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