Establishment of Fair Work Agency to enforce employment rights
Implementation date: Not expected before 2026
The Employment Rights Bill establishes a single labour market enforcement body.
The Fair Work Agency will incorporate existing agencies, including the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, the National Minimum Wage Unit and the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate.
The new body will be responsible for enforcing rights including:
- the national minimum wage;
- statutory sick pay;
- holiday pay;
- regulations for employment agencies;
- unpaid employment tribunal awards;
- the licensing regime for businesses operating as "gangmasters" in certain sectors; and
- parts of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
It will have powers to inspect workplaces, issue fines, bring civil proceedings and prosecutions.
It is not yet known when this measure will come into force. In its Next Steps to Make Work Pay policy paper, the Government said it expects to begin consulting in 2025 on the various measures covered in the Bill and that it anticipates that "the majority of reforms will take effect no earlier than 2026".
