Fair Work Agency Could Gain Enforcement and Arrest Powers

The Fair Work Agency (FWA) has begun exercising labour market enforcement powers as of April 7, 2026, as part of the implementation of the Employment Rights Act 2025. The new state enforcement body, championed by former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, possesses significant powers to ensure compliance with employment laws, including the ability to conduct unannounced inspections and use force when deemed reasonable and necessary.

Under the new regulations, FWA enforcement officers in England and Wales are granted powers akin to police through the application of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. These authorities allow officials to obtain warrants to search properties, seize evidence, and arrest individuals suspected of committing labour market offences.

Scope of Enforcement and Remit

The agency is initially charged with overseeing specific areas of employment rights, including those previously managed by other enforcement bodies. The FWA has taken over functions from the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) and the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EASI).

The current remit of the Fair Work Agency covers the following areas:

• National minimum wage (NMW) rights, including entitlement and record-keeping requirements.
• Statutory holiday pay, including rules for rolled-up holiday pay for part-year workers and those with irregular hours.
• Statutory sick pay.
• Modern slavery offences and labour exploitation.
• Rules regarding employment agencies and employment businesses.
• Gangmasters licensing.

The agency also enforces a new obligation for employers to maintain records of statutory holiday entitlement and pay for six years. Failure to comply with these record-keeping requirements is a criminal offence punishable by a fine.

While these areas are currently active, the government has provided broad powers to extend the FWA’s remit to cover additional employment rights in the future. Ministers have encouraged the agency to identify where strategic or operational changes may be required to expand its scope.

Investigatory and Punitive Powers

The Employment Rights Bill established a range of enforcement mechanisms to ensure employer compliance. These include the power to require individuals to provide information and the authority to enter premises to retrieve documents.

In certain instances, the agency can require employers to provide undertakings. These requirements are backed by criminal offences. Recent amendments to the legislation have further empowered the agency to penalize failures to pay statutory sick pay and holiday pay through financial penalties and the recovery of enforcement costs from the employer.

The FWA is also enabled to maintain continuity in investigatory powers relating to communications data to support its operations.

Business and Industry Reaction

The scale of the agency’s powers has caused concern among business leaders, who have described the FWA as a jobs police.

The Fair Work Agency will already have significantly broader powers than the enforcement bodies it has replaced, such as the authority to enter business premises without a warrant.

Alex Hall-Chen, Institute of Directors

Hall-Chen further noted that the instruction for the agency to expand its remit could potentially lead to the extension of its powers beyond the original purpose without sufficient consultation with businesses or proper scrutiny.

Tina McKenzie of the Federation of Small Businesses highlighted that small businesses are already dealing with a significant volume of change resulting from the Employment Rights Act.

Implementation Timeline

The transition of enforcement responsibilities to the FWA on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business and Trade became effective on April 7, 2026. While the agency can now carry out enforcement activity in its own name, the government has stated that the takeover of national minimum wage enforcement and other specific employment rights will occur in due course, though a specific timetable for these remaining changes has not yet been confirmed.

Additional commencement regulations are still required before the relevant provisions of the Employment Rights Act 2025 are fully brought into force.