The UK’s new Fair Work Agency: a pivotal moment to protect all workers

The UK’s new Fair Work Agency (FWA) launches today, representing a major shift in how labour market enforcement operates.

This is a pivotal moment to build an enforcement system that protects workers in the most precarious situations, prevents exploitation before it happens, and delivers on the UK and Scotland’s shared commitment to fair work.

Achieving this outcome hinges on whether frontline insight will shape how this new system is implemented.

A new enforcement landscape

The Fair Work Agency brings together existing enforcement functions that have so far been fragmented across multiple bodies:

• the Employment Agencies Standards Inspectorate (EAS), regulating employment agencies
• the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), overseeing labour exploitation in high-risk sectors such as agriculture and food processing
• HMRC National Minimum Wage compliance and enforcement. 
• and the oversight role of the Office of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement.

It also takes on an expanded remit, including enforcing rights related to holiday pay, Statutory Sick Pay, zero-hours contracts and Fair Pay Agreements. This consolidation creates a stronger foundation for coordinated action. 

But structural change alone will not ensure that enforcement reaches the workers who are most at risk.

From policy ambition to frontline reality

Through our day-to-day work, the Worker Support Centre (WSC) clearly sees where enforcement succeeds – and where it fails. 

In 2024/25 alone, we submitted 39 cases to enforcement bodies that highlight persistent patterns:

• workers living and working in isolated conditions
• significant barriers to workers understanding and exercising their rights
• fear of reporting, particularly where immigration status shapes risk
• enforcement that is too often reactive, rather than preventative
• very limited capacity causing slow and low response rates

These are not isolated incidents – they point to systemic gaps in how enforcement operates in practice.

WSC is currently leading the conversation on what enforcement needs to look like, working at this intersection of frontline support, enforcement engagement and policy change. We support workers to navigate enforcement systems in real time, while feeding that learning directly into discussions with policymakers and regulators.

What effective enforcement looks like in practice

Based on our frontline experience alongside workers, and informed by the two high-level discussions we convened ahead of the FWA’s launch, we believe effective enforcement must be:

• Accessible to hard-to-reach workers, using their own languages, communicating clearly and bridging cultural divides.
• Trusted by workers, including by maintaining separation from immigration control activities and making safe reporting – anonymous if necessary – a priority.
• Worker-centred, starting from their perspective and helping them overcome the many barriers they face to reporting problems at work.
• Connected, based near workers and available when they are free to speak, taking into account the isolation many face and the restrictive nature of many work visas. 
• Resourced, to do the huge job it has been set to do – enabling rapid inspections and reaching the International Labour Organisation’s recommended ratio of one inspector to 10,000 workers. 

Alongside this, the new FWA must focus on systemic patterns of exploitation, beyond individual breaches – working in partnership with trusted frontline organisations, trade unions and community groups to identify risks early and intervene effectively.

Why this matters now

The launch of the Fair Work Agency is a rare window to shape how enforcement operates for years to come.

For WSC, this is also a moment to invest in the infrastructure that makes enforcement effective – including our work to:

• support workers to safely engage with enforcement systems
• generate real-time insight into how those systems function
• and translate that learning into policy and practice.

Without this connection, enforcement risks missing those most at risk – and failing to deliver on its promise.

Building a system that reflects our values

At its core, proper, inclusive enforcement is about the kind of country we want to be. We all benefit from the work of people who come to Scotland to harvest our food and care for our communities. They should be able to work with dignity, safety and respect.

The new Fair Work Agency creates an opportunity to make that vision a reality.

At the WSC we will continue to work alongside workers, enforcement bodies and policymakers to ensure that this system delivers in practice, not just in principle.

With the right investment and collaboration, we can build an enforcement system that truly protects every worker.