When a government agency publishes a “delivery plan”, most people scroll past. Fair enough. The phrase sounds like paperwork about paperwork. But the Fair Work Agency’s first plan, published on 10 August, is worth two minutes, because it tells you where enforcement is heading and what to do about it.
Here is the whole thing, minus the jargon.
One. The FWA wants to be clearer and better known. It says it will make the system simpler to understand and easier to report problems to, and it wants more workers and employers to know it exists. In plain terms, more people will hear about it, and more of them will know how to raise a complaint.
Two. Enforcement is going to be more visible. The FWA already has real powers. It can inspect a workplace, ask for your records, issue penalties for underpayment and bring a tribunal claim on a worker’s behalf. The new plan says it will use those powers more visibly this year. Visible cases change behaviour across a whole sector, not just at the business involved.
Three. It is building better tools. The plan mentions digital tools to make complying easier. That is quietly the most useful part. It points to a future where compliance is something you can check, not something you hope you got right.
And one date to keep in mind. From April 2027, minimum wage enforcement moves out of HMRC and into the FWA. Holiday pay enforcement is expected to start in 2027 too, and not before April 2027. Neither date changed this week. Both are worth planning around now.
So what does an agency owner actually do with this? Not much that is dramatic. The right response to “enforcement is getting more visible” is a tidy house, and a tidy house comes down to three checks.
First, right to work. Every worker on assignment should have a right to work check that is complete and dated. If you cannot put your hand on it in a minute, fix that first.
Second, contracts that tell the truth. Your contracts should match how people actually work. This matters most for anyone on zero or low hours, which is exactly the area the government is reforming right now.
Third, pay records that add up. If someone asked to see how a worker’s pay was calculated, could you show them, clearly, today? If yes, you are in good shape. If not, that is your weekend job.
One extra, if you use umbrella companies. Since 6 April 2026 the agency that supplies the worker can be liable for PAYE if the umbrella fails to pay it. The FWA’s sharper focus makes that risk more worth managing, not less. Know exactly which umbrellas your desks use, and how comfortable you are with them.
None of this is new law arriving this week. It is a signal about direction. The agencies that treat compliance as a normal, boring part of running a desk will find the next two years far calmer than those that leave it to luck.
We have updated our plain-English guide to the Fair Work Agency to reflect the new plan. The full version is at ior.org/fair-work-agency-explained.
If you would rather not track all of this yourself, that is what BIOR Agency Membership and the Agency Compliance Pack are for. Have a look when you have a moment.