In brief. The Fair Work Agency is the single government body that now enforces core employment rights in Great Britain. On 26 August 2026 the government confirmed its remit is broad. Alongside minimum wage, holiday pay and agency worker rules, it protects vulnerable workers under modern slavery law, and where serious exploitation falls short of that threshold it can prosecute under fraud law. For agencies, that means one well-resourced regulator now covers most of the risk that used to sit across several bodies. Getting your paperwork, pay and supply chain in order is the way to stay clear of it.
Updated 3 September 2026. New section on the Fair Work Agency's widened enforcement remit, following the government's 26 August 2026 update to the FWA enforcement policy statement (its modern slavery role and a Fraud Act route for serious labour exploitation). Previously updated 17 August 2026 for the first delivery plan.
On 7 April 2026, the way employment rights are enforced in the UK changed structurally. The Fair Work Agency (FWA) launched as a single enforcement body, absorbing the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EAS) — the regulator recruitment agencies have dealt with for decades — and replacing the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA). HMRC's National Minimum Wage enforcement team now sits under the FWA's oversight, with day-to-day enforcement continuing under HMRC until the full transfer completes in 2027.
For recruiters, this is not a rebrand. Three regulators with different priorities, powers and postbags have become one body with a single view of your business.
What the first delivery plan says
The delivery plan is the FWA’s own statement of what it will do this year. Three things stand out.
First, a clearer and simpler system. The FWA says it wants workers and employers to find it easier to understand their rights and duties, and easier to report problems. It plans to raise its public profile so more people know it exists.
Second, more visible and impactful enforcement. The agency already has real powers. The plan says it will use them more visibly over the year. For an agency owner, “more visible” is the operative phrase. Cases that get noticed change behaviour across a sector.
Third, operational and digital improvements. The FWA plans to build digital tools that make complying with the rules easier. That is a useful signal. The direction of travel is towards compliance being checkable, not guessed at.
Minimum wage enforcement moves in April 2027
The delivery plan confirms that the National Minimum Wage enforcement unit currently in HMRC will transfer into the FWA from April 2027. After that, the FWA takes on further enforcement duties in stages. Enforcement of statutory holiday pay is also expected to begin in 2027, and not before April 2027, with timing subject to further consultation. None of these dates changed this week. They are worth planning around now.
What the delivery plan means for agencies
The practical read is short. One, the agency that checks your candidates, contracts and pay records is getting more organised and more visible, so assume you could be asked to show your paperwork. Two, the safest position is boring and documented. Right to work checks done and dated, contracts that match how people actually work, and pay records that add up. Three, if you use umbrella companies, remember that since 6 April 2026 the supplying agency can be liable for PAYE where the umbrella fails. That remains the single biggest live risk on most desks, and the FWA’s sharper focus makes it more important, not less.
None of this needs panic. It needs a tidy house. The agencies that treat compliance as a normal part of running the desk will find the next two years far calmer than those that leave it to chance.
What to do this month
Check three things before the end of August. Are your right to work checks complete and dated for every worker on assignment. Do your contracts reflect the real pattern of hours, especially for anyone on zero or low hours. Can you produce clean pay records if asked. If the answer to any of those is “not sure”, that is where to start. Our free 12-point compliance health check covers all of it.
What the FWA enforces
Everything the EAS enforced still applies. That includes the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, the Employment Agencies Act 1973, and the rules on fees, advertising, and worker protections that flow from them. Licensing obligations that sat with the GLAA continue for the sectors they covered. National Minimum Wage and holiday pay enforcement continues through HMRC under FWA oversight. The difference is joined-up intelligence. A complaint about one part of your operation can now surface issues in another, because the same body sees all of it.
The widened remit confirmed on 26 August 2026
The government updated the FWA's enforcement policy statement on 26 August 2026 to spell out its modern slavery remit. Two points stand out for agencies.
First, the FWA has a role protecting vulnerable and exploited workers under sections 1 and 2 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Its officers can use police-style (PACE) powers when they investigate suspected serious labour market offences.
Second, and this is the sharper point, the statement says that where serious labour exploitation does not meet the threshold for a modern slavery offence, the FWA may investigate and prosecute under the Fraud Act 2006. In plain terms, the regulator has more than one legal route to act. If a case is not "modern slavery" in the strict sense, that is not the end of the matter.
Modern slavery offences are devolved in Scotland and Northern Ireland, so in those nations the FWA continues to work closely with the police, local authorities and other bodies rather than acting alone.
What the wider remit means for your agency
None of this is aimed at ordinary, well-run agencies, and it is not a reason to panic. The honest read is that the risk which used to be spread across several regulators is now concentrated in one that is better resourced and has broad powers. That raises the value of getting the basics right and being able to show it.
In practice, that means three things. Know your supply chain. If you place workers through other businesses, or take workers from them, you should understand who is really employing and paying them. Keep your pay and records clean. Minimum wage, holiday pay and accurate payslips are the areas the FWA looks at first, and good records are your best defence. And treat worker-welfare concerns seriously. A complaint that is handled properly and early is very different from one that reaches a regulator cold.
Run a simple check against the areas the FWA enforces. Are your workers paid at least the minimum wage for every hour, including time that is easy to miss such as travel between assignments or waiting time? Is holiday pay calculated correctly and paid? Are your Key Information Documents and contracts current? If you use umbrella companies, do you know they are paying workers correctly? If you can answer those cleanly, you are in good shape. If any answer is "I am not sure", that is where to start. The wider FWA remit does not change your day-to-day duties. It raises the stakes on doing them well, and on being able to prove you do.
What's genuinely new
The FWA arrives alongside the phased rollout of the Employment Rights Act 2025 — so its remit will grow as the Act's provisions come into force through 2026 and 2027 (see the ERA timeline). An agency that last thought hard about EAS inspections some years ago should assume the inspection environment from here is more active, more coordinated, and more interested in documentation than its predecessors were.
What to do this quarter
First, confirm who in your business owns FWA compliance — in most SME agencies that is the director, in writing, not by default. Second, dust off the last EAS-era self-audit. Go back over terms of engagement with work-seekers, key information documents for temps, advertising accuracy, and fee transparency. Third, check your payroll chain. If you use umbrella companies, regulation of umbrellas is coming and the FWA will be the body enforcing it — agencies that can show due diligence on their chain now will be in a very different position from those that can't. Finally, put your paperwork where you can find it. The consistent lesson from every enforcement regime is that the businesses that suffer are rarely the deliberate offenders — they are the ones that cannot evidence compliance quickly when asked.