Employment Rights Bill

The Employment Rights Bill will create a new state enforcement agency, which is likely to be called the Fair Work Agency (FWA).

The FWA will combine the current enforcement roles of three separate bodies: HMRC (in relation to the national minimum wage), the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (in relation to labour exploitation) and the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (in relation to agency workers).

It will also take on the powers of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement, which will be subsumed by the new body (for example, the ability to levy financial penalties on employers who fail to pay tribunal awards).

The FWA will have some additional jurisdictions, including in relation to SSP, holiday pay and parts of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Further jurisdictions may be added to its remit by future regulations, or during the Bill's passage through Parliament.

The FWA will have the power to:

• obtain documents or information
• enter business premises in order to obtain documents or information
• remove and retain documents or information
• request that ‘labour market enforcement undertakings’ are provided, which are undertakings to comply with prohibitions, restrictions or requirements stipulated by the FWA (and which may last for up to two years), and
• apply to court for a ‘labour market enforcement order’ which prohibits or restricts certain actions or requires certain actions to be taken (and which may last for up to two years)

It’s likely to take at least a couple of years before the FWA is up and running.

The previous government consulted in 2021 on setting up such an agency but it came to nothing.