The Fair Work Agency, the labour market enforcement body created in April under Labour’s Employment Rights Act, responded to 2,741 labour abuse inquiries in the first quarter of this year, up 87 per cent on the same period a year earlier, according to its chief executive, Lisa Pinney.
National minimum wage inquiries rose 19 per cent to 2,933 over the same period. Pinney attributes the increase to “greater awareness” about workers’ rights and about the agency itself.
The agency asks itself two questions daily, Pinney says. The first: “How do we get money that’s owed back to individuals?” The second, in serious cases: “How do we make sure we take legal action to prevent it from happening again?”
Its remit is set to widen. The government has not yet fixed the date from which the agency will take responsibility for policing holiday and sick pay. A Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade consultation on holiday pay compliance and enforcement closes on 22 September.
The Resolution Foundation, a think tank, estimates that 900,000 workers a year have some holiday pay withheld, with the total owed worth about £2.1 billion. The Low Pay Commission estimates that about 371,000 people were underpaid the national minimum wage in 2024.
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