Fair Work Agency Has Launched — What It Can Check, Who It's Targeting, and What to Do Now

Today, April 7, 2026, the Fair Work Agency has opened its doors. For the first time in UK employment history, a single enforcement body can walk into your business — without a complaint from a worker — and check your wages, sick pay records, and holiday documentation in one visit.

This is not HMRC. This is not the old National Minimum Wage team. The FWA has new powers, a larger remit, and a deliberate focus on proactive enforcement. If you haven't prepared, the next 90 days are critical.

What the Fair Work Agency Actually Does

The Fair Work Agency replaces three previous enforcement bodies:

• HMRC's National Minimum Wage team — wage compliance
• GLAA — labour exploitation (agency workers, gangmasters)
• EASI — employment agency compliance

It consolidates their powers into one agency with a single mission: enforce employment law fairly and consistently across all UK businesses.

The Power You Need to Understand: Proactive Inspection

Unlike the old HMRC NMW team, the FWA doesn't wait for a worker complaint. It conducts proactive inspections — meaning it can arrive at your business with no warning, no complaint, and no prior relationship.

This is the single biggest shift. Previously, you could avoid scrutiny if your workers didn't complain. Now, the regulator is actively hunting.

What triggers an FWA inspection?

• Sector targeting (hospitality, construction, care homes first)
• Intelligence from other regulators (HMRC, DWP, councils)
• Random compliance audits
• Follow-up visits to previous enforcement cases
• Complaints from workers, but no longer the only trigger

What Does the FWA Check in a Single Visit?

This is where it gets serious. A single FWA inspection can uncover multiple violations at once. They don't come looking for one thing — they audit your entire employment practice in one visit.

The Core Three: Wages, Sick Pay, Holiday Records

1. Wages Compliance

• Are you paying at least the National Living Wage (£12.71 as of April 1)?
• Are you deducting illegally (uniforms, equipment, tips, "till shortages")?
• Are you paying piece-rate workers at legal minimums?
• Do your payroll records match your claimed hours?
• Are you paying zero-hours workers for guaranteed hours under the new obligation?

2. Statutory Sick Pay

• Are you paying SSP from day one (the new rule since April 6)?
• Do your policies still reference the old 3-day wait?
• Are you correctly calculating the £123.25/week flat rate?
• Do you have records of SSP payments?

3. Holiday Records

• Can you prove workers took their 28-day holiday entitlement?
• Do you have records going back 6 years (now a criminal offence if absent)?
• Are you carrying over unused holiday illegally?
• Do your payment-in-lieu calculations match statutory minimums?

All three are checked in a single visit. If you're wrong on any of them, enforcement action is immediate.

The Penalties: What Gets You Fined

The FWA inherits the most aggressive penalty regime in UK employment law:

For National Living Wage non-compliance:

• 200% of the underpayment (double your crime, basically)
• Plus a fine up to £20,000 per worker
• Multiple workers = multiple fines

For SSP or holiday records breaches:

• Up to £5,000 per worker
• £10,000 for failure to keep records
• Criminal prosecution possible (holiday records)

For zero-hours guaranteed hours failures:

• Up to £5,000 per worker

A single inspection of a 20-person care home or hospitality business could result in £100,000+ in fines, plus repayments, plus legal costs.

Who Gets Inspected First? (The FWA's Target List)

The FWA has been clear about its enforcement priorities. These sectors are being actively targeted:

1. Hospitality — pubs, restaurants, hotels, cafes (zero-hours, cash in hand, hidden deductions)
2. Care homes — sleep-in wages, zero-hours guaranteed hours, holiday records
3. Construction — subcontractor compliance, false self-employment, site wages
4. Logistics & warehousing — piece-rate workers, agency labour
5. Agriculture — seasonal workers, gang labour, cash payments

If you're in one of these sectors, assume an inspection is possible within the next 12 months.

What You Need to Do Right Now

This is the action section. Do these four things before end of business today.

1. Audit Your Wages (2 hours)

Run a quick check across your payroll:

• Is every employee paid at least £12.71/hour?
• Scan for any deductions: uniforms, equipment, shortages, "tips pooling" that reduces base wage?
• Check zero-hours workers: are they receiving their guaranteed hours in writing? Are they paid for them?
• Look at piece-rate workers (if any): are they hitting NLW after calculation?

If you find a problem: correct it immediately and backpay any shortfall plus interest (6%).

If you're unsure: use the compliancealert.co.uk/compliance-score tool to identify wage-specific gaps.

2. Check Your Sick Leave Policy (1 hour)

• Pull your employee handbook or SSP policy
• Search for "3 day" or "waiting period" or "eligibility"
• If those words are there, your policy is illegal as written
• Update it today to say: "SSP is payable from the first day of absence at £123.25 per week"
• Communicate the change to all staff (email is fine)

3. Verify Your Holiday Records (3 hours)

This is where most businesses fail the FWA test. Do this carefully:

• Pull records for every employee covering the past 6 years
• Document: dates taken, days taken, payment given
• If records are missing or incomplete, reconstruct what you can from emails, timesheets, or payment history
• Any employee with less than 28 days taken annually: calculate the shortfall value

This is a criminal record-keeping obligation. The FWA will ask to see it. Silence = prosecution risk.

4. Check for Guaranteed Hours Obligations (1 hour)

If you employ zero-hours workers:

• Were any of them employed before April 6, 2026?
• If yes, they may now have a right to guaranteed hours (the number of hours they regularly worked in the 12-month period before April 6)
• Have you issued them written statements confirming their guaranteed hours?
• Are you paying those hours even if no shift is offered?

If you haven't done this, do it today. Send each zero-hours worker a letter saying: "Based on your average hours over the past year, your guaranteed minimum is X hours per week."

Preparation Checklist

Before the FWA arrives (and they will eventually), ensure:

• All employees paid at least £12.71/hour
• No illegal deductions in payroll
• SSP policy updated and communicated
• Holiday records complete and documented (6 years back)
• Zero-hours workers have written guaranteed hours statements
• Payroll records match claimed hours
• Staff handbook updated for April 2026 changes
• All managers trained on new SSP rules

What If You're Not Compliant?

If you find gaps:

1. Fix it immediately — stop the problem today
2. Calculate backpay — FWA will ask how far back the breach goes
3. Document your remediation — show the FWA you've fixed it (helps with penalty reduction)
4. Get professional help — a £500 HR audit is worth avoiding a £100,000 fine

ComplianceAlert tracks FWA enforcement actions, inspections targeting your sector, and related wage/SSP/holiday rule changes in real time. Get alerts before the FWA knocks on your door — not after.

What Happens Next (The FWA's Timeline)

April 2026: FWA begins proactive inspections of hospitality and care homes May–August: Enforcement actions published (named and shamed for serious breaches) September 2026: First major enforcement statistics released (watch for your sector) October onwards: Enforcement patterns become predictable — adjust strategy based on sector trends

The Fair Work Agency isn't a softly-softly regulator. It was created because the old system was too lenient. Expect enforcement to be visible, named, and tough.

The Bottom Line

The Fair Work Agency launched this morning with teeth. It can inspect without warning, check wages + sick pay + holiday records simultaneously, and issue six-figure fines to small businesses that get it wrong.

You have today to fix the obvious gaps. You have this week to audit deeply. You have 90 days before the first wave of published enforcement cases shows you which sectors the FWA is really targeting.

Take it seriously. This is real.

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