New Fair Work Agency risks becoming a ‘toothless watchdog’, experts warn
Published: 8 April 2026
A joint briefing from the Institute of Employment Rights warns that the Government’s new workplace watchdog, the Fair Work Agency, risks failing to deliver meaningful protections for workers unless urgent changes are made.
A joint briefing from the Institute of Employment Rights warns that the Government’s new workplace watchdog, the Fair Work Agency, risks failing to deliver meaningful protections for workers unless urgent changes are made.
The briefing, authored by David Whyte, Queen Mary University of London and Ruth Dukes, University of Glasgow, highlights longstanding weaknesses in the UK’s system of workplace enforcement and argues that the new Agency could repeat past failures without stronger powers and funding.
The Fair Work Agency was recently launched, bringing together several existing enforcement bodies into a single organisation intended to improve compliance with employment law.
However, the report warns that the Agency will operate within a weakened regulatory system, with funding for enforcement bodies reduced by at least 58% in real terms.
It also says that workplace inspections and enforcement activity have fallen sharply over the past 15 years.
There is currently no credible threat of unannounced inspections or prosecution for employers who break the law. However, the increasing overlap between labour market enforcement and immigration control has discouraged vulnerable workers from reporting exploitation.
The authors argue that without significant reform, the new Agency risks becoming “another toothless watchdog”.
The briefing calls on the Government to:
Ensure the Agency is properly funded, with ring-fenced resources to support its expanded remit.
Introduce a robust inspection regime without advance warning to employers.
Establish a credible threat of prosecution for non-compliance.
Give trade unions a central role in enforcement, including the ability to bring cases to court
Institute of Employment Rights Director James Harrison said: "The government’s new Fair Work Agency must take into account the evidence base that has been assembled by our experts over many years. There are very clear steps that must be taken if the rights of workers and the role of trade unions in the workplace are to be strengthened by the new workplace watchdog. This briefing sets out those steps."
David Whyte, Professor of Socio-legal Studies at Queen Mary University of London, commented: "The history of workplace regulation in this country is one of weak enforcement, chronic underfunding and deference to big business. The Fair Work Agency must be given the powers and resources it needs, or it risks becoming just another toothless regulator."
Ruth Dukes, Professor of Labour Law at the University of Glasgow, added: "Labour’s New Deal for Working People was clear in saying that any labour protections are only worth the paper they are written on if they are enforced. It’s high time that proper efforts were made by government to strengthen enforcement and ensure that workers’ rights are complied with."
First published: 8 April 2026