With the Employment Rights Bill expected to receive Royal Assent imminently, focus has turned to the enforcement of employment law in the UK.
Fair Work Agency
The Government says that the Fair Work Agency, which is being established as part of the Employment Rights Bill, will transform how employment rights are enforced across the UK, creating a single enforcement body. The new agency will oversee enforcement of statutory payments including holiday pay, minimum wage and Statutory Sick Pay. The Resolution Foundation estimates that 900,000 UK workers annually have their holiday pay withheld, worth around £2.1 billion.
In October 2025, the Government announced Matthew Taylor as the first Chair of the new Agency. Matthew Taylor CBE is the author of Good Work: Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices, which led to the development of the Good Work Plan (published in 2018). He is also currently chief executive of the NHS Confederation.
The Fair Work Agency will launch in April 2026 and will also have powers to act against employers breaching the law, including workplace inspections, civil penalties for underpayments and the power to bring claims on behalf of workers. It will also provide support for organisations on complying with employment laws.
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Employment Tribunal Fees
Following unconfirmed reports in the national press that the Government was on the verge of reintroducing employment tribunal (ET) fees, the Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy, has ruled this out, saying “everyone, no matter their income” should be able to challenge “unfair behaviour,” confirming that it would “remain free to bring a case to an employment tribunal.”
ET and Employment Appeal Tribunal fees were previously in place between 2013 and 2017. These were abolished by the Supreme Court, which found that the scheme blocked access to justice and were deemed unlawful in a successful judicial review challenge brought by the public sector trade union, Unison.
Under the Conservative government, a public consultation was held between January–March 2024 into the reintroduction of fees. A “modest” £55 issue fee was proposed for all ET claims, except claims for payment from the National Insurance Fund. An appeal fee of the same amount was also proposed for each judgment or decision being appealed.
Although the Employment Rights Bill will be implemented in phases over the next two years as per the Government’s Roadmap for Delivering Change, the focus on the enforcement of employment law is a timely reminder for employers – they must ensure they are up to date and ready to implement the significant raft of new rights workers will be afforded once the Bill comes into effect.
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