As of 7 April 2026, the Fair Work Agency (FWA) has begun operating, fundamentally changing how workplace rights are enforced in the UK. This single “super-regulator” body brings together several existing agencies and, over time, will take on responsibility for a much wider range of law that may relate to employees and/or workers.
For screen industry businesses, this means one place to turn for guidance – but also stronger enforcement powers and tougher penalties for non-compliance.
If you’ve been following our series of articles here on the Employment Rights Act 2025, you’ll have seen the FWA mentioned in relation to statutory sick pay, holiday pay, and collective redundancy. This article explains what the FWA is, what powers it has, and what it means for your business.
The Fair Work Agency and the wider Employment Rights Act 2025 framework apply in Great Britain (England, Scotland & Wales); the position in Northern Ireland differs. The national minimum wage applies UK wide.
The FWA is an Executive Agency of the Department for Business and Trade. Its purpose is to consolidate specified enforcement functions that were previously carried out across multiple bodies, which may include:
The intention is for a single, recognisable enforcement body with a clearer strategy and leadership, combining compliance support (guidance and advice) with enforcement action where appropriate.
Many people who work as ‘freelancers’ in film and TV, actors, crew, lighting designers, DOPs and other creatives, may actually be ‘workers’ in legal terms, even if they are paid through self-employment or limited companies and even if you and they consider the relationship ‘freelance’.
An actor on a long-running series, or a DOP brought in exclusively for a production and taking creative direction, may well be a ‘worker’ (or even an employee), not genuinely self-employed, even if they invoice through a loan-out company.
The FWA’s remit varies depending on the legal status of the person doing the work. As well as enforcing employees’ rights, it may focus on worker-specific protections such as guaranteed hours or reasonable notice of shifts.
It has no jurisdiction over genuine freelancers but has a specific mandate to tackle “bogus self-employment.” This is where a business labels someone a “freelancer” but the FWA determines they are legally a “worker”, and the FWA may step in to enforce their rights retrospectively for up to six years (five years in Scotland).
The Act gives the FWA a comprehensive set of enforcement powers, based on existing enforcement bodies but expanded to cover its broader remit.
Workplace inspection powers
FWA enforcement officers can enter workplaces to inspect records and require businesses to produce documents and evidence demonstrating compliance with the law. This is similar to current minimum wage inspection powers but applies across the FWA’s full remit.
Civil penalty regime (Notices of Underpayment)
Where enforcement officers find that businesses have underpaid those that work for them (for example below minimum wage, or failing to pay statutory sick or holiday pay where applicable), they can issue a Notice of Underpayment.
This requires the business to:
Power to bring tribunal proceedings on employees’ and workers’ behalf
The FWA can take cases to the Employment Tribunal on behalf of employees or workers in the areas it covers, and can offer legal advice and assistance to people involved in employment or trade union law cases. It can also help recover unpaid tribunal awards. This removes the burden from individuals having to navigate the employment tribunal system alone, which should make enforcement more accessible for vulnerable workers who might otherwise struggle.
Labour market enforcement regime (criminal offences)
For serious breaches involving labour market criminal offences, the FWA can issue:
Cost recovery powers
The FWA can charge businesses to recover the costs of enforcement action taken against them. The details will be set out in future regulations.
Since April 2026 (Phase 1):
Later stages:
More unified, stronger enforcement
Previously, if you were confused about compliance with workplace rights, you might have needed to contact several different agencies. Now there is one place to go. That is helpful, but it also means the FWA has more resources and clearer strategic focus than the previous fragmented system.
Holiday pay and statutory sick pay enforcement coming
Holiday Pay and Statutory Sick Pay are not yet within the FWA’s remit: Holiday Pay enforcement is expected to follow from 2027 and Statutory Sick Pay later, and until then Acas is the first port of call for concerns about these rights.
Large numbers of workers, particularly the lowest-paid, do not receive the holiday pay they are owed. When the FWA takes this on, businesses that have not been paying it correctly risk inspection, penalties and back-payments. Given the prevalence of short-term contracts and complex working arrangements in screen industries, this is an area to get right.
Minimum wage enforcement
The Low Pay Commission estimates that just under 20% of people paid at or around the minimum wage floor were underpaid in 2024 (around 371,000 jobs). The FWA will continue and strengthen minimum wage enforcement. If you have employees or workers on or near minimum wage (runners, junior assistants and the like), make sure you are calculating this correctly, including for things like unpaid travel time or required uniform costs that can push effective hourly pay below the minimum.
In practice, minimum wage enforcement continues to be carried out by HMRC officers, who now act as the FWA’s enforcement officers for the minimum wage under an arrangement made by the Secretary of State. The FWA sets the strategy, and operational responsibility is expected to pass to it over time.
The risks are not hypothetical. In September 2026, the government named around 660 businesses that had failed to pay the minimum wage, returning about £4 million to more than 27,000 workers and issuing £7 million in penalties. It was the first naming round since the FWA was set up, and the list included a national cinema chain. Beyond the back-pay and penalties, the lasting cost for many businesses is reputational, which is why getting the minimum wage right matters as much for a production’s standing as for its budget.
Agency workers
Agency workers are those supplied to you by a recruitment agency or employment business. The agency is their employer (or engages them), but they work under your supervision and direction. If you use agency workers, the FWA will enforce agency worker protections. This includes ensuring agencies comply with regulations around terms and conditions, pay between assignments, and not charging workers fees.
Cost recovery
If the FWA takes enforcement action against your business, you may have to pay not just penalties and back-pay, but also the FWA’s costs of investigating and enforcing. This could make non-compliance very expensive.
Audit your compliance now
Review your practices around:
Keep good records
The FWA has powers to inspect records. Make sure you are keeping clear documentation of:
Understand employment status properly
As noted above, the FWA’s enforcement areas (minimum wage, Holiday Pay, SSP) apply only to employees or workers, not the genuinely self-employed. If you are treating people as self-employed when they are actually employees or workers, this creates a liability. The FWA can look at the reality of working arrangements, not just what your contracts say or what you consider the relationship to be.
And… watch out for further implementation details as the FWA takes on its later-stage responsibilities.