The Fair Work Agency: how to report an employer that breaks the rules
Keep the evidence, use the right reporting route and protect your tribunal deadline. The Fair Work Agency can require minimum-wage arrears, but holiday pay and sick pay are not yet in its remit.
Twenty minutes closing the kitchen, unpaid. A fee taken for finding you a warehouse shift. Your passport kept “for safekeeping”. You can report these problems for free, without a solicitor. The Fair Work Agency can act on minimum-wage breaches, agency misconduct and exploitation. It cannot fix every broken work right. Here is who to contact, what to save and which deadlines keep running.
- 7 Apr
- 2026, when the Agency opened
- 200%
- penalty on minimum-wage arrears
- £20,000
- maximum of that penalty per worker
- Apr 2027
- HMRC wage staff due to transfer
What to do today
Write this pay period down before the rota changes. A grievance does not stop a tribunal clock, and nor does a promise to look into it.
- Record the hours and the money. Note each shift’s start and finish, required closing work, training and travel between care visits or sites. Add the rate, deductions and who told you to stay. Leave client and patient details out.
- Keep copies outside work. Save payslips, rotas, bank payments and messages somewhere you control. If you have no payslip, record what you received and when. Missing paperwork does not cancel your wage entitlement. See your right to written pay details.
- Choose the right route. Use the pay and work rights form for minimum wage, agency misconduct or gangmasters. Use the abuse report or 0800 432 0804 for threats, forced labour, a growing debt used to control you or a withheld passport.
- Say how you can be contacted safely. Ask for your identity to be withheld if that is what you want. A union rep or someone else can report for you. Investigators can ask follow-up questions if you give contact details. In a small team, your employer might still guess who complained.
- Protect your claim deadline. Contact Acas in Great Britain, or the Labour Relations Agency in Northern Ireland, if you may need a tribunal claim. Do not wait for an investigation to finish.
You do not have to do this alone. For kitchens, bars, hotels, security and warehouses, try Unite or GMB. For shops, try Usdaw. For care and NHS support, try UNISON or GMB. Cleaners and delivery riders can try the IWGB. Our union guide helps you choose. If the dispute has already started, ask what a new membership covers. Citizens Advice, a law centre or the Work Rights Centre are other advice routes.
What it can do, and what it cannot
The Agency opened on 7 April 2026 as an executive agency of the Department for Business and Trade. SI 2026/323, regulation 4 commenced its enforcement provisions for specified legislation. It is an enforcement body, not a tribunal. It cannot award compensation for discrimination, lost shifts or dismissal. Schedule 7 to the Employment Rights Act 2025 includes further pay rights, but inclusion in the Act is not the same as commencement.
| What went wrong | Who to tell now |
|---|---|
| Paid below the minimum wage | Fair Work Agency reporting route. HMRC currently delivers enforcement on its behalf |
| An agency charged an unlawful fee, withheld wages or failed to give written terms | Fair Work Agency in Great Britain. See agency worker rights |
| A labour provider operating without a required gangmaster’s licence | Fair Work Agency. Licensing covers agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering and associated processing and packaging across the UK |
| Threats, forced labour, debt bondage or a withheld passport | The abuse form or 0800 432 0804. Call 999 if you are in immediate danger |
| A breach of the 48-hour working-time limit | The pay and work rights form can route this complaint. That does not give the Agency holiday-pay enforcement powers |
| An unpaid tribunal award or Acas COT3 settlement in Great Britain | The Agency’s penalties team can put pressure on the respondent and impose a penalty. Court enforcement is separate |
| Unpaid holiday pay | Raise it with your employer, then Acas and, if necessary, a tribunal in Great Britain. Use the Labour Relations Agency in Northern Ireland |
| Statutory sick pay refused or calculated wrongly | Raise it with your employer, then HMRC’s Statutory Payment Dispute Team |
| Discrimination, dismissal or retaliation requiring compensation | Acas in Great Britain, or the Labour Relations Agency in Northern Ireland, then the appropriate tribunal |
Use the diagram to choose a reporting route. It does not replace advice about your claim deadline.
Minimum-wage protection covers almost all workers, including agency, casual and zero-hours staff. Genuinely self-employed people are outside it. If you are labelled self-employed but rostered and directed like staff, check your employment status and seek advice about reporting the underpayment. Employees have additional dismissal rights. For serious exploitation in England and Wales, the Agency also has criminal enforcement powers, including under section 4 of the Fraud Act 2006. Those powers are not a compensation scheme.
If your visa depends on the employer you are reporting, get independent advice from your union, a law centre or the Work Rights Centre. Skilled Worker visa holders can report exploitation through the abuse form or [email protected]. The Agency is authorised to refer potential victims of modern slavery to the National Referral Mechanism. Reporting is not a promise about what happens to your immigration position.
The bodies it replaced
On 7 April 2026 the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, and the Office of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement were brought into the Agency. Section 148 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 abolishes the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and the Director of Labour Market Enforcement. The Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate was never a separate statutory body, so it moved across without needing to be abolished. It does not abolish HMRC’s wage team. The delivery plan is the practical account. A poster that still says “report the GLAA” is out of date.
Supplying labour without a licence where one is legally required is a criminal offence. Check the public licence register. Licensing enquiries go to 0345 161 6000. That is not the serious-abuse line.
How to report
Two routes. Both free.
Pay, agencies and gangmasters
Use Complain about pay and work rights. It links to an HMRC-hosted form covering minimum wage, the 48-hour limit, employment agencies and gangmasters. You can report a former employer, and someone else can complain for you. You can ask HMRC not to disclose your identity.
From 1 April 2026 the hourly minimums are £12.71 for workers aged 21 and over, £10.85 for those aged 18 to 20, and £8.00 for eligible under-18s and apprentices on the apprentice rate. Our rates guide explains who qualifies. Count all working time, including hours missing from the payslip. Required closing work and travel between care visits can turn a legal-looking rate into an underpayment. Sleep-in rules differ. See care workers’ pay.
Example: a waiter’s uniform deduction
A waiter aged 21 or over works 40 hours at £12.71, earning £508.40. The employer deducts £25 for a compulsory uniform. Pay counting towards the minimum wage falls to £483.40, or about £12.09 an hour. The worker is short by £25, despite the advertised hourly rate. See deductions from wages.
Serious abuse
Use the serious-abuse form, email [email protected] or call 0800 432 0804. Calls are free. The line operates Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, except public holidays, with voicemail outside those hours. Interpreters can be arranged. You can report anonymously. The Agency says, “We will not share your details with anyone you tell us about in your report.” It may share your report with another organisation that can help. In immediate danger, call 999 instead of leaving a message.
Will you get the money?
The Agency can require minimum-wage arrears. It cannot guarantee that a report will recover your money, and it does not award compensation. Its enforcement statement says every complaint is considered, but not every report leads to a formal investigation. Officers assess whether the problem is within their remit and whether further investigation is appropriate. They may ask for records, question workers or visit the business.
A notice of underpayment requires the employer to repay workers and, normally, pay a civil penalty to the government. The penalty is 200% of the underpayment, with a £100 minimum per notice and a maximum of £20,000 per worker. The employer can halve it by paying all arrears and half the penalty within 14 days. Your arrears are not halved. Limited exceptions can remove a penalty, but do not remove the wage debt. A compulsory uniform deduction is not covered by the deduction-scheme exception.
Example: a carer’s unpaid wages
Amina is 21, not on the apprentice rate, and works 40 hours a week at £11.50 throughout 26 weeks under the 2026/27 rates. Assume those hours include all travel between visits that counts as work. She receives £460 a week instead of £508.40. The shortfall is £48.40 a week, giving £1,258.40 in arrears. A standard 200% penalty is £2,516.80, paid to the government. Prompt payment can reduce that penalty to £1,258.40. Amina is still owed all £1,258.40.
If the minimum rate has risen since the underpayment, arrears are uplifted. Divide the original shortfall by the rate that applied then and multiply by the current rate for the same age or apprentice band. Moving into an older age band does not mean old arrears use that older band’s rate. If the current rate is not higher, the original debt remains payable.
Example: an older shortfall paid now
A worker aged 21 or over was underpaid £500 in 2024/25, when the adult rate was £11.44. Using the 2026/27 rate, £500 ÷ £11.44 × £12.71 gives £555.51 in arrears. A rate increase raises the debt. It is not a reason to delay reporting.
Officers can require information, documents and attendance. Visits may be unannounced. Entering a home without consent requires a warrant. Authorised officers have additional arrest and search powers for specified criminal investigations in England and Wales, not Scotland or Northern Ireland. Obstructing an officer or supplying false documents can be a criminal offence.
Employers are normally considered for naming when total arrears are at least £500. A lower threshold of more than £100 applies where the employer has another notice within the previous six years, an outstanding labour-market enforcement undertaking or order, or an unspent minimum-wage conviction. That is different from the prompt-payment penalty reduction.
The September 2026 naming round reported nearly 660 employers, about £4 million repaid to 27,000 workers and about £7 million in penalties. The list included B&Q, healthcare employers and hospitality franchisees. Check whether your employer was named. Absence from the list does not prove they paid correctly.
The Agency can order the missing wage. It cannot order compensation for the shifts you lost, or for the dismissal.
If they punish you for complaining
In Great Britain, asserting your minimum-wage rights is protected. That includes saying the employer may be prosecuted or that you have notified the Agency. Cutting your shifts because you asserted those rights can be unlawful detriment. Dismissing an employee for that reason can be automatically unfair. You still need evidence of why the employer acted.
Worker
- Section 23 of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 covers workers, not only employees
- Cut hours, worse shifts, an assignment ended
- No ordinary unfair-dismissal claim
Employee
- The same detriment protection
- Section 104A: dismissal for asserting the wage is automatically unfair
- No qualifying period. Two years’ service is not required
Keep the messages and compare the rotas before and after your complaint. Compensation for retaliation is a tribunal matter, not an Agency remedy. In Great Britain, you normally notify Acas before bringing a claim. The government’s timeline records the extension of tribunal limits from three to six months on 1 October 2026. Where the new usual limit applies, work to six months minus a day before early conciliation adjusts it. Do not assume an older dispute gets a fresh six months. Ask Acas to check your claim and dates. Our time-limits guide and deadline calculator are aids, not a reason to wait.
Ordinary unfair dismissal still normally requires two years’ service as at 1 October 2026. The scheduled reduction to six months for dismissals from 1 January 2027 is separate from minimum-wage dismissal protection, which has no qualifying period. See the January 2027 change.
Whistleblowing protection is a separate legal test. A report about a crime or breach of a legal obligation may qualify, but the content, public-interest requirement and recipient matter. Do not assume any complaint form automatically makes you a protected whistleblower. Get advice on the reporting route if you need that protection. Our whistleblowing guide explains the tests.
When to use Acas or a tribunal
Report to the Agency
- Free, with a request to withhold your identity
- You or someone acting for you can report a current or former job
- Can require minimum-wage arrears. Any penalty goes to the state
- Cannot award compensation for retaliation, dismissal or discrimination
- Cannot take a minimum-wage complaint forward once tribunal action on that issue has started
Acas, then a tribunal
- For claims such as holiday pay, discrimination, dismissal or unlawful retaliation
- In Great Britain, normally notify Acas before submitting the ET1 claim form
- Check the time limit for your claim, dates and nation
- An Agency report does not pause the deadline
- In Northern Ireland, use the Labour Relations Agency and the local tribunal system
You may have separate routes for separate wrongs, such as minimum-wage underpayment and punishment for reporting it. Get advice before filing. The reporting guidance does not say that making an Agency report itself bars a later tribunal claim. It says starting tribunal action on the minimum-wage issue prevents that complaint being taken forward.
In Great Britain, the usual two-year back-pay cap for an unlawful-deduction claim is not the deadline for starting the claim. Scottish tribunal breach-of-contract time limits are scheduled to change on 9 November 2026. Neither point is a reason to delay notifying Acas.
Ministry of Justice figures recorded 64,000 open single claims at the end of March 2026, up 55% on the year. That is a caseload figure, not a forecast of your waiting time. We would not tell a carer short of rent to count on a hearing paying this month’s bills.
You won, and they still have not paid
In Great Britain, you can apply to the Agency’s financial penalties team if at least 42 days have passed since the tribunal judgment was sent to you and the respondent, or if an Acas COT3 settlement remains unpaid after its agreed payment date. There is no application fee. Awards and settlements made before 6 April 2016 are excluded.
If the Agency takes action, it sends a warning notice. The respondent has 28 days to respond. The Agency may then impose a penalty of 50% of the unpaid sum, at least £100 and no more than £5,000. The government receives the penalty. The employer still owes you the award. The team does not collect it for you.
Example: a £4,000 award still unpaid
You meet the application conditions and the employer does not pay. If the Agency imposes a penalty, 50% of £4,000 is £2,000 to the government. Your £4,000 remains due. A £12,000 unpaid award reaches the £5,000 penalty cap. A £150 unpaid award attracts the £100 minimum. None of those penalties replaces the money owed to you.
For your money, follow the separate court-enforcement route. In England and Wales, the fast-track scheme uses form EX727. Scotland has its own enforcement procedure. Northern Ireland uses the Enforcement of Judgments Office, not this Great Britain penalty scheme.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Minimum-wage enforcement and gangmaster licensing cover the UK. The Agency’s employment-agency standards function covers Great Britain. Northern Ireland has separate agency rules. Ask the Labour Relations Agency for advice on the local complaint route rather than assuming a Great Britain agency complaint transfers unchanged. Wales shares England’s framework for the Agency powers described here.
The Agency investigates modern slavery across sectors in England and Wales. In Scotland it works with Police Scotland, and in Northern Ireland with the PSNI. You can report abuse through the same contact route and be referred to another organisation where needed. Its additional police-style arrest and search powers do not apply in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland uses the Labour Relations Agency, not Acas, and has its own tribunal time limits. The Great Britain six-month extension is not a Belfast deadline. Check our Northern Ireland guide and get advice on your dates.
What is in force, and what is waiting
The Secretary of State can add more labour-market legislation to this remit by regulation. A power to expand is not an expansion.
- Sick-pay rights changed
The lower earnings limit and three waiting days were removed. Statutory sick pay is £123.25 a week or 80% of normal weekly earnings if lower, for up to 28 weeks. Disputes remain with HMRC, not the Agency.
- The Agency opened
Minimum-wage enforcement, agency standards in Great Britain, gangmaster licensing, serious labour-abuse work and unpaid-award penalties came together. HMRC retained minimum-wage delivery under contract.
- Longer tribunal limits in Great Britain
The government’s timeline records the extension from three to six months. Check how it applies to your claim and dates. Scottish tribunal breach-of-contract limits change on 9 November 2026.
- Scheduled unfair-dismissal changes
The ordinary qualifying period is due to fall to six months for dismissals from this date, with compensatory awards uncapped. Neither change is in force at our legal cut-off. Minimum-wage-related dismissal already has no service requirement.
- Planned minimum-wage staff transfer
About 500 HMRC staff are due to move into the Agency. You can report underpayment now.
- Holiday-pay enforcement expected
The delivery plan gives the year, not an exact commencement date. No date has been announced for Agency sick-pay enforcement. Future plans are not current powers.
Questions people ask
How do you report an employer for not paying the minimum wage?
Use the free pay and work rights form. Give the employer’s name, dates, hours, pay and deductions. Keep payslips or your own record if you were paid cash. You can report a former job or have someone report for you. Starting tribunal action on the same underpayment prevents the Agency taking that complaint forward.
What happens after you report?
The Agency considers the complaint and assesses whether it falls within its powers and needs further investigation. Not every report leads to a formal investigation. Officers can seek evidence, inspect records and contact the business. Do not let your tribunal deadline pass while waiting for a response.
Can you report anonymously?
Yes. You can report without naming yourself, or provide contact details and ask that your identity is withheld. Investigators can do more if they can ask you questions. The abuse guidance says the Agency will not share your details with the person reported, but may pass the report to another organisation that can help. An employer can still guess who spoke up.
Who deals with unpaid holiday pay or sick pay?
Neither is in the Agency’s current enforcement remit. For holiday pay, raise the problem with your employer, then contact Acas in Great Britain or the Labour Relations Agency in Northern Ireland about a tribunal claim. For statutory sick pay, try to resolve it with the employer, then contact HMRC’s Statutory Payment Dispute Team.
Can your employer sack you or cut your shifts for reporting?
In Great Britain, asserting minimum-wage rights is protected. Workers can claim for unlawful detriment, such as cut hours. Employees dismissed for asserting those rights can claim automatically unfair dismissal without a qualifying service period. Protection does not prevent retaliation happening. Save the evidence and get advice promptly about your claim.
Your employer has your passport. Who should you call?
Call 999 if you are in immediate danger. Otherwise use the abuse form, email [email protected] or call 0800 432 0804. Calls are free, with interpreters available. The line operates weekdays, 9am to 5pm, except public holidays, with voicemail outside those hours. Get independent immigration advice if your visa depends on the employer.
Sources
- Fair Work Agency: about us, GOV.UK
- Contact the Fair Work Agency, GOV.UK
- How to report serious abuse or exploitation at work, GOV.UK. Contact hours, confidentiality and onward referrals
- Complain about pay and work rights, GOV.UK. Reporting route and restriction after minimum-wage tribunal action
- Fair Work Agency enforcement statement, GOV.UK. Investigations, powers, arrears, penalty exceptions and naming thresholds
- Fair Work Agency delivery plan 2026 to 2027, GOV.UK. HMRC delivery, planned transfer of about 500 staff and expected holiday-pay enforcement
- Employment Rights Act 2025 commencement amendment regulations, SI 2026/323, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Rights Act 2025, Schedule 7, Part 1, legislation.gov.uk
- Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act timeline update, GOV.UK, updated 25 September 2026
- Nearly 660 employers named for failing to pay the minimum wage, GOV.UK, 3 September 2026. Rates and naming-round figures
- Employment tribunal penalty enforcement and naming scheme, GOV.UK. Great Britain eligibility, warning process and penalties
- Employment tribunals: if you win your case, GOV.UK. Separate award-enforcement routes
- Enforcement of Judgments Office, Department of Justice, Northern Ireland. Linked by the Agency’s penalty-scheme guidance
- Statutory Sick Pay: what you’ll get, GOV.UK
- Statutory Payment Dispute Team, HMRC
- Calculating holiday pay, Acas. Employer discussion and tribunal route for unpaid holiday pay
- National Minimum Wage Act 1998, section 23, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Rights Act 1996, section 104A, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Rights Act 1996, section 43B, legislation.gov.uk. Qualifying disclosures
- Over 370,000 workers were underpaid in April 2024, Low Pay Commission, GOV.UK. Underpayment and fear-of-repercussions evidence
- Tribunal statistics quarterly: January to March 2026, Ministry of Justice. Open single claims and annual change