As part of the new Employment Rights bill, the government are progressing with the formation of the FWA (Fair Work Agency)
How are employment rights enforced now?
For workers to enforce their employment rights, these are generally enforced by individuals submitting a claim to an employment
tribunal.
A small number of rights are enforced by the state
- National Minimum Wage or
- protections for agency workers.
The current system is considered to be complicated, fragmented and inefficient both for employees and employers.
Many are unable to enforce their rights, resulting in
certain breaches, like underpayments, going unchallenged.
So what is the proposed FWA
The Fair Work Agency (FWA) is to bring together the existing state enforcement functions and, overtime, take on enforcement of a wider range of employment rights.
It will act as a single place where workers and employers can turn for help.
The FWA will aim to resolve issues supporting employers that want to comply with the law. It will have strong powers to investigate and take action against businesses that flout the law, to level the playing field for
compliant businesses.
How?
The FWA will be an Executive Agency of Department of. Business and Trade (DBT). It is not to have its own distinct legal identity, so the bill gives the Secretary of State a series of functions to enforce certain
employment legislation. Those functions will in practice be discharged through the FWA, including by enforcement officers appointed by the Secretary of State.
The bill brings together existing state enforcement functions, as well as functions relating to holiday pay and Statutory Sick Pay, and includes a power for the Secretary of State to make affirmative regulations to expand the remit of the state enforcement functions to include other
employment legislation.
The bill abolishes two current public bodies – the Gangmasters and
Labour Abuse Authority and the Director of Labour Market Enforcement – but their important work will carry on under the new FWA.
Advisory board
The Secretary of State will create an advisory board with a social partnership model: equal representation from businesses, trade
unions, and independent experts, which will in practice provide advice to the FWA.
Investigate and enforce
The bill confers a single set of powers to investigate and take action against businesses that do not comply with the law. These powers are based on powers of the existing enforcement bodies.
Some additional enforcement powers will be added during bill passage. This will include powers to issue civil penalties and to order employers to compensate workers, based on existing powers in the National Minimum Wage Act 1998.
When is this happening?
The Employment Rights Bill is the first phase of delivering the Fair Work Agency. The government says that it will set out further details including timescales for implementation in due course.
The new single brand
Once in place, the FWA is expected to be a strong, recognisable single brand so workers know where to go for help.
The FWA will take a balanced approach to upholding workers’ rights.
Fair for workers and business
The FWA will provide better support to businesses on how to comply with the law and will take tough action against rogue employers who
exploit their workers. That is fair for workers, and fair for businesses too.
Some key statistics
Higher-paid workers are 50% more likely to bring an employment tribunal claim compared to lower-paid individuals, despite lower-paid individuals being more likely to have their rights
violated.
The Resolution Foundation found that 14 per cent of the lowest-paid workers report that they receive no paid holiday, five-times higher than the highest-paid. Likewise, a worrying 11 per cent of low-paid workers say they do not have a payslip, twice as many as those in the highest-paid quintile.
PAYadvice.UK 30/10/2024