Check your rights under the Fair Work Agency — minimum wage enforcement, employment agencies, gangmasters, reporting a non-compliant employer, and what the FWA can and cannot do for you — checked against official sources.
↓ Try the Checker NowFair work principles include secure contracts, fair pay, reasonable hours, a healthy working environment and effective voice. The Good Work Plan introduced day one rights to a written statement of employment particulars for all workers.
Workers — not just employees — are entitled to the National Minimum Wage, 5.6 weeks' holiday and protection from unlawful deductions from wages.
Key areas covered: fair work, Good Work Plan, day one rights, written statement, worker rights, employment standards. Checked against official sources.
A written statement of employment particulars must be provided from your very first day — this should set out your pay, hours, holiday entitlement, and notice periods, and employers who fail to provide this can face a tribunal award even without any other underlying dispute.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 changes employment law in England, Wales and Scotland in stages. Some parts are in force, such as the Fair Work Agency (from 7 April 2026). Others, including limits on fire and rehire and new protections for zero-hours workers, are due in 2027 and are not law yet.
This checker gives you a plain English read on your specific situation, answered only from its own guide for your part of the UK, checked against official sources. No login needed, and your answer is generated instantly based on what you tell us.
Our guidance covers many common situations, but complex or high-stakes cases need professional advice. For employment issues, contact ACAS in England, Wales and Scotland (0300 123 1100) or the Labour Relations Agency in Northern Ireland (03300 555 300). For free general advice, contact Citizens Advice (England 0800 144 8848, Wales 0800 702 2020), Citizens Advice Scotland (0800 028 1456) or Advice NI (0800 915 4604). For urgent housing problems in England, Shelter can help on 0808 800 4444.
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Tip: Tell us what your employer is doing wrong — underpaying, withholding holiday pay, or breaching agency worker rules — and how long it has been happening.
Say where you work (England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland), who pays you (an employer, an agency or a gangmaster), what is going wrong and for how long, your pay rate and hours, and whether you have already complained or started a tribunal claim.
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What is the Fair Work Agency?
A single enforcement body established on 7 April 2026 under the Employment Rights Act 2025. It brought together the labour market enforcement functions previously split between HMRC's national minimum wage team, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority.
Does the Fair Work Agency enforce the minimum wage yet?
Yes. The Fair Work Agency has been legally responsible for minimum wage enforcement since 7 April 2026. For its first year, HMRC carries out that work on its behalf, so a minimum wage complaint is handled by HMRC. Use the GOV.UK complain about pay and work rights form or the Acas helpline (in Northern Ireland, get advice from the LRA).
What can I do if I am being underpaid now?
You can complain to HMRC, which enforces the minimum wage for the Fair Work Agency, or bring your own tribunal claim for the unpaid wages. HMRC cannot take your complaint forward once you have started a tribunal claim about the minimum wage. A complaint does not pause the tribunal time limit, which for a series of underpayments runs from the last one, so get advice from Acas (or the LRA in Northern Ireland) early.
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The checker answers only from the guide for the nation you choose, plus what you tell it. If your question is not covered there, it says so instead of guessing. Each guide was checked against primary sources on 26 September 2026.
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Directed and published by Matt Thompson, founder of UK Work Rights. Guidance checked against GOV.UK, ACAS and legislation.gov.uk. This is general rights guidance, not legal advice.
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